River should have been heir to the throne of Oceania, but she is held, a prisoner of both the rebel insurrectionists and of the prophecies concealed within her own mind, the same prophecies that hold the secret to the survival of her entire species. In a world ravaged by antimicrobial-resistant disease, a new sovereignty has risen to violent prominence, one founded on the brittle friction between ancient Māori traditions and quantum physics. River’s parents have abandoned her. Three great galaxy cruisers have departed for three distant exomoons, but the expedition appears doomed to fail, the ships destroyed one by one by a puzzling peril. The dystopian world that remains despises her, and she must find her own way back to reveal her destiny. All who once loved her may have gone, but such bonds are not so easily severed. Can River find a way to unlock the ancient mysteries of her mind, to reach across the unimaginable chasm of space and time, to save what remains of the fleet and the last hope for humanity’s survival?