Joseph is a 15 years old, a Master of Homeworld, a young boy of privelege. A guest at his distant relatives, the House of Getfen, he awakes one night to a surprise attack by the Folk of Getfen, rebelling against their overlords. Saved by a faithful family servant, Joseph is faced with a long journey back to his own family through a continent torn apart by civil insurrection. Robert Silverberg's latest novel tells the tale of a new world inhabited by settlers from Earth. His trademark stylish prose evokes a fuedal society inspired and indebted to ancient Rome, and the alien planet it has colonised.