All is not well in the Letherii Empire.
Rhulad Sengar, the Emperor of a Thousand Deaths, spirals into madness, surrounded by sycophants and agents of his Machiavellian chancellor, while the Letherii secret police conduct a campaign of terror against its own people. The Errant, once a farseeing god, is suddenly blind to the future. Conspiracies seethe throughout the palace, as the empire - driven by the corrupt and self-interested - edges ever-closer to all-out war with the neighbouring kingdoms.
And then there's the great Edur fleet that draws ever closer - a force that includes Karsa Orlong and Icarium Lifestealer - each destined to cross blades with the emperor himself. That yet more blood is to be spilled is inevitable . . .
Against this backdrop, a band of fugitives seek a way out of the empire. Amongst is Fear Sengar who is searching for the soul of Scabandari Bloodeye. His hope is that it might help halt the Tiste Edur and so save his brother, the emperor. But travelling with them is Scabandari's most ancient foe: Silchas Ruin, brother of Anomander Rake. Ruin's motives are anything but certain. The wounds he carries on his back, made by the blades of Scabandari, are still fresh.
Fate decrees that there is to be a reckoning, for such bloodshed cannot go unanswered - and it will be a reckoning on an unimaginable scale . . .