Mars - the red planet - is a barren landscape of mankind's dreams of space. This book follows the colonization of the planet, as a cratered wasteland is turned into a human habitation.
In the penultimate year before the Encroachment, the dimming sun still shines on the cloud-high weathered walls of Serehfa Fastness. On the day the Count Sessine dies for the final time, the chief scientist to the clan Accounts/Privileges receives a summons from the office of the High Sortileger.