Seventeen cycles of the distant star (years) after Sorak and 1562/Nasa escaped from the city to find a peaceful haven to bring up their son, Lenar, their idyll has become a nightmare. They are increasingly unable to sustain themselves and they need to find another place of refuge. Unbeknown to Sorak and Nasa, things in the city have changed dramatically. The rebellion inspired to a degree by their quest for freedom and independence degenerated into a series of brutal and repressive male dominated administrations. Eventually a triumvirate of more thoughtful and moderate men emerges but equality with women is still a thought too far.

Sorak and Nasa's search for a new home is interrupted by contact with a group of female soldiers in the mountains far from the city, and their introduction to male soldiers. A number of young women and girls accompany the solders, one of whom Desak, attracts Lenar's attention. The group leader Kragar, a former Senate Guard officer, is known to and disliked by Sorak. Kragar updates them on the situation in the city. Meetings with women's resistance groups who have escaped the city, and patrols of male soldiers force Sorak and Nasa to recognise the changes that have taken place and to rethink their plans. Nonetheless they need to deliver Desak to where she can be safe in the city. Can they save Desak and rebuild the broken society?

Hedley Harrison lives in Dorchester, Dorset but was born in 1937 in Pontypool, Monmouthshire. Throughout his working life, he travelled the world after joining a major international oil company. He visited the likes of Nigeria and Australia. During this time he lived through various periods of military coups and tribal violence whilst in Nigeria. He also worked at an offshore North Sea oil transportation infrastructure between 1980 and 1994. He retired in 1994. Hedley used to write magazine articles and has also previously published thriller novels. This is his second novel in the fantasy/romantic genre and is the anticipated return of Sorak as he battles to repair the broken world he lives in.