Four centuries in the future, nanomachines watch the health of the wealthy and manufacture food and gadgets for everyone, but social problems persist. A singing teacher suffers for her music and fights bureaucracy and apathy. A news researcher can't help wondering about the real story behind the grim incidents that make the headlines. A police investigator, assigned to study trends, begins to see a truly sinister pattern in a series of seemingly unrelated crimes and deaths. A politician pursues his agenda, aids his constituents, fights the good fight and tries to get re-elected without compromising his principles. A ruthless businessman pursues his goal of making his family powerful, wealthy, and independent. Their disparate stories overlap, interweave, combine, and build into a tour de force of storytelling.

Author Biography

L. E. Modesitt, Jr., is the bestselling author of the fantasy series The Saga of Recluce, Corean Chronicles, and the Imager Portfolio. His science fiction includes "Adiamante," the Ecolitan novels, and the Forever Hero Trilogy. Besides a writer, Modesitt has been a U.S. Navy pilot, a director of research for a political campaign, legislative assistant and staff director for a U.S. Congressman, Director of Legislation and Congressional Relations for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, a consultant on environmental, regulatory, and communications issues, and a college lecturer. He lives in Cedar City, Utah.