Plot introduction

Set in a future when humanity has forgotten its origins in earth, the novel describes the political equations and power struggle between the emperor, a quasireligious group, a pre-sentient computer named the Magcomm and the Lord Commander.

Plot summary

Humanity is trapped in a "gravity well", the so-called Forbidden Borders and there is increasing conflict because of ever-decreasing space resources. Staffa Kar Therma a.k.a. the Lord Commander is a mercenary who leads an elite group of soldiers (the Companions) and aligns himself to the group that pays him the most. He is separated from his soldiers and falls in to the hands of a slave trader but escapes, and comes into contact with a quasi-religious group led by the magister (who in turn is advised by the MagComm). The magister (under the guidance of the MagComm) believes that the Lord Commander is the root of all evil and attempts to assassinate him. Meanwhile Staffa discovers that his son is alive and is the leader of a battalion of the emperor's forces. Staffa finally escapes from the magister and the MagComm, killing the former and partially destroying the latter. The partially destroyed MagComm's automated repair mechanisms kick in and the computer becomes self-aware.

Characters

• The Others : The (supposedly alien and superintelligent) beings who confined humanity inside the Forbidden Borders. They also built the MagComm.
• Staffa Kar Therma aka the Lord Commander of the Companions : The protagonist
• Magister Bruen
• Sinklar Fist : Son of Staffa Kar Therma.
• Chrysla : Wife of Staffa. She supposedly dies on the Praetor's Flagship "Pylos", that Staffa himself destroyed, but in fact survived.

Major themes

The isolation of humanity from the rest of the universe is similar to what is seen in Frank Herbert

Frank Herbert

Franklin Patrick Herbert, Jr. was a critically acclaimed and commercially successful American science fiction author. Although a short story author, he is best known for his novels, most notably Dune and its five sequels...

's The Dosadi Experiment

The Dosadi Experiment

The Dosadi Experiment is a science fiction novel written by Frank Herbert. It is the second full-length novel set in the ConSentiency universe established by Herbert in his novelette The Tactful Saboteur and continued in Whipping Star....

, although in the latter, a single planet is isolated by the rest of humanity.