"Aster has little to offer folks in the way of rebuttal when they call her ogre and freak. She's used to the names; she only wishes there was more truth to them. If she were truly a monster, she'd be powerful enough to tear down the walls around her until nothing remains of her world. Aster lives in the lowdeck slums of the HSS Matilda, a space vessel organized much like the antebellum South. For generations, Matilda has ferried the last of humanity...

When his close friend, Anna, who is said to be in possession of a letter with the names of revolutionary conspirators, goes missing, Cardell must find her before the secret police, and as he and Winge fight for justice and life, they are caught between powerful enemies in 18th-century Stockholm. For more than a year, brilliant lawyer Emil Winge has dedicated himself to capturing the diabolical Tycho Ceton, with the invaluable assistance of one-armed...