Stephan Forks should be dead. When he opens his eyes to an endless desert, he suspects he might have ended up in hell. It doesn't seem fair after staving off a threat that could have eradicated the universe, but life isn't fair. His girlfriend, demigoddess Maria Callaway, is blissfully unconscious and shows no signs of waking up. At least she's there, and her presence indicates he might be alive after all. The situation is desperate, and does not get better from discovering they're trapped on a world outside the regular universe. A world lacking the basic means of survival, but rich in heat and sand, battered by a relentless sun. Saving himself and Maria will require him to face impossible odds as well as ghosts from the past.