A tale of revenge, deceit, opium, murder and treachery in the shattered remnants of a steam-powered empire. He came from the green wastes without warning, and within two hours an entire town lay dead. Two people escape the massacre - one of them a boy named Jason Cutter with nothing to his name save a worn pistol and the memory of his murdered parents; the second a reclusive old man by the name of Ossus, with a curious knowledge of the sky-cities above and a pair of incomprehensibly advanced weapons stolen from their inhabitants - self-proclaimed gods who rose Themselves up and almost destroyed mankind in the process. As the pair chart a course through the savage forests of the Mire and the industrial labyrinths of its few remaining cities, they find allies in Penelope Grosvenor - a scarred noblewoman and rape survivor - and a sociopathic anti-theist whose loyalty runs only as deep as their pockets. But where there are those sympathetic to their cause, so too are there those who would see them dead - not least the charming assassin Elliot Locke, a man himself harbouring a dark desire for vengeance on his own partner in crime... As their journey reaches its bitter conclusion, Jason, Penelope and Elliot must all face their tormentors and decide what has the greater worth: their vengeance, or their humanity.