Publisher's Synopsis
Derry knows no other life than that of a slave on Cram's Rock. Shunned by the other captives for being Cram's poison taster, and trying to make sense of the brief flashes of memory he has of his previous life, his only solace are the books he has access to in Cram's stolen library - but even that must remain a secret, as his ability to read is forbidden in luddite True Landovel. So Derry keeps himself to himself, with no friends and no future beyond surviving another day. Until the day everything changes, when a traveller arrives at Cram's Rock on the run from the mythical El executioners, and soon all the slaves are rescued by the mysterious librarian Lehane. Taken to more progressive Free Landovel, Derry and three companions are chosen for a dangerous quest that will change the future of True and Free Landovel forever, and upend everything that Derry knows about the world ... and himself.
