Our protagonist decides to return to his homeland to find out more about his mother. He is still being chased by the fantasy mafia so it is something to do. Of course, he runs right into a nasty little situation. At heart this is a book about ignorance. It also wants to talk about the tension between peasantry and early industrialisation. As I say, this is a slow burner. It takes a while to get going but when it does, Brust has your head spinning trying to figure out what's going on. I particularly enjoyed the resolution on this one which I won't spoiler by explaining why. Another quality installment in the series. Recommended.