Allen Steele, one of science fiction's brightest young stars, has pulled out all the stops in this fractally dense, fast-paced, and deeply moving novel of a young man who risks everything for a once-in-a-lifetime love. For William Alec Tucker III, life after death is almost pleasant until he realizes he's a pawn in a system-wide struggle for power. He embarks on an odyssey of discovery that takes him to Clarke County, Space . . . and even further.