For those who occupy its high ranks and lofty spires, the planet Thanagar is a paradise of pride and luxury. But for the teeming hordes of off-worlders who toil on the lower levels to support their masters" decadence, Thanagar is a hellish workhouse - a vast, purgatorial slum from which there is no escape. Ensign Katar Hol is one ofThanagar"s elite - the son of Chief Scientist Paran Katar, inventor of the anti-gravity technology that gave Thanagarians their wings. He is proud of his people"s accomplishments, particularly the legendary warrior Kalmoran, who centuries ago led the slave world of Thanagar to throw off its chains and build an empire of its own. Katar Hol is young and idealistic. As a newly fledged member of the imperial police force, he wants to make a difference. Ideals, however, come with a price, and they are incompatible with the everyday hypocrisies of a mature autocracy. As he ventures down into the shadows, young Katar has no idea how much he has yet to...