Not just the murderous Harrower priestess Sila Diaglou, but everyone in Navronne seems to be after Valen. There is the Bastard Prince Osriel, who steals dead men's eyes. And the Pureblood Registry, determined to keep every pureblood sorcerer in thrall. Even beings out of myth, the Danae guardians, whose dancing nurtures the earth and whose attention could prove the most costly of all. As Navronne sinks deeper into civil war and perilous winter, Valen finds himself a bargaining chip in a deadly standoff. Doomed to madness by his addiction to the doulon, and bound by oaths he refuses to abandon, the young sorcerer risks body and soul to rescue one child, seek justice for another, and bring the ailing land its righteous king. Valen's search for healing grace leads him from Harrower dungeons to the very heart of the world, but only in the twilight of a legend does he at last discover the hard truth of the coming dark age and the glorious, terrible price of the land's redemption...and his own.

Winner of the 2009 Colorado Book Award, and winner (with Flesh and Spirit) of the 2009 Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Adult Literature.