For nine hundred generations, the city of Deepgate has hung suspended by giant chains over a bottomless abyss. In the unfathomable darkness below is said to reside the dread god Ulcis, with his army of ghosts. At the hub of the city itself rises the Temple, in one of whose many crumbling spires resides a youthful angel, Dill, the last of his line.
Alan Campbell has set a new standard for epic fantasy with a gripping tale of a mythic struggle between man and angel, demon and god. In a cataclysmic battle of the gods, a portal to Hell has been opened, unleashing unnatural creatures that threaten to turn the world into a killing field. Caught in the chaos, humanity faces extinction, with its only hope resting on former assassin Rachel Hael. She reunites with blood-magician Mina Greene and her clever dog, Basilis, on a desperate mission to save the world from Hell's grip. They are pursued by the twelve arconites, formidable automatons controlled by King Menoa, the Lord of the Maze, as they rush to the god of time's final stronghold. Meanwhile, the giant John Anchor descends into Hell to confront Menoa. Both Heaven and Hell reveal unexpected horrors. Rachel's ally, the god Hasp, battles a parasite that compels him to destroy his friends, while a dangerous infant deity threatens to overwhelm them all. As Rachel approaches her feared confrontation, she realizes time itself is unraveling, forcing her to prepare for a sacrifice that may cost her everything.