Past, present, and a possible future blur together in this story about Erin, an obscure copyist whose home lies within the vaguely-defined boundaries of a great valley. The last surviving descendant of a line of rulers called primi who once held sway over the valley, he finds himself at the center of a regional power struggle between the mountaineers of the western hills and the priests of the House of Alexander. When the priests see Erin as a potential...