Maya Witherspoon sets herself up in self-imposed exile in London after her physician father is killed by the bite of a poisonous snake in India just after her sorceress mother had died, warning Maya to beware the serpent's shadow.

The world we know is gone, destroyed in a fiery cataclysm. The survivors built a new world ruled by religion, oppression, and fear. In this pre-industrial society, sickness, ignorance, and death are the norm. A bond-slave, Davy dreams of sailing to the edge of the known world. He runs away at age 14, and what he discovers is similar to what most young men find in any age. As he searches for answers to his moral questions, he becomes an educated, thoughtful...