A generation after the Change that rendered all technology inoperable around the world, a man known as the Prophet, head of the Church Universal and Triumphant, begins exhorting his followers to destroy the remnants of technological civilization.

“S. M. Stirling provides another fabulous postapocalyptic thriller to his Change saga.” – Alternative Worlds

Rudi Mackenzie traveled to Nantucket, where he found and took up the Sword of the Lady and, with it, his destiny. His return journey to the area known as Montival, in the Pacific Northwest, is a treacherous one since he and his companions must cross three thousand miles, making both allies and adversaries...

"Princess Orlaith, heir to Rudi Mackenzie, Artos the First, High King of Montival, now wields the Sword of the Lady--and faces a new enemy. Fortunately, she also has a new ally in Reiko, Empress of Japan, who has been pursued to America by a conquering army from Asia. To combat their mutual foe, Orlaith and Reiko embark on a quest to find the fabled Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi, the Grass-Cutting Sword, one of the three great treasures of the Japanese Imperial...

"In his Novels of the Change, New York Times bestselling author S.M. Stirling presents 'a devastated, mystical world that will appeal to fans of traditional fantasy as well as post-apocalyptic SF.'* Continuing their quest that began in The Golden Princess, two future rulers of a world without technology risk their lives seeking a fabled blade... Reiko, Empress of Japan, has allied herself with Princess Órlaith, heir to the High Kingdom of Montival,...