The people of Shotet are very skilled in combat, in contrast to the Thuvhesit, who only possess a meager army of trained soldiers.

In their galaxy, there is a force called the current, which flows through every living being, and can be seen visibly as the "currentstream," manifesting as lights wrapped around the planets.

Cyra is the second child of the Noavek family, the ruling clan of the Shotet; her currentgift is pain, showing itself visibly in dark, shadowy tendrils that flow under her skin.

One year, her father does not return from the annual scavenging journey, and Ryzek is forced to rule in the wake of his presumed death.

He manages to slightly improve the conditions of the Shotet, but forces Cyra to torture people for him, holding the threat of telling how their mother really died to the public over her head.

During capture, Akos discovers his currentgift, the ability to interrupt, or stop, the current, which he uses to escape his restrain and kill one of the soldiers.

Thanks to Akos, Cyra's perspective begins to change and she gets caught up with a secret group of Shotet rebels who disagree with the ruling Noavek family and plan on assassinating Ryzek.

The rebels manage to get Akos out while he's unconscious and they take him to a hospital in Thuvhe, where he meets his childhood friend Ori and her twin sister, the Chancellor, Isae.

He strips her of her title in a ritual called nemhalzak, where one's social status is lowered to the bottom of society, making it so that anyone can challenge them to a fight to the death.

Things don't go as planned, and they end up barely escaping the planet with a few prisoners and some dead, leaving Voa in total chaos.

Brian Truitt of USA Today wrote that despite the "overwhelming amount of exposition" which opens the novel, the story "excels when settling into the core relationship between its two embattled leads.

[5] Carol Memmott of the Chicago Tribune said that though Roth has "built a stunning world," the lead characters' "perpetual grimness might make it hard for some readers to fully invest in cheering them on.