During a time of war with the Plith, an empire of ant-like alien bug people, ambassador John Craig, a formerly Liberal Earth man in his 30s, is dispatched to the strategically important planet Kossar, a human colony that was settled by the Carlyle Society as a place of exile for political extremists and now is ruled by an oligarchical high council of seven nobles, each of whom is in charge of a different domain with its own traditions.

Their boredom and absolute power have driven them to madness, to the point that Kossar's entry into the empire has been stymied by the Man-Inhabited Planets Treaty's clause (written by Craig) against alliances with slave owning societies, due to its practice of kidnapping humans to become illegal playthings of the galaxy's super-rich.

Craig, who now is campaigning to bring Kossar into the empire, had previously been to the planet when the passenger ship on which he was travelling on a return trip from the Betelgeuse Conference was captured by space pirates.

Craig then spent two years as a slave of the beautiful, sensual, and sadistic Lady Morgan Sidney, the only female member of the oligarchy, with whom he became romantically involved.

[7] The review notes that the narrative is split in two, between the present-day official visitation of Craig to the planet Kossar, and his past experiences as Lady Morgan's slave.

[7] While the author repeatedly reminds the readers that slavery is wrong, he tries to depict both Craig and Morgan as wise, talented, and heroic.

Throughout the novel, both main characters "freely kill, torture, seduce and make sweeping political decisions on behalf of thousands of people".

"[5] Becky Ferreira has described the novel as "highly unsettling", due to its depiction of rape of enslaved people, particularly teenage girls, and other coercive sex acts.