[4] The first two novels of the series were also printed together as The Monarchs of Sol by Science Fiction Book Club (ISBN 0739433881).
In the Queendom of Sol, humanity has returned to monarchism as a stabilizing force in the face of accelerating technological change.
[5][6][7] The first section of the novel is based on McCarthy's short story "Once Upon a Matter Crushed", which was a Sturgeon Award finalist.
[8] A reviewer stated McCarthy used postmodern literary technique in consciously creating a protagonist who is a "throwback" to the scientist-heroes of Golden Age SF.
Nanotechnology has created the wellstone, programmable matter that can emulate nearly any other form of matter,[11] and nanotech fax machines that can not only fabricate objects on demand, but store and retrieve human bodies (with minds intact), cure disease or reverse aging, or be used as teleporters.