The book takes place in the Catenan Republic, a fictional society with similarities to the Golden Age of the Roman Empire.
The story follows the orphaned Vis Telimus as he is recruited for the prestigious Catenan Academy and tasked with rising through the cutthroat competition to uncover the secret behind a mysterious accident.
Three hundred years prior to the events of the book, an unknown Cataclysm nearly destroyed the world, obliterating existing civilizations and leaving fewer than one person in twenty alive.
The system results in a handful of elites who can wield the strength of thousands, allowing the Hierarchy to undertake enormous construction projects, travel vast distances, and expand its empire.
During a strange interrogation, however, Vis catches the attention of Magnus Quintus Ulciscor, a powerful senator, and begins to see another way out.
During the mock battle, the leader of the Anguis appears and lays waste to the crowd with a mysterious weapon, killing tens of thousands of people in attendance.
While searching the ruins, Vis discovers a chamber filled with script in an unknown language and, disturbingly, hundreds of bodies skewered with obsidian stakes with eyes that are blinded in the same way as Lanistia's.
Simultaneously, the Anguis pressure him through blackmail to graduate at the top of the class, which will guarantee that he can choose a position within the Hierarchy.
Vis returns to the competition, but realizes that the Academy's safety teams have been killed and replaced by members of the Anguis, who are now hunting the remaining students.
In the epilogue, called "Synchronism," an alternate version of Vis awakens in the chamber after running the labyrinth in the ruins.
[3] A review from Publishers Weekly stated that "Islington’s worldbuilding is exceptionally detailed and thoughtful, making suspending disbelief effortless.