All the creative energies of the West have been directed into space exploration and development - dozens of new worlds are being opened up.

Left behind on Earth are the sluggish remnants of former greatness. But in the East, a mighty dictatorship has arisen - a single absolute monarch rules: The Nameless One of the East.

What follows is a raging conflict, on Earth and in space - conflict as only master pulp storyteller E.E. "Doc" Smith can write it.