Twelve thousand years in the future, mankind has survived two enigmatic, civilisation-destroying setbacks. Now a third holocaust is anticipated by the people of the island refuge of Ongladred. They fear destruction from invading barbarians of the Angromain Archipelagoes, the reappearance of a semi-mythical sea creature and the devious intervention of the neo-human Parfects.

The imminent disaster is very much the concern of Ingram Marley, a government spy sent to keep surveillance over Stonelore - a secluded haven and the centre of free thought on Ongladred - and Gabriel Elk, Stonelore's master and resident genius. While panic and fear rage outside, deep inside Stonelore the mysteries of life are pursued - reanimation of the dead, the invention of powerful laser weapons and the secrets of 'old earth' knowledge. Amidst harrowing dangers of sea battles and land invasions, beneath the shattered moons, Ingram Marley's world is about to change beyond his wildest imaginings.