"The next nearest inhabited planet had just been blown into its constituent particles...In response, the thaumic force of that world-colloquially known as magic-had mere seconds ago fled the planet like the proverbial rat from a sinking ship, and was in search of a likely place to relocate." Sometimes magic manifests early in a planet's life, sometimes late. Sometimes it never appears at all. Sometimes it appears at exactly the wrong time, and in exactly the wrong way. Now Ulric has a head full of words he doesn't understand, and the results can be explosive. Heline has discovered a talking hat that's helping her write songs. Nerlim thinks his staunch belief in the existence of a mysterious fifth force will finally be vindicated, if he can escape from the nursing home and track it down. Gammy just wants to see her moon launch succeed...and Wint would rather go home and lie down, if it's all the same to everyone. And in this ultimate power struggle between magic and technology, the trans-dimensional beings of the Convocation also want a piece of the action. There's no way this could go badly...