In der Stadt Deepgate, die über einem Abgrund schwebt, kämpfen Erzengel und Dämonen um die Seelen der Verstorbenen. Dill, der letzte Erzengel, muss tote Seelen einem finsteren Gott übergeben. Als ein verzweifelter Vater Rache schwört, entbrennt ein erbitterter Konflikt.
Order has collapsed in Deepgate. The chained city is now in ruins, and the Deadsands beyond are full of fleeing refugees. Meanwhile, the Spine militia is trying to halt the exodus of panicking citizens through brutal force. Rachel and the young angel Dill are dragged off to the Temple torture chambers . . . but strange things start to happen as a foul red mist rises from the abyss beneath the city. For the god Ulcis's death has left the gates to Hell unguarded, and certain forces in the fathomless darkness beneath Deepgate have noticed an opportunity. Only the offspring of the dread goddess Ayen understand this new danger. Already, Cospinol, god of brine and fog, is coming to save his brother's temple -- and to hunt down Ulcis's murderers. His foul, fog-wreathed skyship has already reached Sandport, bringing along its own version of hell. By now, Rachel just wants to keep her companion alive. Escaping their prison, and with enemies closing in on all sides, she is forced to undertake a perilous journey across the Deadsands towards the distant land of Pandemeria. But there the battlefield at Coreollis is fated to witness a clash of powers -- a contest between men and gods and archons and slaves, all forced into desperate alliances.
Alan Campbell has set a new standard for epic fantasy with a gripping tale of a mythic struggle between man and angel, demon and god. In a cataclysmic battle of the gods, a portal to Hell has been opened, unleashing unnatural creatures that threaten to turn the world into a killing field. Caught in the chaos, humanity faces extinction, with its only hope resting on former assassin Rachel Hael. She reunites with blood-magician Mina Greene and her clever dog, Basilis, on a desperate mission to save the world from Hell's grip. They are pursued by the twelve arconites, formidable automatons controlled by King Menoa, the Lord of the Maze, as they rush to the god of time's final stronghold. Meanwhile, the giant John Anchor descends into Hell to confront Menoa. Both Heaven and Hell reveal unexpected horrors. Rachel's ally, the god Hasp, battles a parasite that compels him to destroy his friends, while a dangerous infant deity threatens to overwhelm them all. As Rachel approaches her feared confrontation, she realizes time itself is unraveling, forcing her to prepare for a sacrifice that may cost her everything.
`A theological fantasy with echoes of Gormenghast is both spellbinding and literary.' --Scotland on Sunday 'Fantasy excels at alternative theologies, and Campbell's pantheon is vividly imagined.' --Scotland On Sunday `Comparisons with Mervyn Peake (author of Gormenghast) are certainly justified, but Campbell brings a contemporary twist to a Peake-style gothic world - it's certainly something new, strange and compelling. '