The Star Shadow Trilogy-Book One, Prequel to The Time Master Trilogy. "How strong are you? That's all that matters, you see. Your strength. Your ability to look on the face of Chaos and stay sane. That's how we're all judged, here." Twelve years as a Chaos Rider had taught Benetan Liss the truth of those ominous words. Yet despite the terrors and demands of his work, he was loyal to his masters and devoted to Chaos's seven formidable gods... until a new First Magus came to power. For Lord Vordegh was far worse than a mere tyrant, and the obsession that drove him was one in which sanity had no place. On the first bitter night of the new reign, the mask of compliance that Benetan had worn for so long began to crack. And behind the mask lay a road to nightmare.