The mysterious Time Tombs are opening and the Shrike that has risen from them may well control the fate of all mankind. The Ousters are laying seige to the Hegemony of Man and the AIs we created have turned against us to build the Ultimate Intelligence: God. The God of Machines. His genesis could mean annihilation for man.

Something is drawing the hegemony, the Ousters, the AIs, the entire universe to the Shrike.

Winner of the BSFA Award for best novel, 1991.