A new-cover reissue of the third book in the bestselling five-volume sf series created by the world-famous author of the Thomas Covenant chronicles -- and acclaimed as the 'best work of his career'. On a lonely planetoid in forbidden space, the players in a power game of mind-shattering proportions were heading for an explosive confrontation. After a terrifying encounter with the Amnion aliens, Nick Succorso had made for the safety of Thanatos Minor, the infamous bootleg shipyard where illegals from all over the galaxy came to repair their ships and indulge their exotic tastes in entertainment. But the Amnion were waiting, and for Nick, Morn Hyland and her force-grown son Davies, the safe haven would become a vision of hell. Meanwhile, Angus Thermopyle had been captured by the UMCP and turned into a deadly cyborg. Now, as the UMC controllers looked on from the sidelines, he was heading for Thanatos Minor, programmed to carry out a secret mission that could have nightmarish consequences for them all...