From the award-winning author of the Samaria Trilogy comes a classic Romeo and Juliet romance set on a world far from our own...

A scientist by nature, Nolan used his rational powers of observation to question the privileges he was born to enjoy--and the people he was raised to despise. A rebel at heart, Katrini followed her fiercest passions in the struggle to overthrow a legacy of hate--one that had poisoned her family for generations...

On a planet divide between rich and poor, strong and weak, intellect and feeling, only one thing could bring these two opposites together. A strictly forbidden desire. For justice. For equality. And for each other.

Praise for Sharon Shinn's novels:

"The most promising and original writer of fantasy to come along since Robin McKinley."-- Peter S. Beagle

"Provocative...I was truly, deeply delighted."-- Anne McCaffrey

"Shinn deftly combines mystery, high-tech SF, and romance with a layering of fantasy in a fresh and innovative tale full of surprising turns of plot."-- Library Journal

"Sure command of characterization and vividly imagined settings."-- Booklist

"Ms. Shinn knows full well the power of appealing characterization and uses it most skillfully to reflect her ingeniously piquant imagination."-- Romantic Times

"Ms. Shinn takes a traditional romance and wraps it in a fantasy... rousing."-- The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction