Another broiling, sprawling, witty, adventure-filled hard-SF adventure, filled with the truly alien.
On the primitive world of Cull, a knight errant called Anderson is hunting a dragon, little knowing that far away someone else (now more technology than human flesh) has resurrected a brass killing machine called "Mr Crane" to assist in a similar hunt encompassing star systems. When agent Cormac learns that this old enemy still lives, he sets out in pursuit aboard the attack ship Jack Ketch - whilst scientist Mika begins discovering the horrifying truth about that ancient technology ostensibly produced by the alien Jain.
Meanwhile, for the people of Cull, each day proves a struggle to survive on a planet roamed by ferocious insect-like monsters, while they slowly construct the industrial base that may enable them to escape to their forefathers' starship - still orbiting far above them. But an entity with questionable motives, calling itself Dragon, assists them with genetic by-blows created out of humans and the hideous local monsters. And now the planet itself, for millennia geologically inactive, is increasingly suffering earthquakes . . .
