Elinor toils on the innermost planet, Mercury, exploited as a vast mine of metals and minerals. This is a life of enslavement, of hard physical labour. But now she has a baby son, Alfa. But as it turns out, labourers are going to be in more demand when Alfa is ready to start work. And as he grows, Alfa comes to suspect that Fortress Sol is built on lies, inside as well as outside . . .

Udgivet af Gollancz 

Stephen Baxter
Stephen Baxter was born in Liverpool, England, in 1957. Since 1987 he has published over forty books, mostly science fiction novels, and over a hundred short stories. He has degrees in mathematics, from Cambridge University, engineering, from Southampton University, and in business administration, from Henley Management College. He has worked as a teacher of maths and physics, and for several years in information technology. His first professionally published short story appeared in 1987, and his first novel in 1991. He has been a full-time author since 1995. He is Vice-President of the British Science Fiction Association, and a Vice-President of the HG Wells Society. He now lives in Northumberland.