From New York Times bestselling author Ann Leckie comes a groundbreaking novel of family, identity, and belonging set in the celebrated Imperial Radch universe. 

"There are few who write science fiction like Ann Leckie can. There are few who ever could."―John Scalzi

Qven was created to be a Presger Translator. The pride of their clade, they always had a clear path before them: Learn human ways and, eventually, make a match and serve as an intermediary between the dangerous alien Presger and the human worlds. 

But Qven rebels against that future, a choice that brings them into the orbit of two others: Enae, a reluctant diplomat attempting to hunt down a fugitive who has been missing for over two hundred years; and Reet, an adopted mechanic who is increasingly desperate to learn about his biological past—or anything that might explain why he operates so differently from those around him.

As the conclave of the various species approaches and the long-standing treaty between the humans and the Presger is on the line, the decision of all three will have ripple effects across the stars.