Steph Swainston's debut in literature turned out to be incredibly successful. A fascinating and completely unconventional novel for the fantasy genre, it received not only recognition from readers, but also the highest praise from critics and was awarded the Crawford Prize in 2005, and was also among the nominees for the John W. Campbell Prize, awarded to the best authors writing in the genre of science fiction and fantasy. In the world created by the author, there is a race of winged people who cannot fly, and a race of people who live among the cold mountain peaks. And then there are the immortals, whose task is to protect the ordinary inhabitants of the Four Lands from the ruthless Killer Insects the size of ponies, for these terrible creatures devour people and take over the lands inch by inch. The war with them has been going on for two thousand years, but finally an event occurs that may be the beginning of the end of the protracted battle. A bridge appears over the battlefield - or rather, half a bridge leading to nowhere...