Thorvald Speer, resurrected a hundred years after his death, continues to hunt Penny Royal, a rebel AI and dangerous war criminal who fled from the forces of the State. On the other side of the Churchyard, where the law is inactive and mortal danger lurks, Spear is on the trail of several warring pradors, crab-like aliens who have long been in violent conflict with humanity. Drill, a prador genetically modified by Penny Royal, slowly turning into a human, is chasing another prador, feeding the deepest hatred of the State and seeking a way to renew the war on the people. Blythe, a merchant ship captain and fortune hunter, hands over two captives and valuable memplants donated by Penny Royal to criminologist Brockle, a dangerous entity, a vicious AI with his own unclear motives. Penny Royal, meanwhile, is searching plant-station Tseh 101, which produced weapons during wartime and was considered destroyed. What does he need there? And will Spear find Penny Royal before he reaches his destination? The War Factory, the second book in the Transformation trilogy, Neil Asher's iconic space opera, is a breakneck pace, high technology, incredible creatures and harsh, dangerous worlds of the distant future.