In Marie Brennan's exciting new novel, the charming Lady Trent takes her exploratory adventures to the deserts of Achiate.

Even those who are not at all interested in research in the field of dragon lore have heard of Lady Trent's expedition into the inhospitable sands of Achiate. The discoveries she made - something akin to a fantastic legend - rapidly raise her from the bottom of scientific obscurity to the heights of worldwide fame. The details of her private life at this time also became public and provided food for gossip in a good dozen countries.

However, as often happens in the career of this enlightened lady, the story known to the public is far from the real one. In this fourth volume of her memoirs, Lady Trent talks about how she received a position in the Armed Forces of the Irish Crown, about how her work, health and life itself almost suffered at the hands of foreign saboteurs, and, of course, about how Her relentless pursuit of knowledge led her to the depths of the Labyrinth of Serpents, where some very ordinary actions of some very ordinary female desert dragon served as the impetus for the greatest discovery Lady Trent has made to date.