Urt is a world nurtured by the Mother Below under the face of the Father Above. One half of it is scorched by the sun, the other is immersed in eternal cold. Here you can live only on a narrow strip between the dead hemispheres, called the Crown. Today this harsh planet is in danger. But in what part of the world is the secret of its destruction hidden? Young clairvoyant. Prince-in-the-closet. Damn Knight. Escaped convict. They are united by the impending disaster, and only they can save the planet. To do this they had to split up. For a shining ghostly ball, awakened by the knowledge of the Ancients, indicated that the keys to preventing the apocalypse may lie in different places. The first group went to the Frozen Wastes, plunged into darkness and frozen through lands, about which practically nothing is known. The second ended up in the huge capital of the cruel southern empire, where the mysterious repository of wisdom is located - the Code of the Abyss. Time is running out - armies are gathering from all corners of the world, ready to start the Great War. Meanwhile, the saviors of the world discover that one of them is not who they think he is. And someone is not at all who he considers himself to be... Continuation of the newest fantasy series by James Rollins, a world-famous author, creator of numerous New York Times No. 1 bestsellers, translated into 40 languages. “A talented storyteller who easily drifts from the thriller to fantasy and back. Amazing storytelling." – Terry Brooks “A powerful, brilliant epic fantasy from a preeminent novelist.” – Jonathan Mayberry “A virtuoso at crossing genres, James is simply at his best here.” – Robert Salvatore “Rollins is what you get when you put Dan Brown and Michael Crichton in a hadron collider.” – New York Times