Almost a century ago a storm of cataclysmic comets struck the Earth and triggered generations of perpetual cold and darkness. Now the survivors of rainswept England huddle in their tiny communities, scavenging the ruins of the old world. Finally, the Long Autumn is coming to an end, and society of a kind is starting to rebuild. But for how long? Adam is struggling to hold his small Berkshire village together as the age-old rivalry between the Taylors and the Lyalls spills out into fresh bloodshed. A new tyrant, Frank Pendennis, has risen in the east in Kent, and has dreams of conquest. And rumours of something even worse are coming from the north... The struggle to inherit the world is just beginning.