The Great Game of Gods is afoot. In a world on the brink of madness... In the summer of 1914, a young man of reputation beyond reproach awakens under police guard--grievously injured and accused of heinous, impossible murder. And in a strange, distant place... The youngest member of a penniless acting troupe has been taken prisoner by the loyal minions of a corrupt, vengeful goddess. For an ancient prophecy has divided the realm's ruling Deities into warring factions--a prophecy that mentions the crippled captive child and a youth recovering from inexplicable wounds in a British hospital bed. The game weaves through worlds and through dimensions as it has since time immemorial--a deadly contest of skill and manipulations that ruthlessly creates wizards, destroys human pawns and transforms ordinary men, women and children into something more.