War is humanity's only hope. 'Aldiss' dark vision of collapsing society and withering earth is poignant and brutal . . . [a] richly detailed world' (Science Fiction Ruminations).



In a future where the Earth has been savaged by overpopulation and over-farming, robots are considered more valuable than humans, and sand must be altered to create artificially fertile soil. Ex-convict Knowle Noland, the hallucinating sea captain of the Trieste Star, finds himself wrapped up in a plot to incite a global war that will wipe out millions. War, it seems, is the only way to drastically reduce the population and create a better world for those who survive.