Description

The novel begins with the impression that it is set in medieval times but gradually becomes apparent that it is in the future.  A future after world war three.

OK, the setting itself is not original, but has been kept close to plausibility rather than outright fantasy. Everything is controlled by four big corporations living in orbit, nation states have gone.

The leading characters are a tribe of samurai like warriors living self-sufficiently in a wasteland. A local baron and his bully soldiers, northern warlike tribes and alien descendants. Corporate agents, believed to be gods, coerce northern tribes to steal food and lay waste to the land starting a war.

The corporations intend to clear the earth of all life and start again. With the help of a wizard, our hero finds himself in orbit. Nothing is what it seems. But with additional help from an android and robots, he discovers a deeper plot to destroy all humanity. With corporate police, mind influencing thought police, AI computer, an enchanted sword and a fight in a virtual world Arran has his hands full. The sword turns out to be an alien device that inserts a virus into the system.