Rigel has always known he’s not quite individual, but the only idea to his origins is the otherworldly bracelet he offers worn since youth. His seek out his parentage leads him to the Starlands, where truth and fantasy have changed places. There he learns that he is a human-starborn cross, and his bracelet may be the legendary magical amulet Saiph, which makes its wearer an unbeatable swordsman. Overcoming monsters, battling a gang of assassins wanting to destroy him, Rigel finds honorable employment being a hero. He knows that he must pass away very soon if he continues to be in the Starlands, but he offers fallen hopelessly in love with a princess and cannot abandon her. Through the imaginative landscaping from the Starlands, Rigel’s search leads him to encounter minotaurs, sphinxes, cyclops, and even more fearsome creatures in Dave Duncan’s most recent fantasy series.