Tarl Cabot has struggled to free himself from the control of Gor's powerful Priest-Kings, but to no avail. Now he finds that mission challenged by a threat emanating from the planets forbidding northern lands. There, a menacing alien force waits for Tarl, who faces an awesome choice: protect his own position as a rich merchant-slaver, or risk everything to defend the freedom of his world. An adventure filled with incredible incident, barbaric peoples, and the ferocious clashes between men and women that have made John Norman one of science fiction's legendary storytellers

Tarl Cabot's efforts to free himself from the directive of the mysterious priest-kings of Earth's orbital counterpart were confronted by frightening reality when horror frm the northland finally struck directly at him. Somewhere in the harsh land of transplanted Norsemen was the first foothold of the alien Others. Somewhere up there was one such who waited for Tarl. Somewhere up there was Tarl's confrontation with his destiny-was he to remain a rich merchant-slaver of Port Kar or become again a defender of two worlds against cosmic enslavement