For many generations the Just have been at war with the Protectors. In their strange world, supported by a huge pillar poised in the vast and mysterious Deep, ritual bloodshed and sorcery have obsessed the inhabitants since the beginning of time.

Half human, half machine, sexless and hairless, the Visitor from the skies enters the world on a mission unknown even to himself. Is he a peacemaker between the warrior clans, an observer, or, with his phenomenal qualities, a warrior himself, the likes of which this planet has never seen before?

Only time can tell, and time is something that his makers have not allowed for ...

John Crowley was born in Maine in 1942 and grew up in Vermont, Kentucky and Indiana before moving to New York and taking up work in documentary films - an occupation he still pursues alongside his writing. THE DEEP, his first science fiction novel, was published in 1975 and was followed by BEASTS, ENGINE SUMMER and GREAT WORK OF TIME. With the publication of LITTLE, BIG in 1981 he won the WORLD FANTASY AWARD and was shortlisted for the HUGO, NEBULA and BSFA AWARDs.