The Reading Warehouse

Beneath the rolling seas and deadly atmosphere of Venus are the Keeps-fully enclosed cities that house descendants of the survivors who first harbored atomic energy to escape a dying earth. In massive superstructures built beneath the Venusian seas, a complex feudal society devoted simply to decadence has evolved. Presiding over that society are Immortals-genetic throwbacks to the mutant atomic survivors. While the society is stable, the stability will only lead to its destruction, and the harsh environment outside the Keeps is malevolent and encroaching.

Born into it all is Sam Harker, son of an Immortal and the object of his father's disdain after his mother perished during childbirth. Sam is subjected to treatments which stunt his growth and leave him hairless, and he is exiled from the society of the Immortals and set on the tumultuous path of a rebel's life-one inspired by hatred and a desire for vengeance on the society.

Sam's search for revenge and his great abilities make him more powerful than the more decadent residents of the Keeps ... and perhaps even more powerful than the Immortals themselves. He seeks mass appeal as a politician in a campaign that assaults society. It is not until everything is destroyed-that is, in the aftermath of destruction-that the reclamation of human destiny is even a remote possibility.

C. L. Moore (1911-1987) was an influential science fiction and fantasy writer and one of the first women to write in either genre. Her acclaimed Jirel of Joiry stories first appeared in pulp magazines in the 1930s. She was inducted into the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame in 1998.

Claire Bloom, CBE, is an English film and stage actress, known for leading roles in plays such as Streetcar Named Desire, A Doll's House, and Long Day's Journey into Night, along with nearly sixty films and countless television roles, during a career spanning over six decades. She was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 2013 Queen's birthday honors for services to drama.

Henry Kuttner (1915-1958) made his first sale to Weird Tales in 1936 and began publishing science fiction stories the following year. In 1940 he married C. L. Moore, and they wrote many stories and novels together under a number of pseudonyms. Kuttner was the author of Fury, Mutant, the Baldy series, and the Hogpen series, among numerous other novels and short stories.

Gabrielle de Cuir, award-winning narration, has narrated over two hundred titles and specializes in fantasy, humor, and titles requiring extensive foreign language and accent skills. She was a cowinner of the Audie Award for best narration in 2011 and a three-time finalist for the Audie and has garnered six AudioFile Earphones Awards. Her velvet touch as an actor's director has earned her a special place in the audiobook world as the foremost producer for bestselling authors and celebrities.

Stefan Rudnicki first became involved with audiobooks in 1994. Now a Grammy-winning audiobook producer, he has worked on more than three thousand audiobooks as a narrator, writer, producer, or director. He has narrated more than three hundred audiobooks. A recipient of multiple AudioFile Earphones Awards, he was presented the coveted Audie Award for solo narration in 2005, 2007, and 2014, and was named one of AudioFile's Golden Voices in 2012.