The Guidestars: two shining lights that hang above, motionless in the night sky. The common folk know them well, and use them to count the hours and mark the seasons. But when the steerswoman Rowan discovers a number of broken blue jewels of clearly magical origin, her investigations lead to startling discoveries: there are other, unknown Guidestars -- and something has caused one of those to fall. She knows one more thing: where the fallen Guidestar was located. To reach it, she must cross the Inner Lands and pass deep into the wild and deadly Outskirts. Rowan's traveling companion, Bel, is an Outskirter herself, and together the steerswoman and the warrior-poet have a chance of surviving the cruel landscape, the barbarian tribes, and the bizarre native wildlife. But there are more secrets than one in the Outskirts. And each step closer to the Guidestar brings new truths, leading Rowan toward the deepest secret of all...