A thousand years in the past, human civilization had suffered an overwhelming loss of technology, colonies and life. Earth was sorely damaged but the survivors of the war - as usual started by people from greed and the lust for power over others - had formed replacement governments, the most dangerous of which is ruled by a dictator who wants to control everything and everybody. Venus had suffered when the war isolated them from trade and supply, but she and some of her people had survived. They chafe at the restrictions the dictator wishes to impose on them, until he can get around to absorbing them into his government as virtual slaves. Some men feel that action to prevent this and improve their lot seems to be a far better deal. The first of a trilogy, David Drake once again gives us a first rate adventure.