But the story begins in several other places, now introducing the main characters. The world of New Eireann is precariously terraformed, and events conspire so as to result in a rebellion, with Hugh O'Connell becoming the leader of the resistance, earning the name Ghost of Ardow. But when ICC ships arrive to quell the trouble, the New Angeles also happens along. And the ICC captain acquires the Dancer, which, it now appears, gives its owner the power of command over anyone within their voice's range. O'Connell leaves New Eireann, vowing to return. And some time later, he encounters a mysterious Terran called the Fudir, and between them they end up planning to go back to New Eireann, steal the Dancer, and use it first to win back O'Connell's planet, then to liberate long-oppressed Terra.

Meanwhile, at the outpost guarding the main pass across the Rift, a mystery has come to light. Sometimes ships that cross the Rift don't return -- too many to explain by ordinary means. The Hound guarding this pass (a Hound is a sort of super independent space policeman) sends four people out to investigate this anomaly, including his chief "apprentice," or Pup, a colorless sort of man called Greystroke. Before long Greystroke has tracked down the Fudir and Hugh, and he recognizes that the mystery of the Dancer may be more important than his original assignment. But disaster has already struck: pirates have raided New Eireann and stolen the Dancer.

Finally, another Hound, the beautiful Bridget Ban, has come to the quasi-independent planet Peacock Junction, and she has uncovered another mystery. Also, it turns out, the pirates came to some trouble at Peacock Junction, and the Dancer may be lost again. Eventually Bridget joins with Greystroke, the Fudir, and Hugh, which is an arrangement that leads all to familiar human troubles before long. Anyway, they eventually find themselves at the oldest human planet this side of the Rift, where they will encounter the head of the ICC, and also the new owner of the Dancer, and where various further betrayals await -- and where a number of suddenly intertwined mysteries will be resolved.

It's really quite cleverly put together, in the end. The solution to the central mystery -- the nature of the Dancer -- is very satisfying, and is nicely tied in with the other mystery (the problems in the Rift) and which other things like the history behind Flynn's future setup. I also greatly enjoyed such details as the names of planets (like Dao Chetty, which it took me forever to realize was a corruption of Tau Ceti), and the names of features like Electric Avenue: the wormhole routes ships travel in this universe. The characters are a bit larger than life -- all as intended I'm sure -- which sometimes works, but sometimes stretched my credulity a bit. Things take a while to really get going, perhaps. The story seems needlessly obscure at times to begin with, but trust Flynn -- things that don't make sense in the beginning often suddenly emerge later on as key details. As I hinted, the prose is often very nice, but at times overcooked -- likewise the insistence on a sort of mythical meaning to everything grates on occasion (though it can be explained by the manner of telling). It's a very enjoyable novel in a rather old-fashioned mode -- but nonetheless not dated -- a fine space opera with a quite satisfying central mystery, and with a setting that could be reused for further worthwhile novels.