Award-winning author Seth Dickinson explodes into a new genre with this new standalone novel, a science fiction debut. "Anna, I came to Earth tracking a very old story, a story that goes back to the dawn of time. it's very unlikely that you'll die right now. It wouldn't be narratively complete." Anna Sinjari--refugee, survivor of genocide, disaffected office worker--has a close encounter that reveals universe-threatening stakes. While humanity reels from disaster, she must join a small team of civilians, soldiers, and scientists to investigate a mysterious broadcast and unknowable horror. If they can manage to face their own demons, they just might save the world.