An ice-bound world is on the brink of an industrial revolution. Factories are springing up across the country & technology is changing the very foundation of the world. But the old ways do not die easy. Magical forces still dominate the world, & the Cold Mages who have ruled will not go quietly. Catherine Hassi Barahal is a child of that revolution. At university she studies the new technologies that are changing her world, & dreams of becoming an explorer like her father. But all of that will change when the Cold Mages come for her.