On a world made dangerous by recurring, civilization-shattering climate events called "Fifth Seasons," communities live under constant threat of seismic and social collapse.

Set in a near-future American Southwest devastated by prolonged drought, the novel follows characters entangled in fights over scarce water and the policies, mercenaries, and markets that secure it.

A speculative epidemic causes people to lose their shadows and, with them, memories and names; survivors must cope with erasing personal history while some exploit or hunt the newly nameless. The setup focuses on how memory failure reshapes relationships, social order, and survival choices in a collapsing world.

Set on a future Mars, the story follows a lowborn miner who infiltrates the ranks of the ruling elite by assuming a false identity.