It is the year 1878, and in the heart of America's untamed new frontier lurks a dark force as ancient as time, buried deep inside the earth, awaiting its return to power. Evil men are exploiting the riches of the West in order to bring that awakening about, using strange machinery and fantastic devices to further their ends. Only two men, warriors from two different cultures can stand together to defeat them and save the world from the terror of the Faceless. Gunslinger Gabriel Tyler and Indian shaman Jonathan Fivehawk have tracked the evil rail baron Robur Drache, to Winterville, high in the snow-covered mountains of the north. In his service to the Faceless, Drache has a legion of immigrant workers constructing a railroad which seems to have no start and no destination...While Tyler wonders after Drache's plan, Fivehawk is distracted by his own concerns; somewhere nearby is Eyes-Like-Amber, his sister, abducted by Drache's outriders for reasons unknown. Meanwhile, a young Chinese girl named Yu Lim is also investigating Drache's intents, with a duty of her own to follow.
James Swallow has written several books, including Star Trek: Terok Nor: Day of the Vipers and Seeds of Dissent (from Star Trek: Myriad Universes: Infinity's Prism); the Sundowners quartet of 'steampunk' science fiction Westerns (Ghost Town, Underworld, Iron Dragon and Showdown); the best-selling novelization of The Butterfly Effect; The Flight of the Eisenstein, Faith and Fire and Jade Dragon; the 2000AD tie-ins Eclipse, Blood Relative and Whiteout; Stargate Atlantis: Halcyon; and the Blood Angels duology Deus Encarmine and Deus Sanguinius.
In addition, Swallow's short fiction has appeared in Inferno! and Stargate magazine, the anthologies Star Trek Voyager: Distant Shores, the Doctor Who Short Trips collections Dalek Empire and Destination Prague, Something Changed, Collected Works, What Price Victory and Silent Night.
His non-fiction includes Dark Eye: The Films of David Fincher and books on writing, genre television and animation; he has also written for Star Trek: Voyager, Doctor Who and Space 1889, along with several scripts for audio and videogames.
