BEFORE GOD MADE PEPONI, HE'D ONLY BEEN PRACTICING ON ALL THE OTHER WORLDS.

FINALLY, HE'D DONE THE JOB RIGHT. 

So August Hardwyke told Matthew Breen, a young journalist captured by the lure of this fabled paradise planet.

Breen set out to discover the truth about Peponi, but the elusive secret of this new Eden seemed always out of reach-for each person who had been touched by its magic was affected differently. 

To Hardwyke it was a big game hunter's dream; to Amanda Pickett, a rich, fertile land where a fortune could be made in a few short years. 

And to Buko Pepon, the first great leader of the native alien race, it was a homeland to be reclaimed from the invading humans, peacefully if possible, by bloodshed if necessary.

Matthew Breen's quest became an obsession; his journey would take him across half the galaxy and consume half a lifetime before he would discover the shattering truth.