In the afterword of book 1, author Stephen R. Donaldson commented that he wrote the novella because he wanted to take the classic character triangle of hero, victim, and villain and have his characters switch roles as the story progressed. For book 2, apparently he decided that everyone should be both a victim and a villain and to hell with anyone being a hero. This book picks up right after the events of The Real Story and continues to follow all three lead characters: Morn Hyland, Nick Succorso, and Angus Thermopylae. Angus is in custody for a crime he didn't commit and undergoing torture at the hands of the UMCP. Morn has essentially gone from being a captive on Angus' ship to being a captive on Nick's ship but this time she possesses the control for her zone implant, which she must keep secret at all costs. And finally, Nick Succorso shows his true colors and begins to unveil his evil plans for profiting from Morn's situation.

Angus is the scum of the universe and it is ironic that he a prisoner for a crime he didn't commit when he should be executed many times over for the ones that he did. Amazingly he and Morn have developed a strange tie that binds them because they both choose to keep the secret of Morn's zone implant despite the severe hardships they both endure in doing so. It is impossible to feel any sympathy for Angus as his life goes from a torturous hell in a prison cell to one of becoming a tool for his enemy because he deserves all the pain he receives at the hands of the UMCP. However, the evil things they do to him shows that law enforcement is no better then he is when it comes to morality and respecting the free will of others. Angus is as helpless as Morn was aboard his ship and in many ways he does what she did to survive as he clings to internal hopes which harden his resolve.

Speaking of scum, Nick Succorso turns out to be as evil as Angus, but in a slightly different and more charismatic way. Nick heads out to Forbidden Space with every intention of selling Morn to the Amnion, an alien species with a appetite for buying humans so that they can continue their heinous experiments. Nick runs his ship with an iron fist and dominates his crew through fear but always seems to come out on top due to his devious nature. Nick has a reputation as a pirate that is well earned but even his own crew has no idea what he will do next. Morn's presence on the ship is a source of contention for everyone and the entire voyage is one long series of confrontations over it.

Finally there is Morn, who is everyone's victim and the closest thing to a hero that remains in the series. It is hard to hold her up as a shining example of good behavior when she did kill her entire family on her initial voyage into space, but since that was due to Gap Sickness it is possible to feel sympathy for the endless misery she must endure. After the repeated rape that she experienced at the hands of Angus she understandably dreads the touch of any man so she finds herself in a bad spot after being "rescued" by Nick. She knows that Nick expects things to be physical between them so she finds a combination of settings on her zone implant that will allow her to show a fake passion for him when he comes to exact his price.  She struggles at every turn to keep her many secrets from Nick (her gap sickness, murdering her first crew, her zone implant) and she finds that she must slowly reveal these things to stay alive. Of course each secret revealed just gives Nick more control over her and digs the hole even deeper that she is in.

Throughout this book Donaldson finds ways to take interesting sci-fi and alien tech and apply it in such a way as to cause the most misery possible for the three main characters. Morn in particular is subjected to many unfortunate and evil twists of fate that it is a wonder that she still fights to survive. There is no humor or light subject matter to be found in this book so it make me question why I continue to be intrigued by the story. Donaldson has a way of making the reader uncomfortable as his universe does all it can to crush the souls of his main characters and yet I can't seem to walk away. I want to know what happens next and have already picked up the next book in the series. For audiobook fans Scott Brick's style makes him an excellent narrator for telling this dark story.