Here at last Jack Vance concludes the brilliant science fiction trilogy that he began in Araminta Station and continued in Ecce and Old Earth.The trilogy is set in the region of space he calls Mircea's Wisp, and encompasses worldsand cultures such as only could be conceived in the mind of science fiction's master stylist. The Planet Cadwal has an ecosystem unique in the human-explored galaxy; a thousand years past it was established as a natural preserve, protected from normal colonization and exploitation. Official residence was restricted to a precisely limited number of scientists and their immediate families. But over the centuriesexceptions were made, as children wished to stay on their home world, and the elite of the planet brought in "temporary" employees - employees who were not, of course, "residents". The population grew, until the human Conservators faced a conspiracy of humans and aliens to wrest control of their world away, and open it to full commercial use. But now, thanks to Glawen Clattuc and his beloved, Wayness Tamm, there is a new Charter for the Conservancy of Cadwal.Unfortunately, it has resolved nothing, nor has it brought peace to the planet. Instead of clarifying the situation, it has hardened the opposition, and polarized the population. Led by Namour and Smonny in exile, one group continues to exploit the population of Yips on Cadwal - people whose illegal status on the planet leaves them unprotected from virtual enslavement. Another faction seeks to restore Cadwal to a pristine condition instantly, and will allow no concerns for life or property to stop them. And in the middle are the governors of the planet and their police force.Newly promoted Commander Glawen Clattuc is charged with apprehending Namour wherever he might have fled among the world of Mircea's Wisp. And Glawen has his own agenda, as well. Finally, after twenty years, he has discovered a trace of the Yips he believes to have murdered his mother.