A deep-space exploration mission discovers a lost human colony controlled by the Nodes, an intelligent parasite binding its hosts into a single Collective mind. Among them is Peter, a five-year-old prodigy whose rare bond with his Node offers a new path forward... or a new weapon.
But as a feudal warrior race closes in and a corrupted AI threatens to dominate every starship in its path, all sides are drawn toward a molten planet holding the remnants of an ancient intelligence.
If unity becomes the galaxy's greatest power, who will control the mind that shapes it?