An industrial republic borders on two warring feudal duchies. When an engineer escapes the technically-advanced Mezentine City, he upsets the power balance of the continent. There's an interesting struggle between thought processes of the meritocratic City, wherein the workers serve the machines, and the medieval duchies, in which rule is passed via primogeniture and tools serve the workers. The plot is pushed forward by two forces: the Mezentines' need to maintain a monopoly, and various love affairs. The romances really, really annoyed me. I was also frustrated with Parker's Martin-esque tendency to introduce lots of interesting characters and then do horrible things to each of them. I got very anxious, and I had to force myself to finish the novel. I won't read the rest of the trilogy. Parker has a very good, skillful style, but I hate the story zie told.