A college party lands freshman Hal Christianson in an America that could have been: no smartphones, no cars, no flush toilets. What he finds is a squabbling bunch of states, the consequence of the colonies having grown up on their own after European civilization collapsed from plague in the 1670s, and they are poised on the brink of war.

For a socially awkward young man, who takes refuge in online games, this is a bad situation. All he wants is to go home, but he has no knowledge or experience that is useful. He has only one skill of value in a world where the rifle is a new invention - he is a competitive fencer.

Fencing may not be enough with the perils he faces. There are stories about people who appear, magically, as if from nowhere. They are caught and killed. The land Hal finds himself in is about to be consumed by revolution and war. As if the situation were not bad enough, for the first time in his life, Hal has fallen in love.

Can Hal grow up fast enough to survive in this world? Is there really a way home for him? If one exists, will he take it?

"A rousing what-if look at a decidedly different America persuasively stuck in a historical past." - Kirkus Reviews