This is a prequel to Blake's 7.
It's a straight-forward, fast moving story of the origins of KERR AVON. It begins before Avon's birth and shows the family structure he was born into, in the strange repressive culture projected for the future in the Blake's 7 universe.

In here are some of the characters a Blakes 7 fan will recall — Anna Grant, Avon's only love; Del Grant, her brother, and Tynus, Avon's good friend — or so Avon believes!

In a weird duel in the frozen North of their mother planet, two brothers fight a duel to the death — and Rogue Avon is slain. This, the Federation feels, spells the end to rebellion in the universe, and the status quo of peace without freedom can continue. The son of Rogue Avon, obviously an Earthling and entitled to return to the mother planet, has sworn to his mother to avenge his father.
He manages to return to Earth, and there work out the inevitable conclusion to this ingenious and fascinating tale.

Terry Nation on reading this book remarked "Now I know why Avon was the way he was."

In the frozen North of their mother planet, two brothers fight a duel to the death — and Rogue Avon is slain. This, the Federation feels, spells the end to rebellion in the universe, and the status quo of peace without freedom can continue. But they are wrong. The son of Rogue Avon, obviously an Earthling and entitled to return to the mother planet, has sworn to his mother to avenge his father. He manages to return to Earth, and there works out the inevitable conclusion to this ingenious and fascinating tale.