In the climactic finale of the Corwin cycle of the Chronicles of Amber, the man clad in black with a silver rose at his throat takes it upon himself to draw a new pattern, so that there may yet be order in the universe, regardless of the outcome of the war between Chaos and Amber. In order to do this, he will have to travel with the Jewel of Judgment beyond the bounds of order and chaos, to a no man's land where the coming storm will not be able to harm him. But many forces are out to thwart his mission, including his brother, the traitorous sorcerer Brand.

The physicist and author of "The Dancing Wu Li Masters", which won the American Book Award in Science, offers a major statement. He sees mankind as being on a brink of a new phase of evolution, where old ideas of power and conflict give way to a more spiritual and cooperative way.