Four centuries after the Third Shining the Orsinas rule absolute in the domed city-state of Araboth. A fortress built at the ocean's edge, Araboth protects its citizens from the presumed horrors of Outside. But now the predictions of Araboth's collapse seem near fulfillment. As the Prince of Storms gathers Outside, amidst a giddy atmosphere of decadent ritual inside, four will come together in one last hope for survival. Prisoner and privileged alike, this small group - Hobi, a boy on the brink of manhood; Reive, a green-eyed visionary; Tast'annin, a deathless warrior; and Nefertity, an android built in the time long before the dark days - will face the opening gates to welcome the raging Æstival Tide. In a stunning feat of the imagination Elizabeth Hand takes us once again into a world shaken by forces of devastating evil, sustained by a fragile ray of hope. Breathtaking in its invention, mesmerizing in the telling, Æstival Tide is the intoxicating sequel to the highly praised Winterlong.