You are death and damnation in human form. You are the lightning of Nemesis attracted by mortal rods. You assassinated Lincoln. You killed Trotsky -split his skull like a melon. You pulled the trigger at Sarajevo and smashed the seals of the Apocalypse. You are the poisoned blade that bled the Court of Denmark, the bullet in Garfield, the steel in Mercutio-and the fires of vengeance burn in your soul forever.-You are Vindici, the son of Death.

Comstat was tasked with guiding the human race into the future. To do that they had to maintain control of all of the inhabited planets. When Nine Star Ships approached Turner's World, the risk to Comstat was recognized and Vindici, Comstat's most powerful weapon, was dispatched to end the threat. But would he succeed in saving Comstat or would he bring its doom?

Roger Zelazny was a science fiction and fantasy writer, a six-time Hugo Award winner, and a three-time Nebula Award Winner. He published more than forty novels in his lifetime. His first novel, This Immortal, serialized in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction under the title ...And Call Me Conrad won the Hugo Award for best novel. Lord of Light, his third novel, also won the Hugo award and was nominated for the Nebula award. He died at age 58 from cancer. Zelazny was posthumously inducted into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame in 2010.

"A storyteller without peer. He created worlds as colorful and exotic and memorable as any our genre has ever seen." -George R.R. Martin

". . . his performance was never anything other than dazzling." -Robert Silverberg

"Roger Zelazny's work excited me. It was intoxicating and delightful and unique. And it was smart." -Neil Gaiman