Imagine the universe as a forest, patrolled by numberless and nameless predators. V tomto lese, stealth is survival - any civilisation that reveals its location is prey. Earth has. Now the predators are coming. Crossing light years, they will reach Earth in four centuries' time. Ale sophons, ich extra-dimensional agenti a saboteurs, sú already here. Only the individual human mind remains immune to their influence. Je to motivácia pre projekt na Wallfacer, v poslednom čase defence, že granty štyri individuálne úplne absolutné výkony na dizajn tajných stratégií, zasiahnuté prostredníctvom deceit a misdirection z ľudskej a alien alike. Three of the Wallfacers are influential statesmen and scientists, but the fourth is a total unknown. Luo Ji, an unambitious Chinese astronomer, is baffled by jeho nový štatút. All he knows is that he's the one Wallfacer that Trisolaris wants dead.