A fantasy epic about a tightly knit theatre company defiantly surviving in a world that seeks to crush them.
The Bell Street Players are one of the many theatre troupes in the city of Ralmerre, a beacon of arts, culture and commerce recently absorbed into a theocratic empire. The company's impresario Olvar just wants to pile up enough money to keep out of trouble for good. His playwright Merrin, however, is an outspoken political dissident and a growing threat to the city's spellcasting gentry.
When a state-sanctioned killer seizes control of a local crime syndicate, the Players' long-neglected debts are called in. This means Olvar must make good on his promise of a box-office smash or pay in blood. Catastrophically, however, Merrin has disappeared, her latest play unfinished. Now, the troupe must plunge into Ralmerre's deadly political labyrinth in search of their writer.
As Olvar and his Players plumb the city's depths, they face harrowing choices that pit self-interest against idealism and personal loyalties against Ralmerre's desperate need for change. They encounter forbidden magics, corrupt constables, exiled heretics, anguished spirits, peerless divas, philosophizing pirates, and countless other wonders, all while uncovering the city's secrets, facing down its cruel rulers, and confronting their convictions about how the world really works.
What, they come to wonder, are the duties of everyday people in an unjust society? What do they owe to history and to one another?