Louisa Sophia, a trained thief and the illegitimate daughter of the Consul General of Egypt steals an ancient letter from Antigenes to Ptolemy. The missive discusses the last days of Perdiccas, the Regent in charge of Alexander’s Empire, following the king’s death. According to witnesses, the letter tells the story of how part of Perdiccas’s army disappeared in the Sinai desert as if taken by the gods. It describes Antigenes’s search for the army and how he found a hidden temple full of gold and Anubis-like creatures able to perform miracles. Louisa sets out for Egypt to find the temple and confront her father.

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Archaeologist Dr. Ben McGehee discovers an ancient Sumerian stele describing a story about a city whose citizens disappeared in a similar fashion to the missing Greek army. Asked by his friend Flinders Petrie to be the point man for an upcoming excavation in Tanus, Ben and Abu Saqr, the orphaned teenager Ben recently took in, head to Egypt.

Ben and Louisa meet and eventually partner to find the hidden temple. Before they leave on their expedition, Louisa confronts her absentee father, and he provides an escort to protect her, a squadron of the 13th Bengal Lancers led by Duffadar Jeevan Nahal. All along the way, unknown forces, led by Professor Ali Mousa, a Keeper of the Seba and a curator of the Boulaq Museum, try to thwart Ben and Louisa from finding the temple. During the expedition, Ben starts to fall for Louisa.

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Upon discovering the village of ancient Egyptians and the temple, Ben and Louisa witnessed a ceremony led by Professor Ali Mousa and two giants who were walking and talking wolf creatures. The ceremony involves a magical device that Louisa steals. Ali leads the villagers to kill the thieves and bring back the device. Louisa, with Abu’s help, activates the artifact while their camp is under siege.

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Ben, Louisa, Abu, the 13th Bengal Lancers, and the villagers are transported to Aaru, the field of reads or heaven in Egyptian mythology. In reality, Aaru is a planet on the far side of the universe.

The Earthlings soon realize that the device, called a Seba (Ancient Egyptian for Star, Gate, and Door), does not have enough power to send them back to Earth. Running from Ali and the villagers, they are captured by human horse archers and led into the maelstrom of a battle between the Aaruan nations of Alexandria and Remus. Forced to choose sides, Ben and the Lancers help the Alexandrians win the fight. Since coming to the new planet, Louisa begins to think that maybe there can a future for her and Ben.

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Polemarchos Alexandria ben Zev i Hurasu helps them understand the history of the planet, Aaru. Once ruled by a race of immortal aliens known as the Ancients, eight thousand years ago, the Ancients disappeared, leaving behind three slave races of other aliens and the remnants of their advanced civilization.

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The three races are hysakas, stirithy, and babiakhom. The hysakas are giant wolf-like aliens, and the Ancients bestowed on them the ability to manipulate living things such as plants and people. Anyone with these powers is known as a life singer, and they can heal, hurt, or grow. The stirithy are a species of intelligent raccoon/foxes given metal singing abilities, allowing them to manipulate most base elements such as silicon and metals. The babiakhom are a race of gliding baboons with wind singing abilities that enable them to translate any language, speak to animals, speak over long distances, and manipulate the wind to fly.

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In 3161 BC or 322 BE (Before Earthlings) An, the hysakas discovered an Ancients’ device, the Seba, and traveled to Earth. There, they mingled and influenced the early Egyptians. Trying to find a way back to Aaru, they transported an entire city of Sumerians to the planet. Later, these first humans would find another of the Ancients’ devices, and by experimenting, they would create two immortal sub-human races: The Welves and the Elves.

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1974 BC/980 AE (After Earthlings) An, another alien race arrived on Aaru using a different Seba. Called ripvor and known as reapers, these warlike and seemingly emotionless aliens came to kill and conquer. Desperate, the Aaruans traveled back to Earth and returned with an army of Ancient Egyptian Nubians who helped them defeat the ripvor. Now, every 551 years, the ripvor return, and the Aaruans travel to Earth each time to bring another Earth army from that period. This cycle is known as the Lamentations.

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Thus, many different cultures, including ancient Sumerian, Egyptian/Nubian, Kuru, Assyrians, Greek/Hebrew, Roman/Sassanid, Norse, and Nipponese. The Norse warriors discovered a different device that turned them into another subrace of humans, which is short, stout, and super strong. Thus, Aaru has three nations of Viking dwarves. The Aaruans brought the Nipponese to Aaru in preparation for another coming Lamentations. However, the ripvor did not come during this cycle. This is known as the Phantom Lamentations.

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Of note and relevant to the current day, two armies fighting each other, one Roman and one Sassanian, were brought together to fight in the 230 Ad/ 3732 AE lamentations. The enemies joined forces to help defeat the ripvor. Afterward, they formed the nation of Remus and adopted a state religion, which is a mutation of the monotheistic Zoroastrianism practiced by the Sassanians. Thus, the Remulans have the political and martial structure of ancient Romans combined with a fanatical religion. They are bent on conquering the world, and for Emperor Ceasar Octavius Remus II and his First Counselor Aquila, this means gaining knowledge of firearms from the Earthlings.

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Despite owing the Earthlings for winning the battle, Polemarchos Alexandria decides that her family needs to understand the secrets of guns and gain as much information as possible from Ben, Louisa, and their companions. Her family, the premier warrior family in Alexandria, conducts a temporary coup to ensure they develop the firearms on their own to defeat the Remulans. She assigns her daughter Esther to help the Earthlings and gives her the secondary mission to kill Ben if it looks like anyone else will be able to capture him and get his secrets.  

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Determined to find a way home, Ben, Abu, Louisa, and the Lancers head to an Ancients Complex to find answers. Esther, a contingent of Alexandrian troops, and the unlikely romantic couple of Khepri, a hysakas, and Ssherrss, a stirithy, escort them to the mountain location.

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Before the group reaches the site, they are ambushed by assassins sent by the Remulans. Abu kills a man for the first time, and Louisa is kidnapped. In pursuit, Ben and his posse are ambushed by Remulan legionaries, and he is wounded. Louisa is freed from the assassins by welves, becoming their captive. Ben’s group is also made guests of the welves. Another prisoner of the welves, Professor Ali Mousa, heals Ben using his life singing powers and joins the group but under great suspicion. The book ends with Ben and Louisa reuniting while captives of the welves. At this time, Ben realizes that he is in love with Louisa and commits to pursuing a relationship with her to the end.