"What is Hell like?" How would you answer such a question? Even a powerful angel who knows about every detail of Hell struggles to explain that place shrouded in mystery that no one wants to visit, but about which everyone is at least a little bit curious. If Hell is not lakes of boiling blood and demons with whips, what is it? The life of Earl Cornelius Manningham-a military leader and powerful ruler on a distant planet populated by the most savage, unpleasant citizens one can imagine-is an excellent place to start, the angel decides. Earl Cornelius is violent, obnoxious, cruel, hateful, disgusting, and more than a little bit crazy-just about everything bad all shoved into one soul: a hellish creature if there ever was one. She commands his life story be written-this very book-but does she get what she expects?

Cornelius has triumphed in his first battle and climbed to the rank of Peasant, leaving behind the menial labor and brutality endured by the countless serfs slaving away for the comfort and glory of their Duke. Yet Cornelius soon finds the fierce joy of his victory crushed beneath the weight of new cruelty and suffering, almost as if there were unknown high-ranking Climbers determined to make his life miserable. And perhaps he's right... Meanwhile, as the powerful angel listens to Earl Cornelius describe his brutal early life in Manningham-a story she hopes will communicate the loveless nature of Hell to a young man in her care-she begins to have doubts when she learns of the heroic side of the savage Cornelius. Something is wrong; there are no heroes in Hell