Die Reihe spielt im Aldabreshin Archipelago, das zum ersten Mal in Ryshads Rache auftaucht. McKenna schreibt über ihr neues Setting: This is a society absolutely opposed to magic, in a world where magic undeniably exists. This is a society where rulers have absolute power, where all trade is barter and money unknown. This is a culture where an individual's role in life is governed far more by their place in society at birth than by their individual qualities. Though of course, those individual qualities have considerable bearing on whether or not a man or woman can hold that place they were born to.