A sweeping military science-fiction origin story that follows the childhood abduction and brutal augmentation of a group of child soldiers, their years of ruthless training and bonding as Spartan super-soldiers, and the moral conflicts of the program's creators as a galaxy-spanning alien theocracy invades human worlds; at its center is a lone, nearly mythic warrior who must lead desperate defenses against overwhelming odds, protect a vital artificial intelligence, and survive the catastrophic fall of a fortress world that sets the stage for humanity's fight for survival.

The Seventh Doctor arrives in 1987 Thatcher's Britain with companions Chris and Roz. They come to the Quadrant, a troubled council block where a new drug is killing according to a plan and ordinary residents are implicated. A bizarre trio moves into number 43 as a dead dealer rises from the grave and an ancient weapon is concealed beneath human tragedy. The Doctor uncovers links between a special child, an obsessive woman, and a desperate bargain made one dark Christmas Eve.

A ragged, larger-than-life cast of cowboys, showmen and carnival folk converge on an early-twentieth-century rodeo in the Pacific Northwest, where a legendary final contest becomes the occasion for tall tales, rough humor and bittersweet reflection; through vivid episodic scenes and colorful characters the story celebrates and questions American myth-making, masculinity, camaraderie and the slow fading of an age as aging performers and young riders grapple with glory, loss and the need to keep stories alive.