'He saw smoke from the camp, and flames where no flames should be. A tiny sound came from the fallen twigs at his feet. Small and black, a single crowling fed on the rotting matter beneath the trees, reminding him of who he really was: no warrior, no hunter, no defender of his people. A scratcher in the dirt for other people's leavings. Crowling.'
When young Ben Crowling unexpectedly finds himself leader of his clan, his one thought is to build a new life on the land granted to him by the star-people. But as time goes on, some are not happy with the traditional ways: Mikklau, his grandson, dreams only of the bright lights and easy money in the big cities, and Linni Crowling, in her turn, prefers the comfortable life he can provide.
But the wheel is completing the circle: no longer can their planet provide for its people, and its enemies grow invisibly in number - until it is almost too late. Only then does Linni realise what she must do to save her people, and their land, and the way of life she has always rejected.
