Giovanni Batista is a third-class maintainer of the Tower. His section is deteriorating more and more by the day and he has not heard from any of his inspectors or fellow maintainers in months. Running out of supplies and having filed multiple written complaints, he decides to descend to the base. Using a chute of his own making, he crash lands and is found by Elias Aureolus Palingenius and the lovely Milena. He finds a world full of books and people he never knew of, but the mystery of why the Tower was built still nags at Giovanni so he and Milena decide to climb to the top to find answers.

The Tower, presented in this new edition, is a fabulous story for the exploration of a deliquescent world, an epic fable to the dimensions of world-building, a fantastic escape full of paradoxes, simulacra, and pretense. Magnificent mastery, invention, and poetry, this is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful jewels of the exciting saga of the OBSCURE CITIES.