In AD 2600, the human race is finally realizing its potential. The galaxy's colonized planets host a multitude of diverse cultures. Genetic engineering has defeated disease and produced extraordinary space-born creatures. Huge fleets of sentient trader starships thrive, living on the wealth created by industrializing entire star systems. And throughout inhabited space, the Confederation Navy keeps the peace.

Then something goes catastrophically wrong. On a primitive colony planet, a renegade criminal encounters an utterly alien entity. And this unintended meeting triggers the release of those that should never see the light, threatening everything we've become. An extinct race named this phenomenon 'the Reality Dysfunction'. It is a nightmare that has haunted us since the dawn of time.

The Reality Dysfunction is followed by The Neutronium Alchemist and The Naked God.