In a future where humanity has colonised the stars, Sub-Lieutenant Tyr Yllen is exactly what he appears to be: an errand boy with officer's insignia and no one to salute him. Posted on the alien world of Mnemosynea as a liaison officer, he is barely tolerated by his own side and barely understood by the native population around him. Then Horace Mann arrives. The Educator's job is to enter minds, and what he finds inside Yllen's is nothing short of a storm. When an unexpected encounter pulls both men deep into the Mnemosynean wilderness, Yllen begins to change in ways neither of them can explain. Far above the planet, unseen forces have been watching. Shaping. Waiting. And deep in the jungle, something ancient and alien has taken up residence inside Yllen himself. Meanwhile, the ambitious military officer Sahr Goldin has been chosen as an instrument by those same watching forces, for reasons she is never told and would never accept. Her ruthless climb through the ranks depends on the intelligence of beings who see her as nothing more than a useful tool. Two soldiers. One alien world. And something vast moving behind the chaos that could determine the survival of an entire people. A Muse of Fire is a richly imagined science fiction novel about consciousness, colonialism, and the strange intimacy of minds that were never meant to touch.