One of the protagonists is a millennia-old being whose goal is to breed humans who have powerful magical powers. He does this by coercing his descendants into producing children with one another, especially with parent-child or brother-sister pairings. Because this character is so powerful and influential, almost no one can effectively stop him or resist him The book also takes place during the time of the trans-Atlantic slave trade. The rape and forced breeding of enslaved people is discussed throughout.