In a novel of epic proportions, Elisabeth Vonarburg envisions a world of the far future that has survived the Decline where the few survivors are forced to create a new society. Abandoning the models of patriarchy and matriarchy, they are faced with establishing new gender roles, social rules and mythologies.

Lisbei is a young "thinker" whose curiosity leads her to discover a major historical artifact from before the Decline that challenges the mythology of the new order and its religion. In alliance with the enigmatic Kelys, Lisbei sets out to confront the new establishment and force it to change; a task that will take her whole life.