A coming-of-age and coming-of-enlightenment story about a young man in a semi-medieval post-post-apocalyptic America where knowledge and those who seek it are held suspect. Pangborn creates a richly imagined de-industrialized civilization that has arisen out of the ashes of our own. Dangerous beasts again roam in the countryside of what once was the United States, and competing mini-nations vie for pre-eminence. Against this backdrop, Pangborn tells the story of Davy, an orphaned indentured servant who follows his own questioning mind to find adventure, freedom, love and learning in a time shrouded in superstition and ignorance.

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