The 22nd century, 150 years after the Dust War destroyed America's Mid-West, and much else besides. California is a last outpost for survival and reclamation during a long epidemic of all-purpose despair.The extraordinary cult of 'Tumbonde,' a former taxi driver its prophet and leader, predicts the imminent arrival on earth of 'Gods' from the stars. The movement grows daily.Tom O'Bedlam, an appare...