Introduction by Gwyneth Jones. Cover art by Stephen Palmer.
A million years in the future, two ecosystems stand opposed. The first,
Nature, has faded, and exists only as isolated havens or, in the wider
world, as biomes perverted by artifice into hideous forms. And against
it stands the manufacturing ecosystem, which has evolved into a myriad
lifelike shapes, yet offers only an antiseptic brutality.
The land
itself has changed. It is mutable. Maps remain accurate for little more
than decades in Urbis Morpheos, the great manufactured environment that
once was Earth...
In this bleak and hostile world live two women,
Psolilai and psolilai, both of whom are on a mission. Psolilai (who
dreams of psolilai) seeks wisdom following the funeral of her uncle and
the discovery of a mysterious scriber. psolilai (who dreams of
Psolilai) seeks 3Machines, the owl, the fount of wisdom of the great
haven of Mahandriana, which is composed entirely of fungus. Both of
these women have as their aide the peripatetic mycologist Gularvhen,
who knows more than he says and who rides a three-eared horse with six
voices. For in Urbis Morpheos the artificial computing system is
scarlet and deadly, while the natural knowledge system is soft and
fungal, full of secrets.
What is the truth of the ancient
artifacts The Constructor and The Transmuter? What is the connection
between them, the shapeshifting malleads and the sentients of the
manufacturing ecosystem, the agens? In a world so numinous with
artificial mystery most people have forgotten their origins in nature,
Psolilai and psolilai must follow their paths and find wisdom. But men
and devices stand in their way. And the most powerful being in Urbis
Morpheos perhaps has hidden plans...
