Since it has been a while, I thought a quick novella recap would be helpful:
If you have not read Book 1, Spoiler Alert! You can go back and start reading it by clicking here.
In the first novella, we meet the Creator, the Author, Holly and Holly’s clone.
The Creator is a scientific madman. He performed experiments on his daughter when she was a child. This resulted in the successful creation of brainchip technology. He also created nanotech that provided the West with superior environmental control. However, his experiments caused his daughter to become insane herself. He used her delusions of grandeur, along with his technologies to establish power for themselves as the Author and Creator, the spiritual and political heads of the West. The Creator’s main goal is to create a computer/human hybrid.
The Author is convinced she is the incarnate of a supreme being. She compares herself to the Author of a book who has written herself into the story. The Author believes that it is time for her to depart this world (the East are invading, the Creator is going to betray her), but before she goes, she must ensure her teachings are safely embedded in Holly’s brainchip.
Holly is a regular girl, or so she thinks. After she is chosen by the Author to become the Recorder, she is eventually kidnapped by the Creator. Holly discovers that she is a hybrid, but her DNA is dormant. Her clone, (currently a baby) is an activated hybrid, but is unconscious.
During the battle between the Creator and the Author, the intermind virus is released. Nanotechnology that had been allowing them to live longer than their natural lifespans is destroyed. Both die and along with them, many of the West’s citizens.
However, Holly suddenly is able to rapidly calculate her movements and her clone suddenly becomes alert. She grabs the baby and runs.
Book 2 begins 30 years in the future. The Easterners have successfully invaded the West. Native Westerners now live on reserves.
Holly returns in this book, now a 60 year old living on the reserve with her daughter (clone), Cray. Cray has noticed that Holly often seems to disappear inside her mind. Cray leaves the reserve to head to the Tower, presumably to work as an escort for the Es (Easterners).
Holly suddenly finds herself in Cray’s body, which is a new and surprising experience.
Filth is an NW who needs to make money to help his sick sister. He heads toward the Tower (once the Author’s residence and now a bar) and is caught by an E.
The Author’s lessons are back, but it is not yet revealed how or why.
All caught up and now to continue……
My Twisted Stein Mind 