"I never asked to be the sole bearer of the entire Knowledge of your civilization. Yet, here I am, barely sixteen-years-old, and it has fallen upon my shoulders to save what remains of humanity from a second Dark Ages. Your civilization is gone now, lost six hundred years ago in cataclysmic wars brought on by climate change. Your virtual information vanished along with electricity. Only your ancient printed books remain, and they have been scanned into a memory device hanging around my neck, to which only I have access. For Knowledge is power, and the dreaded Wraith Lord knows this. He would keep the Knowledge for himself. He would hunt me down and force me to give it up, submitting humanity to infinite darkness and servitude. Knowledge must belong to all, or to none. I must find a way to spread Knowledge back to the world, or die trying."--Back cover