Akin to oral legends this story is told word of mouth from a mysterious elderly teacher and is recorded by a skeptical young man, the apparent author. The old man, the principle character, is examined here in the prologue and in examining him the reader is deciding the veracity of the tale. Thus the reader is drawn into the narrative being both skeptical and yet believing that this tale might indeed be true. The old man begins the tale in an effort to cheer up a love sick youth. From that moment a fantastic the novel is about one family that lives, loves, fights, and explores a society spread far across the stars. The central mystery of the novel is the questions, "how did society come to be?" The novel, true to form answers that mystery but leaves the reader with another one. Thus the reader will ponder what shall come in the inevitable sequel.