At the end of the 21st century, the world is ruled by gerontocrats - those who worked hard from a young age, were prudent and law-abiding, advanced technologies allow them to live more than a hundred years. What about the youth? 20-40 year olds? They don't have "real" money or real jobs. They live in their own virtual worlds or in an illegal situation, away from social assistance services and sanitary inspection... Bruce Sterling's futuristic novel warns: only the sacred fire of creative inspiration can preserve the humanity in people and protect them from turning into semi-robots with computer brain prostheses.