Jeff Ryman, the cult modern utopian science fiction writer, playfully places us in the fragile world of an alternative future, where power on the planet belongs to the plant world. Electronics was replaced by highly developed organic chemistry; people “do” photosynthesis, learn under the guidance of viruses, reproduce strictly according to schedule... and few live to be forty years old. The author focuses on young human individuals and their life in a well-maintained “nursery.” The birth of Milena, who is immune to the laws of organic matter, wakes up the half-zombified “vegetables” who want to help her find a safe place in the sun even at the cost of their own lives...