Cardan Gentle lives on an idyllic island, awaiting subsumption with his god. His whole world is himself, his 200 friends and the angels who look after them. After a disturbing event he is rescued, or captured, his horizons are infinitely widened and his probable destiny revealed, to substitute in dangerous situations for the one from whom he was cloned. But from his captor, agnostic theologian Bjorn Harting, doctors Pentalla and Aidan, "e;Captain Pugwash"e;, other clones, the enigmatic Peary Binoche and eventually his own "e;original"e;, he realizes that his fate will be even more horrific. However, he discovers he is also the key to unlock and destroy the whole system, though it nearly destroys him. The action moves from his island to Ardnamurchan in Scotland, Cragside in Northumberland and eventually to Ely, where his efforts are rewarded and his sufferings assuaged.