In a country where we can finally stop wearing masks to get pizza and go to the movies, and where we again have a president who isnโt dumb as a two dollar ham, hard- working, middle-aged liberals Ralph and Alice wistfully yearn for The before Times, when things seemed normal. But for Zoe - their twenty-something daughter who grew up in a world of climate change, housing crashes, student debt, the rise of dictatorships and the fall of democracies - there is no โbetterโ to go back to. For her the purgatory of the last two years was just a pause from life in Hell. So whatโs the point? Isnโt it easier to just give up? If only her new, socially inept, maybe crazy, conspiracy-theorist friend wasnโt so intent on saving the world! Why are they so convinced Zoe is the one to do it? Why do they need Zoeโs help? What kinda name is โBookโ? And what even is a portal gun?