This novel tells the stories of a cloister of monks somewhere in central North America after a nuclear holocaust during 3 different time periods. It starts with the fall of human technology, continues with the resurrection of it and ends in a very serious and sober note about it. All the while, it deals with religion and humanity from various perspectives. We only get a few characters developed in each story but I felt they were enough. The plot is very interesting but I thought that the pacing was rather slow and uneven throughout the book which is the novel's main negative point. The ending though was really good and powerful! All in all, I give this a 3.5 but I'd like to point out that it probably is a much better book than my rating shows so I'd suggest you give it a try.