This is a world of people picking up the pieces after a huge nuclear war has left most of the world barren and poisonous. Survivors are yet to reinvent most modern technologies, and live largely agrarian lives. Given the high amounts of residual radiation, one in two children is born with some abnormality… an extra finger, a missing toe, or something less obvious.
At a remote station a deeply religious community evolves which strictly defines what it means to be human, and discards all abnormalities as abominations. Babies are carefully examined and killed if not “normal”. Older abominations are banished, when discovered.
The story centers on David who is born telepathic. There are just a handful who can talk to each other through thought, including his cousin Rosalind, and his little sister Petra. A series of circumstances lead to some of them being discovered, mostly because of Petra’s extremely powerful telepathic capability. They manage to escape capture and go into the “Fringes”, the territory of the banished ones.
In the meantime, another seemingly technologically superior group of survivors at the other end of the world makes contact, having sensed Petra.
An excellent tale with intricate and nuanced world-building, beautifully describing a world set back by hundreds of years, complete with religious fanatics. The story magnificently traces the intolerance arising from fear, the sad plight of the outcasts, and the desperate flight of those who would be found out. And yet, from an unbelievable source, there is hope… this book is just pure magic.