2039: The Russians didn't use the big nukes. The ongoing Third World War
has left parts of Europe in ruins. Into the chaos steps the Second
Alliance, a multinational eager to impose its own kind of New World
Order. In the United States-in FirStep, the vast space colony and on the
artificial island Freezone-the SA shoulders its way to power, spinning a
dark web of media manipulation, propaganda, and infiltration. Only the
New Resistance recognizes the SA for what it really is: a racist
theocracy hiding a cult of eugenics. Enter Rick Rickenharp, a former
rock'n'roll cult hero: a rock classicist out of place in Europe's
underground club scene, populated by wiredancers and minimonos-but
destined to play a Song Called Youth that will shake the world.