Fifteen generations before, the horror of Surface chased
Singer’s desperate ancestors into the vast underground bunker of the Well. In a
moment of darkest despair, Singer unsuccessfully attempts to breach the
long-obstructed hatch that leads outside – to certain death, as everyone knows!
In punishment, he is cast down from the most privileged level of Seven into the
hell of the Well’s lowest layer – the damp, crowded, and stinking Pit. Despite
the bleak turn of events, Singer’s harsh new surroundings begin opening his
eyes to the truth of the Well and of humanity, his revelations helped along by
the wise old Tech and his too-forward, too-unconventional, too-maddening
daughter.
Resigned to his prison far from Seven, Singer’s hope
rekindles with the discovery of a means to climb the central shaft that leads
back to Seven – and to the outer hatch. He joins uneasily with the Tech’s
daughter in a lunatic plan to ascend the shaft and escape the Well. But can
they dare hope to succeed? And if so, will they find a livable world outside on
Surface? Or will the terror that propelled their ancestors underground have the
final laugh? These questions seem unanswerable, for no resident of the Well is
equipped to imagine what lies above … especially not Singer!
