Is-land is a Gaian paradise in the middle of a blasted world – but its success comes at a dark price.

Like every child in Is-Land, all Astra Ordott wants is to have her Security Shot, do her National Service and defend her Gaian homeland from Non-Lander ‘infiltrators’. But when one of her Shelter mothers, the formidable Dr Hokma Blesser, tells her the shot will limit her chances of becoming a scientist – or helping raise the mysterious data-messenger Owleons Hokma breeds – Astra reluctantly agrees to deceive the Is-Land authorities and all her family and friends.

Astra grows up increasingly conscious of the differences between her and the other Or-kids. When Lil, an orphaned wild child of the forest, arrives to share Astra’s home, at last she has someone exciting to play with. But Lil’s father has taught her some alarming ideas about Is-Land and the world, and Astra is about to learn some devastating truths about Is-Land, Non-Land, the Owleons and the complex web of adult relationships that surrounds her.