Summary

The novel begins with the first story, Part I: Gold - Celestial Railroad. The story is told in the past tense, third person limited point of view. The section opens with a quote: "Beset by labor shortages, Crocker chanced one morn to remark his houseboy, a slight but perdurable youth named Ah Ling. And it came to him that therein lay his answer," from the book "K. Clifford Stanton." The story is divided into several smaller segments.

The first segment provides the context for the story. A Chinese immigrant, Ling, was riding in a train with his employer, Charles Crocker. A historical figure from the 19th century, Crocker was one of the Big Four barons in the American railroad industry and was responsible for the Central Pacific Railroad and the Southern Pacific Railroad. The author situates the story...