Point of View

The novel contains two third person narrators: Toby and Ren. They each tell their own story in the present about their actions following the Waterless Flood. The reader learns the narrators' histories through flashbacks. Each narrator is a former God's Gardener. Toby was Eve Six and Ren was a child among the Gardeners.

The novel is divided into sections introduced by a first person speech from the head of the God's Gardeners, Adam One. Adam One's speeches are in chronological order and start at year five and progress to year 25, the year of the Waterless Flood. The speeches are in celebration of various festivals and cover the history of the God's Gardeners. Each speech is followed by a song from the God's Gardeners Oral Hymnbook. These songs take the form of short poems usually a page to a page and a half long that address...