Twenty years ago, the World Mother awoke, forming an enormous ''worldbridge'' from manmade ruins and knotted vegetation that spanned the globe. Borders fell, millions migrated, and legendary creatures returned to the forests. But recently, the World Mother has gone silent, and the worldbridge has begun to whither. Borders are being reinstated. Now, one woman, cast out by her adoptive nation, must assemble a team of outcasts to reawaken the World Mother and bring down the wall separating her from her family.