On X-day the universe turns inside-out, leaving an extensive "Zone" to the controls of a leftist cabal. An able-bodied Stephen Hawking—the mastermind—lurks in the margins. His henchman heads a posse of enforcers who dispense Dante-esque rewards and punishments. This novel in verse introduces science fiction to narrative poetry. Frederick Pollack's short, syncopated lines read as easily as prose, but with powerful poetic reverberations.