After months of rain, a capital city full of birds, foxes and humans is sinking under the floods. The rich still live much as usual, in their big houses on higher ground, but the poor in their packed tower-blocks are becoming more and more cut off while the fanatical "Last Days" religious sect is recruiting thousands. When the rain suddenly stops, the government - eager to distract attention from a foreign war they have been waging - announces a spectacular City Gala to which the swarming characters of this visionary book flock.