The Moonspeaker:
Where Some Ideas Are Stranger Than Others...

Omega's Folly: Chapter Summaries

1. In which Benton Basilas finds herself in she is not quite sure where with people she does not really know but whom she is reasonably certain are mostly harmless despite their affinity for dangerous driving and inability to give a simple answer to a simple question. By chapter's end Benton has made the acquaintance of the inimitable Omega's Folly.
2. Luck steadily improving now that she has arrived somewhere and thinks she knows where that is, Benton soon acquires, besides half of a large house, a job, an office, and the alarming task of making thirteen copies of her dissertation proposal. Strange software and vague notes from missing relatives add further interest.
3. Riding in quite a different vehicle this time around, it is time to go to work. Still, there is no escape from bureaucracy, even in the Amazon Nation. Having dealt with paperwork, Benny turns her attention to setting up her office, learning some basic Amazon history, calculating dates, and rescuing her upstairs neighbour from trouble.
4. As it happens, Benny is not the only one relocating to the Amazon Nation, as political events on the Outside and inside the Nation lead to a the new Queen taking some key steps. Arion finishes a book, and Benny learns about the Academy infirmary, unfortunately from the inside.
5. The arrival of fifteen nuns from Québec takes up much of Benny's day at the behest of one of her less friendly and certainly least familiar colleagues. Arion makes another contribution to Jed's exploration and mapping of her own house, while their colleague Avi begins the process of rebuilding an important edifice.
6. Sick in bed, Benny does her best to avoid taking medicine and find things to do when she can't sleep. The aftermath of the most recent war continues to cause various difficulties for her co-tenants, and it makes repeated revisits to her dreams. We meet the first named doctor in the Amazon Nation, whose preferred medical bag is a well-worn backpack.
7. Benny vanishes for a time into dreamland, revisiting some old war memories, some sweeter, some soggy. A brief account of the epic Adams gatecrashing event in which foreign members of the family are accidentally invited to a grand family reunion in Virginia and actually manage to show up. Of course, then they leave earlier than everyone else.
8. Benny's war reminisces continue, while Arion attempts to follow through on her request and bring her cases of goods back to Omega's Folly. Although she does manage to arrive at the house, Arion soon finds herself in some difficulty due to the front door being locked and the roof less than structurally sound.
9. Still engaged in her attempt to deliver Benny's shipment of crates, Arion finds herself unceremoniously stuck in a chandelier, waiting to be rescued. Meanwhile, a certain amount of interpersonal drama develops between Delos, Chris, and Jed, while the only person with any sense remains dangerously feverish, Benny.
10. The clean up of the rogue solarium continues, while Benny revisits a more pleasant incident in the course of her military career. Omega's Folly continues to make Delos wonder how it keeps standing, and the new third queen of the Amazons finds some surprising information about Benny's antecedents.
11. Things continue to develop in the direction of the wrong kind of exciting during Benny's dream flashbacks, while Jed explores options for repairing the roof. Having taken over medical watch duty for the time being, Arion multitasks by working on Benny's laptop, adding a few more bells and whistles.
12. Still locked into the distant past, we learn more about the peculiar relationship dynamics among Jed, Delos, and Chris. Benny continues her unfortunate trip down memory lane, and the infamous Brigitte LaBombe makes another appearance, this time in near proximity to other bombs.
13. Benny is finally well enough to go back to work, and it is straight back into the melée of strange coincidences, stranger impromptu classrooms, and her fair share of less than helpful new students. Meanwhile, Arion takes her own quiet trip down memory lane, with less by way of warfare and more by way of hospital stays. Yes, Super Dave Osborne is a real person.
14. A little more time spent wandering down memory lane, but now things politically in the present are moving apace. Women are pouring into the Amazon Nation as they flee the pending war, while the Amazons hurry to crown the newest Third Queen. The coming storm enforces immediate repairs to the roof of Omega's Folly.
15. Reintroducing a couple of characters earlier in their lives before peeking in on further preparations for the coronation. The Adams penchant for avoiding boring ceremonies and wearing whatever they like regardless of the event is temporarily confounded by a guerrilla raid by protocol and tailor Amazons.
16. On to the grand coronation, and a grand hack by the infamous team of Adams Cubed, followed by a rather lengthy joy ride by two main characters. Avi's plans for an orderly and formal event did not survive the participation of certain attendees, but the result is far more memorable for all concerned.

Chapter One