A story about a boy with a questionable relationship to life and his best friend, a girl with a questionable relationship to death. The concept of death never particularly bothered Wilom Tris. So, when the opportunity for a truly unusual apprenticeship came up, the only thing that mattered to him was that it got him out of his aunt's house. Until then, Wilom had more than enough information to know his only options were bad ones. Now, it turns out he has two options that are equally tempting, but not nearly enough information about them. Option one: Stay on the River, be a ferryman, live by the rules. Option two: Go back to the living world, and do whatever he wants. The more he learns about his apprenticeship and life on the River, the more questions he has, but his mentors have stopped answering them. The only perspective he has on the living is through the eyes of the dead. He knows he's missing something important, but nobody will tell him what it is. At least he has a friend along for the ride.