It tells the story of Liv Alverhuysen, a female psychologist who sets off on an adventure to heal the mad John Creedmoor, an Agent of the Gun who is goaded into obedience to his master's orders, despite his growing disdain for them.

The Line is industrial, with technological weapons and trains that speed by so quickly the countryside is barely seen and take over towns and make their citizens slaves at their whim.

The Gun are made up of thieves and murderers and keep hold of the people by fear and violence, but they are losing the war against the Line.

[1] The book begins by telling the story of how the General falls prey to one of the Line's noisemaker devises, something that drives the listener mad if it does not kill them outright.

She begins her difficult journey with the help of the school janitor, a brain damaged but extremely large man who wants nothing more than to protect her.

John Creedmore is relaxing on a ferryboat, enjoying being out of the war, when his masters, the Gun, summon him to take on a new mission.

Creedmoor, having continued to ride through the death of several horses, reaching the town of Kloan and decides he needs a break, contrary to his master's wishes.

Liv senses that Creedmoor's masters will not allow him to act in his own accord, and when she gets her chance, she stabs him repeatedly with her knife, even as he heals.

Publishers Weekly said of The Half-Made World that "the lyrical descriptions of the harsh, dramatic, and mystical frontier compel the reader onward.".

[2] Eric Van Lustbader calls it "the love child of McCarthy’s The Road and Le Guin’s The Dispossessed.

"[3] Ursula K. Le Guin says the novel has "“Vivid and accurate prose, a gripping, imaginative story, a terrifically inventive setting, a hard-bitten, indestructible hero, and an intelligent, fully adult heroine.".