[1] In the United States, 87 years after the second Revolution, a bureaucratic Spiritual Development Agency controls and monitors miracles, which are everyday occurrences.

[3] A review in Mythlore found Pollack's depiction of a post-Revolution world to be "prodigiously inventive" and "screamingly funny".

[5] A review in Black Gate praised the novel's worldbuilding, but was critical of the "almost plotless" story, calling it "an intensely frustrating read".

[7] Candas Jane Dorsey wrote in the Edmonton Journal that the book "is technological without being technophilic, magical without being muzzy-headed".

[9] Inspired by the novel, musician Joe McPhee scored an improvisational, four-movement free jazz work also named "Unquenchable Fire".