The Phoenix Cycle: The Best Shall Rise

The Best Shall Rise New San Francisco is the last city standing on a world ravaged by storms of ash and debris. The city survived by putting the ideals of the American dream on steroids and inspiring its people to persevere, but have become ruthless in the process. Its citizens are ruled by the General, who has made sure that his people understand that gentleness and pity have become weaknesses that nature no longer tolerates. 
Now Steve and Leslie must choose whether they will apply for the General's once in a lifetime opportunity to "Rise from the Ashes" and join the Inner Circle that rules the city. If they don't, they will be damned to spend the rest of their lives in the ghettos of Edingburg, a place where virtual reality has become a government-subsidized addiction. 
For Steve, the choice is easy. His loyalties lie with the IRA, a revolutionary army led by a voice only known as "Mom." They are trying to overthrow the General and free the people of New San Francisco from the cruelties of the City Guard. Steve's one mission is to broadcast a recording of a speech that a famous philosopher died to tell. Many thousands have and will perish to get this message out, but is anyone willing to listen?

Bob Collopy was raised on southern values. A world of rigidity and blind faith. He was then moved to Sedona. A near cult--like world, grown from 1960’s flower children. He was then moved to Scottsdale. A world of extreme wealth and vice. He then went to college and joined a fraternity so notorious it was on national and world news multiple times. Due to these shifts, Bob always found himself the the semi-lucid observer; constantly confused and adjusting to new and opposing sets of norms few cultures would ever call normal or even acceptable. The city Bob has created is a blending of these intense and opposing cultures and the people trying to survive and conquer them.