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Mankind, ravaged by plague and war, has fractured into clans competing to survive on a futuristic planet decimated by environmental disaster. Martin Longbow, one of a band of healer-minstrels, travels between colonies of religious fanatics and the fortresses of the wealthy mending bones and singing songs. But even this somewhat reliable, if uncomfortable, way to eke to out a life cannot be continued after Martin is exposed to the ancient teachings of an order of benevolent monks. Now Martin must travel through a world growing ever more dangerous to distribute copies of a book he hardly understands, on behalf of a cause that may already be doomed.
The First Candle is set in an extensively imagined post-apocalyptic world that includes all the components of a good sci-fi novel. Martin Longbow is hunted by demons, escapes from mutants, and battles with the legionnaires of an epic foe. The book's central storyline, about the mystical teachings of the Blue Monks and Martin's quest to preserve them, provides a central mystery almost compelling enough to draw readers to the end. Many of the book's many characters seem hastily drawn, and derivative of other, more compelling sci-fi novels. Martin's journey from ignorance to enlightenment as an opportunity to proselytize to the book's readers lacks dimension, and the plot's repetitive rhythm—Martin encounters a foe, barely escapes, and travels onwards—gets tiresome, without offering anything new.