The Times-Post newspaper announces it will send reporter William Weston as the first official American visitor to Ecotopia.

Weston crosses the Ecotopian border for the first time on a magnetic high-speed rail system with no seats.

Weston arrives in Ecotopia's capital and finds a car-free city with electric minibuses, bicycles, and tree-lined parks.

Weston meets journalist Bert Luckman at a press commune and finds his first real sense of community in Ecotopia.

Weston meets Marissa Brightcloud at a forest camp while investigating Ecotopian sustainable logging practices.

A right-wing group called the Opposition contacts Weston, hoping he will help them restore American control over Ecotopia.

Weston attends the Ritual War Games and reports on the violent spear-fighting spectacle for his newspaper.

Ecotopian counterintelligence visits Weston and questions him about his meeting with the anti-Ecotopian Opposition group.

Weston moves out of his hotel and into Franklin's Cove, the journalist commune where Bert lives.

After the War Games, Marissa sleeps with a winning fighter, and a furious Weston forces himself on her.

Bert and fellow journalist Red reveal to Weston that the United States secretly launched a helicopter assault on Ecotopia.

Weston joins his commune's team in the Ritual War Games and is wounded in the shoulder, ending the match.

Weston finally meets with President Allwen, who emphatically rejects any prospect of reuniting Ecotopia with the United States.

Strangers kidnap Weston against his will and transport him to a remote hot springs resort.

Weston tries on his old American clothes, catches his reflection in a mirror, and decides he wants to stay in Ecotopia.

William Weston, a reporter for the Times-Post, arrives in Ecotopia as the first official American visitor in twenty years, crossing into a radically different society built around sustainability and decentralization. He befriends journalist Bert Luckman, is contacted by the anti-Ecotopian Opposition, and meets Marissa Brightcloud, who becomes his lover and a powerful force in his growing attachment to Ecotopian life. The Ritual War Games become a central event, with Weston first reporting on the violent spectacle and later participating himself, sustaining a wound that lands him in the hospital. His climactic interview with President Allwen ends in failure when she flatly rejects reunification with the United States, plunging Weston into a deep depression. Kidnapped by strangers and taken to a remote resort, Weston finally confronts his own reflection wearing his old American clothes and realizes he wants to stay in Ecotopia forever.

William Weston's mission and transformation in Ecotopia.

Weston writes his first journal entry en route to Ecotopia, hinting at a secret mission given to him by the U.S. president.

Americans waiting at the Ecotopian border warn Weston that the people inside are dangerous and uncivilized.

Weston has unsettling encounters with a hunting party carrying a deer and an unexpectedly forward hotel maid.

Weston interviews the Assistant Minister of Food and learns about Ecotopia's stable-state agricultural system.

Weston visits the minicity of Alviso to report on Ecotopia's vision of small, self-sufficient, car-free communities.

Weston watches a heated public argument that nearby bystanders observe with amusement but do not attempt to stop.

Weston files an article on Ecotopian sports, noting they are designed entirely for participants rather than spectators.

Weston witnesses a process called cooperative criticism after a customer complains about a meal in a diner.

Weston files an article on Ecotopia's deliberately engineered financial crisis and its new economy built on a twenty-hour workweek.

Weston goes boating with Marissa and her brother Ben, who directly challenges Weston about his plan to leave Ecotopia.

Weston visits a massive thermal-gradient power plant and reports on Ecotopia's transition to clean, renewable energy.

Weston's deepening feelings for Marissa cause him to critically reassess his relationship with Francine and his failed marriage.

Journalist Red takes Weston to a scrap yard filled with wreckage from the secret American Helicopter War.

Weston decides not to publish any story about the Helicopter War, believing no good outcome is possible.

An editors' note reveals that Weston himself requested his private journals be published alongside his newspaper articles.

Before entering Ecotopia, Weston hints at a secret presidential mission, and his anxiety is heightened by Americans at the border who describe the country as dangerous and savage. Once inside, Weston immerses himself in Ecotopian life, reporting on everything from stable-state food systems and car-free minicities to participant-focused sports, cooperative social rituals, and an economy rebuilt from a deliberate financial crisis. A tense boating outing with Marissa and her protective brother Ben raises the personal stakes of Weston's growing attachment to the country. As the investigation deepens, Weston and fellow journalist Red uncover the truth about a secret American helicopter invasion of Ecotopia, a revelation that challenges Weston's journalistic ethics and his loyalty to his homeland. The novel ends with a remarkable editorial note revealing that Weston himself requested his private journals be published alongside his newspaper articles.

The deeper details of Ecotopian society and Weston's evolving perspective.

Weston watches President Allwen on television at a solar plant dedication and is struck by her informal, non-ceremonial authority.

Marissa plainly asks Weston if he wants to make love with her, directly initiating their romantic relationship.

An unexplained oceanic radiation rise prompts Ecotopians to suspect American involvement, creating fresh tension around Weston.

Weston publishes his War Games article without consulting Bert as promised, triggering a serious argument between them.

Weston rereads his recent columns and realizes his attitudes toward Ecotopia have changed significantly over three weeks.

Weston files an article on Ecotopia's racial self-segregation, noting minority groups have voluntarily separated into distinct communities.

Weston investigates and reports on Ecotopia's freeform, decentralized school system, where students pursue their own interests.

Weston visits the Ecotopian War Ministry to gather further details about the previously secret Helicopter War invasion.

Weston files an article on modular plastic tube structures that many Ecotopians use as customizable, elegant housing.

Marissa furiously rejects Weston's admiration for the plastic tube houses, insisting he still thinks like an American.

Weston wakes up in a hospital after being wounded in the War Games and is treated by nurse Linda.

Marissa visits Weston in the hospital and tells him his War Games participation made him a better, more real person.

Weston mentions his fantasy of taking Marissa back to New York with him, sparking a major fight between them.

Weston falls into deep depression after the failed Allwen meeting and files a vague, uncommitted article about Ecotopia.

Marissa's brother Ben is revealed to have orchestrated Weston's kidnapping, and Weston and Marissa joyfully reunite.

Weston's inner transformation is set in motion by a series of quiet but pivotal moments: seeing President Allwen's informal authority on television, being directly propositioned by Marissa, and eventually recognizing that his own published attitudes toward Ecotopia have shifted without his realizing it. Tensions build through a radiation scare that increases Ecotopian suspicion of Americans, a broken promise to Bert over the War Games article, and the revelation of a secret American invasion that shakes Weston's sense of national loyalty. The War Games wound sends Weston to a hospital where Marissa's words about him becoming a better person plant a crucial seed of self-awareness. A disastrous fight sparked by his dream of taking Marissa to New York, followed by the humiliating failure of the Allwen meeting, pushes Weston to the edge of collapse. The climax arrives when Marissa's brother Ben is revealed as the architect of Weston's kidnapping, a final act of love that clears the way for his long-overdue breakthrough and a joyful reunion with Marissa.