Characters in the sequel include a hive-mind of post-science innovation monks, a straight up witch who charges their monastery at the head of a zombie army, and a plotline about finding what the monks think might be god. And that first scene, which is absolute fire btw.

Primary themes include… Well the bit of exposition about needing to ‘crawl off one mountain and cross a valley to reach higher peaks of understanding’, and coping as a mostly baseline human surrounded by superintelligences, ‘sufficiently advanced technology’, etc.