The Golden Age

In the novel “Golden Time,” three realities intertwine: the abode of the gods, in many ways similar to today’s civilization; the world of people, living by the laws of the Iron Age tribes; and the country of the dead—Buni. Between the sky and the earth, a great river, Ségede, flows: instead of water, time itself flows in it, and only shamans—kams—are allowed to enter its current.

One day, a young kamse must set out to search for a predecessor who has disappeared without a trace, passing through all three worlds. Gradually, she discovers that events in each of them echo in the others: a plane from the world of the gods turns up among people, and the mammoths found in the gods’ cemetery are mysteriously connected to the héli reindeer that have vanished from the world of the dead.

Meanwhile, Ségede is rapidly running low. The end of times is approaching—a turning point beyond which history must begin anew, making yet another round.