ILLICIT USE OF NARCOTIC DRUGS, PSYCHOTROPIC SUBSTANCES, AND THEIR ANALOGS CAUSES HARM TO HEALTH. THEIR ILLEGAL TRAFFICKING IS PROHIBITED AND ENTAILS RESPONSIBILITY PROVIDED BY LEGISLATION.
In a post-apocalyptic world of the New Middle Ages, where eternal cold never melts, there is gloom; the sky is covered in ash; and any knowledge is declared heresy. A young inquisitor takes up an investigation of “corruption.” Desperately, he tries to see facts and truth where others only perceive illusion and witchcraft.
Anna Starobinets’s new novel is an unusual genre combination of detective fiction, science fiction, and fantasy—taking the reader into a frighteningly dark “yesterday” that has come to replace the promised bright future.
Seventeen centuries have passed since the global nuclear catastrophe. Humanity nearly disappeared, and the survivors—having lost the scientific and technical achievements of the previous era—began all over again. The climate and faith have changed, time and life flow differently, and the animals have changed—almost everything has changed. Only human nature hasn’t: the New Middle Ages painfully reminds us of the old one. In the settlement of Chistye Khomly, an epidemic rages, and the residents are convinced that the local witch—the seamstress—is to blame. All they have to do is throw her into a volcano, and as they believe, order will be restored.
From reviews:
“Carefully built setting and a clear hook—people of the modern mindset in a crude, archaic world open up many directions for development, especially since from the first pages the reader is given a thread of a detective intrigue,” — Galina Yuzefovich.
“Detective fiction stretched across a frame made of a nuclear spring and a new Middle Ages,” — Anastasia Zavozova.
Step into the space of eternal cold and superstition, where a young inquisitor challenges the darkness—and his own assumptions. The audiobook is read by Grigory Perel: his performance helps you believe in the credibility of the New Middle Ages.