Robert Silverberg — a Grandmaster of science fiction, winner of 6 Nebulas, 5 Hugos, 8 Locus awards, and a dozen other diverse honors. In the early period of his career, Silverberg didn’t neglect any genre — he wrote popular science, detective fiction, and erotica. In 1967–1976 he devoted himself entirely to science fiction, earning love from both fans of hard SF and fantasy sagas.
Four college students discover a Catalan manuscript “The Book of Skulls,” dedicated to a monastic order living in a monastery in the Arizona desert. The members of the order, it is said, possess the ability to grant immortality to those who complete the initiation rite.