The future has changed the face of St. Petersburg and its surroundings beyond recognition. Like the city-states of ancient Greece, urban districts are separated and autonomous. Deep enmity and high fences divide the rich and the poor, the townspeople and the anarchists, residents of neighboring quarters and workers from different factories. Getting from one part of the city to another becomes a dangerous adventure. This adventure is what the main character of the novel—an individual with supernatural abilities—chooses to take on.