This is the latest magnificent creation from the
award-winning author of "Cryptonomicon and the Baroque
Cycle" trilogy.
Erasmas, 'Raz', is a young avout living in the Concent, a
sanctuary for mathematicians, scientists, and philosophers.
Three times during history's darkest epochs, violence has
invaded and devastated the cloistered community. Yet the
avout have always managed to adapt in the wake of
catastrophe. But they now prepare to open the Concent's
gates to the outside world, in celebration of a
once-a-decade rite.
Suddenly, Erasmas finds himself a major player in a drama
that will determine the future of his world - as he sets out
on an extraordinary odyssey that will carry him to the most
dangerous, inhospitable corners of the planet...and beyond.