Ten black balls, one white cue ball. A table topped with wood instead of fabric. This is polotti, the version of pool played in the imagined European future of CRYPTOGRAM. Told in present tense, the tale of Rokas, Stephen and Suzanna lingers on small detail, poverty and risk. A man called Porphyrian owns everything worth owning in the town, so anyone who works, works for him, if indirectly. Thieves stalk the laneways by night. To help women protect themselves, factories churn out handbag sized guns.
The story moves to among the Cathars, Languedoc, in the mid- 13th century; this setting will be familiar to readers of Labyrinth by Kate Mosse. The Inquisitors spent a couple of centuries hounding Europe's people for anyone whose beliefs were the slightest bit contrary to their own, and accusing women of being witches, in between burning dogs and cats which had black markings. Now we see a woman called Suzanna being questioned as to whether her family's Christianity follows the outlawed Cathars' rites. If she confesses, a horrible death awaits her. If she doesn't, torture may produce the desired result.
As the two storylines continue the comparison is made to a snake eating its own tail as the circle of life comes around again. The presence of violence or the threat of violence is frequent in both dystopian worlds. Rokas also composes short stories and these are interjected as sidelights on the future characters' lives. I would call CRYPTOGRAM more speculative fiction than fantasy, set in the rugged, limestone cavern landscape of southern France which has been home to the ancient ancestors. I found the constant tension unsettling but maybe that's because I know something of the history of the Languedoc region, which has seen atrocities but was awarded World Heritage status during the twentieth century. '
The author Michael Tobert lives in Scotland, and he enjoys speculating about reincarnation and whether our new lives would be affected by the past ones. Anyone interested in judging for themselves could pick up CRYPTOGRAM which is an adult tale of danger and destiny.
It is the near future. In a cold town in northern Europe, the war is over but the streets are still dangerous. Stephen, Suzanna and Rokas live under the shadow of the gun-king Porphyrian, but are driven by their common history and unfinished business during an earlier age of darkness, the Cathar Inquisition of the 13th century. The settings of the 13th century are the Inquisitorial court, the medieval village, the arid landscape and the society of heretics. In the 21st century, it is the polotti hall, the bullet-riddled café, the armaments factory, the jazz club; while all around is endless forest inhabited by reclusive tribals. And between past and future? ... Other times and other places, stories and sideways glances. Because the past is never past. Lives loop. The direction of travel is circular. What do we bring with us when we arrive? What is progress? What is death?
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