Before You Begin

Before you begin.

The story first reaches us as a strange report from the Adriatic: a small light near the coast of the Blue Mountains, and a white figure seen after dark. That opening account sets the novel's mood of uncertainty, where a careful witness can describe what happened without explaining what it means.

The tale then follows Rupert Sent Leger from a London inheritance to Vissarion, a remote country of mountains, castles, and difficult political choices. Its people and places belong to Bram Stoker's fictional Balkan setting. The mystery at the heart of the title is best approached in the order the novel reveals it.

First comes the original “Journal of Occultism” prologue, followed by the nine Books that make up the novel. The illustrated gallery gathers the people, places, relationships, and turning points of that journey. Turn the page, and let the report from the Adriatic begin.