Most readers know Roman Perin as a publicist and political scientist. He wrote this novel for seven long years. The novel is based on the dramatic events of 1985–2005, the esoteric meaning of which is revealed by the author. The novel tells about the difficult life path of the heroes in the conditions of the collapse of the country and the struggle for power of maddened clans. Love and an appeal to the ancient sources of the worldview of their ancestors give the heroes of the novel a new meaning to life... Some chapters of the novel, starting in 2003, were published in the newspapers “For the Russian Case” and “The Secret”, and were posted on websites on the Internet as excerpts from an unpublished novel "Servants of Madness" After the publication of the first chapter of “The Drunken Alchemist,” the author received an offer to create a play or film script about the madness of modern society. The author refused, having his own idea for the work. In 2009, after an expedition to the Urals, R. Perin changed the title of the book to “Rune of Life” and wrote the final chapter “Sanctuary.”