A new novel by one of the leading masters of modern intellectual prose. It can be read as an allegory, akin to the majestic images of the Apocalypse. Others will read the novel as a topical heroic chronicle, the story of a mortal duel between a man and an inhuman Beast who came into the modern world to destroy life. Still others will see in the book a picture of an alternative today, where the Main Spirit and his assistants, broadcasting from a magic box, lead the Russian nomadic empire to new victories. In a word, everyone will find in the novel what they want to find. And this is a sign of real literature.