A symphony novel in which an attempt is made to comprehend war - the eternal problem of modern society. A soldier of the Winter War, “undeclared and going on for no apparent reason,” named Jurgens, is sent by the command to the Capital. His name is changed - from now on he will be called Lekh. His life becomes involved in a chain of adventures, covering many destinies, among which are the lives of ordinary people, aristocrats of royal blood, officers of the warring army, Russian holy fools. Precious sapphire, the Third Eye from a statue of a golden Buddha sitting in the steppe, which later ends up in the crown of the Russian Emperors - a symbol-sign of the novel; the hunt for the sacred blue, the color of the sky, stone - the hunt for an impossible human dream. The sharp plot in the book is combined with the melody of the epic, the harshly realistically written war scenes - with fairy-tale visions, the tension of psychologism - with love lyrics. The author freely deals with time in the novel . A mosaic of large fragments of text, not arranged chronologically, creates the impression of a gigantic temporal pulsation, emphasizing the unity of the world. Modernity is recognizable, but so are the dark wells of history into which the reader has the opportunity to look. Events, unfolding in a picturesque fan, form a panoramic fresco, and the action plot keeps you in constant suspense.