"This is a dream about the all-powerful ruler Bonifacio, two imperial ministers and three poor young men. It was dreamt in
Hebrew, but written down in Galatian." The ancient prophecy with which the novel begins is mystifying; it refers not only
to the warlike, uncivilized and proud Galatian nation, but also describes the alleged mystical genesis of the book. It was
supposedly written in primeval times in letters of fire; and it maliciously eluded the unauthorised reader by becoming impossible
to comprehend.
At the end of this not exactly modest overture, the author then discloses himself to the reader. This revelation was experienced
in the city of "Nuestra Señora la Reina de Los Angeles in the year of Our Lord 1987". At this time, as the cover blurb
discloses, the Serbian writer Mihajlo Kazic was actually studying engineering in Los Angeles.
Now living in Germany, the author has created in his first novel an ambitious plot and sense structure, which is so complex
that the reader must give it his full attention. Take José Alkorta for example, who is not only one of the three poor young
men but at the same time one of the two imperial ministers. He is living under a false identity. His real name is Belisario,
otherwise known as Vesko. "Galatia is the land of evil spirits" and Galatians give their children two names, a nice one and
a nasty one. The common name is the nasty one; it supposedly protects the child by confusing evil spirits. Vesko (or Belisario)
has left his bleak home country and has arrived in Rome. Here he has taken a dead mans name: "He became José Alkorta as he
wanted to protect himself from evil powers as well as from gloomy memories." The name of the second poor young man is Danilo
(who although he is also a Galatian has only one name). He is a soldier but proves unsuitable for the soldiering life. We
see him almost dead from exhaustion in a stony waste "at the ends of the earth".
We do not find out who the adversaries are; only the signal flares and poison gas indicate that the action takes place in
the twentieth century. The third poor young man is Arnoldo. He eventually succeeds José Alkorta as imperial minister after
the latter dies under unsolved circumstances. Arnoldo comes from Catalonia and finally buries himself in his books after a
mysterious riding accident ruins his life. He has difficulty differentiating between illusion and reality and causes disasters
wherever he shows up.
The three strangers, wrapped in mystery, do not know one another. Each is isolated in his own small, solitary, world. According
to the prophecy in the vision, the three men will cure the ailing emperor without ever being aware of their task. Who can
be the fate they dutifully obey? Here again the reader is left in the dark. The Roman state security service attempts to assume
the rule of the power of destiny; but one acknowledges that there is a greater mystical force behind everything. The puppet
mistress is indeed the secretive and sinister Lilith, Adams first wife who, as her punishment for leaving paradise, is compelled
to devour hundreds of children daily. The fragmented world of the novel drifts towards an apocalypse where earthly and supernatural
powers pit themselves against one another: "All the powers, my dear Danilo, are interwoven with each other. At an appropriate
time we can influence some of them." explains the old and wise Vogeler to his young friend, whom he has looked after since
the latters discharge from military service. Danilo is incidentally the one who discovers the healing powder probably because
he is the only one of the three who succeeds in keeping political power at a distance. In contrast to the other two, he does
not end up as an imperial minister.
Mihajlo Kazic is still not satisfied with the embroilments of the plot in his novel. He plays around with anachronisms as
well. Not only does one travel by taxi in ancient Rome; one also uses computers and cordless telephones. The narrators tricks
are however inflationary in their entirety. It is therefore not surprising that the parable of the totalitarian state noticeably
diminishes in effect. "Every apparent unimportant trifle, every coincidence is some sort of sign" ruminates Vogeler at the
end of his life. This sentence labels well the literary ambition of the novel. The detective game is however only interesting
for the reader when, at the conclusion, the sense of the allusions in the plot can be interpreted. Here however the majority
of the tracks fade away into nothing so that one ultimately puts down the (actually thrilling) crime story with a sense of
disappointment. Is this a mishap or the crafty intention of the author, who warns the unauthorised reader in the prologue?
For the latter the amusing novel is however short on quality. It seems rather as though the author has himself fallen victim
to the vagaries of his confusion.
