The Luminous Depths

Introduction: Stephen Baxter
Cover Artist: Vladimir Verano

In Brno, Czechoslovak Republic, 1931. Eight years before the Nazi invasion...

At the Theater on the Ramparts, a performance of the world-famous robot play R.U.R. is in rehearsal, attended grudgingly by its author, Karel ÄŒapek. A former master of science fiction, ÄŒapek now devotes himself to the here-and-now, writing small works vital to his beloved Republic. He finds little real pleasure in the proceedings but for the contributions of his brother Josef, a renowned avant-garde artist, and Pavel Haas, a disciple of the late eccentric composer, Maestro Leoš J .

Yet in the midnight streets of the city, Haas has found a luminous enigma; or rather, it has found him, floating down out of the starry sky. Once activated it carries Haas, as well as the Brothers ÄŒapek, the actors, robots and musicians, into a nightmarish world of Occupation, of immense devastation and fecund marvels, of dire transports East, setting in motion a terrifying siege and a phantasmagorical night journey leading from the Theater on the Ramparts to the lonely and now-forgotten cottage of Leoš J .

Featuring deep, loving portrayals of the Brothers ÄŒapek, and of Pavel Haas, who died at Auschwitz, The Luminous Depths - sequel to the superb novella On the Overgrown Path - lights a dark corner of Europe between the Wars.

Limited to 500 signed and numbered hardcover copies

Limited to 300 signed and numbered jacketed hardcover copies

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