What happens when a former Soviet scientist meets an 800-year-old mythological figure? And the scientist carries a strange object, picked up on impulse, that different species from different dimensions, will kill to control? As they are stalked by shape-changing, vampire-like rusalka? And they begin to fall in love?
The layers of this book peel back like an onion and then weave together like an ornate tapestry. Myth and the need for myth intertwine with harsh reality, lust for power, and fear.
Somewhere in all this, the redeeming power of love, the force of will, and the power of dreaming blossom. The increasing knowledge of how to live from these three principles, moving beyond fear, drive the novel.
It’s rare to find a novel that is lyrical and simultaneously races at a breakneck pace. More than a page turner, Nine Layers of Sky is a breath-taking achievement. It binds myth, reality, and their aching need for each other in new and beautiful, if sometimes brutal ways.