If a little learning is a dangerous thing . . . a lot can be deadly. What would it mean to hold in your hands the keys to humankind's survival? What would it mean to provide those keys to the highest bidder? Or to publish them to the world? Or to withhold them for another generation? If knowledge is power, does that mean power is knowledge? Can you be both brilliant and crazy? Can you be both brilliant and not crazy? If knowledge is power and power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely, does that mean that absolute knowledge corrupts absolutely? And what does it matter if you're dead? Max Palacios has lived in or traveled to most of the places he writes about-including the imaginary ones. A citizen of the world with a lifetime of adventures behind him, he speaks five languages. His previous novel, Dreaming Away, established his credentials as a master of magical realism and a true craftsman.