English Russian
PREFACE
When I was little, I loved playing with an old bronze-framed mirror—my family heirloom. Long tarnished from time, it threw the veil of mysteriousness on the objects reflected in it. As my parents told me, the mirror was the work of famous Venetian artisans. One day, I accidentally dropped it, and the mirror broke. More than anything in the world, I wanted to either glue it together or make a new one, which would look the same.
The mirror, of course, could not be repaired, but it sparked in me a great deal of interest in mirrors and their reflections. This fascination led me to the works of Leonardo da Vinci; the myths of ancient Egypt and the Maya civilization; the stories of the rise and fall of crystallo—famous Venetian glass, which, as the legend had it, made mirror reflections look better than reality. On this path, I met many interesting people: scientists, glass blowers, writers, jewelers, astrologers. From them I learned to draw connections between different aspects of life.
Many years have passed since then. I took up applied science, published many articles, was granted dozens of patents, made quite a few mirrors with unusual effects and world-wide reputation. These mirrors can be found in the pilot cockpits of modern aircraft, in solar energy converters, in TV screens, on the facades of the world’s most famous buildings. One of my mirrors, the "black mirror," is used by NASA astronauts in special devices in outer space. But my thoughts often return to the broken bronze-framed mirror from my distant childhood. That relic encouraged me to write this book.
CAPSOUL is realistic fiction; its actions happen on the verge between the real and the imaginary, on the same boundary, which is often called “the mirror surface.”
This novel includes my observations and discoveries related to mirrors and their reflections, astounding coincidences found in the well-known architectural and religious symbols, significant historical dates, the structure of gemstones, and Nature’s phenomena.
Enjoy your trip to the world of reflected reality!
Alex Krasnov
The Author
Blurb
In the middle of the 17th century, a prominent ecclesiastical leader is sentenced to exile. The Venetian mirror that was used to prophesy his political downfall reappears centuries later in Andrew Serov’s family and leads to a series of mysterious events.
Andrew joins a firm engaged in a project to control human consciousness. Two of his colleagues share with him the breathtaking mirror stories of their own. Deciphering the stunning connections between the events of their early lives, the team builds Capsoul—feats of neuroscience. The new device could help millions of people; it could also help Andrew to shed light on the great riddle of his life. The company’s owner, however, has his own plans for the Capsoul.
When I was little, I loved playing with an old bronze-framed mirror—my family heirloom. Long tarnished from time, it threw the veil of mysteriousness on the objects reflected in it. As my parents told me, the mirror was the work of famous Venetian artisans. One day, I accidentally dropped it, and the mirror broke. More than anything in the world, I wanted to either glue it together or make a new one, which would look the same.
The mirror, of course, could not be repaired, but it sparked in me a great deal of interest in mirrors and their reflections. This fascination led me to the works of Leonardo da Vinci; the myths of ancient Egypt and the Maya civilization; the stories of the rise and fall of crystallo—famous Venetian glass, which, as the legend had it, made mirror reflections look better than reality. On this path, I met many interesting people: scientists, glass blowers, writers, jewelers, astrologers. From them I learned to draw connections between different aspects of life.
Many years have passed since then. I took up applied science, published many articles, was granted dozens of patents, made quite a few mirrors with unusual effects and world-wide reputation. These mirrors can be found in the pilot cockpits of modern aircraft, in solar energy converters, in TV screens, on the facades of the world’s most famous buildings. One of my mirrors, the "black mirror," is used by NASA astronauts in special devices in outer space. But my thoughts often return to the broken bronze-framed mirror from my distant childhood. That relic encouraged me to write this book.
CAPSOUL is realistic fiction; its actions happen on the verge between the real and the imaginary, on the same boundary, which is often called “the mirror surface.”
This novel includes my observations and discoveries related to mirrors and their reflections, astounding coincidences found in the well-known architectural and religious symbols, significant historical dates, the structure of gemstones, and Nature’s phenomena.
Enjoy your trip to the world of reflected reality!
Alex Krasnov
The Author
Blurb
In the middle of the 17th century, a prominent ecclesiastical leader is sentenced to exile. The Venetian mirror that was used to prophesy his political downfall reappears centuries later in Andrew Serov’s family and leads to a series of mysterious events.
Andrew joins a firm engaged in a project to control human consciousness. Two of his colleagues share with him the breathtaking mirror stories of their own. Deciphering the stunning connections between the events of their early lives, the team builds Capsoul—feats of neuroscience. The new device could help millions of people; it could also help Andrew to shed light on the great riddle of his life. The company’s owner, however, has his own plans for the Capsoul.