The Land Across

“Wolfe is our Melville.” —Ursula K. Le Guin

Grafton, an American writer of travel guides, needs a new place to explore, and he chooses a small and obscure Eastern European country. No travel books exist about the land beyond the mountains, so he sees it as his golden opportunity. But the moment Grafton crosses the border he is in trouble, much more than he could have anticipated or imagined. His passport is confiscated, and then he is detained for not having it. He is released into the custody of a local family, seduced by the wife, and again detained. In prison he is recruited by the enigmatic and powerful Legion of the Light as a broadcaster of propaganda.

It becomes evident to him that there are supernatural agencies at work here, but they are not in some ways as threatening as the brute forces of bureaucracy and corruption that Grafton encounters in this strange land. Is our hero in fact a spy for the mysterious JAKA? Or is he an innocent citizen caught in a Kafkaesque trap?

Gene Wolfe keeps us guessing until the very end, and after.