5 November 2003

TOOLS OF THE TRADE: The Synopsis
Examples from Liz Williams and Lyda Morehouse

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Vodra (to be published as Nine Layers of Sky)
by Liz Williams

In the former Soviet Union, at the turn of the 21st century, two people are struggling to make sense of a changed world.

One is Ilya Muryomets, a man born in the 13th century, who seeks to discover why he has lived so long and why he possesses all the attributes of a bogatyr, a hero. Ilya longs to die, but whenever he thinks he might succeed, he is found and rescued by a group of rusalki: the water spirits of Russian legend. They look at first glance like beautiful women, but Ilya can see something much more sinister behind the glamorous façade. Are the rusalki supernatural creatures, as Medieval peasants once believed—or are they in fact aliens? And are they responsible for the peculiar dreams with which Ilya is plagued, that give glimpses of a strange world and unknown people? When a mysterious man approaches Ilya and offers him the opportunity to track down one of the rusalki, Ilya jumps at the chance.

Meanwhile, in distant Kazakhstan Elena Kosolova, a former research scientist at the space centre of Baikonur, is now unemployed and struggling to save money so that her family can emigrate to Canada. When a friend invites her to take a trip to Tashkent to sell black market videos, she goes along.

Out on the steppe, Elena finds a black ball in the snow, which seems to give her visions of a world that is not her own. And then she is attacked, by a rusalki, and rescued by a man who claims to be 700 years old...

Together, Ilya and Elena go in search of the secrets behind the rusalki, and discover that they hold the key to the creation of a new world and a new future.