“Today, by other means, be it macroeconomics or biotechnology, we are still seeking the Philosopher’s Stone and the Elixir of Life.”

After his immersion in the world of Basque witchcraft – “Como el bosque en la noche” (Like the Woods at Night) (Alfons el Magnànim Prize) – Alvaro Bermejo is back on our shelves with ‘The Secret of the Alchemist King’. A story set between the Madrid of Philip II and the Prague of Rudolph II, featuring canvases by Arcimboldo, the shadow of ‘El Golem’, and the enigma of the Voynich Manuscript. Next Tuesday, he will present the book in Madrid at the Cultural Space of El Corte Ingles, accompanied by the journalist and writer Anna Grau. ‘The Secret of the Alchemist King’ is presented as a historical novel and it most certainly is one, but it incorporates elements of fantasy, an unsettling esoteric atmosphere, and even the plot of a thriller. Talk about crossover literature!

In his marvelous introduction to fantasy literature, Todorov defines the various forms of the genre as a tool for opening ways into augmented realities. Allow me to give an example. I just got back from Castel del Monte, the enigmatic octagonal fortress erected by Emperor Barbarossa in the middle of nowhere. There, I discovered a book that compares its towers with the similarly-octagonal fountains sketched in the Voynich Manuscript, the book that inspired ‘The Secret of the Alchemist King’. Incidentally, in olden days, this text was known as the Ochavado Codex, referring to the key of Castel del Monte being the number eight. Mystery attracts mystery. Literature is the backdrop, or rather the labyrinth, where they all cross. I see he likes a gamble. Because there is another emperor in this book, Rudolph II, nephew of Philip II. He is the one that sends off the three adventurers to Prague in search of the cryptic manuscript written in a strange tongue that until this day no one has been able to decipher.

Read the whole interview here: TodoLiteratura