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It is 1847, and Paris is edging closer to its next revolution, but something is also astir inside Mont Dragon in the Ardèche. This is a place of annual pilgrimage for a band of enigmatic nomads, and also a place of interest to the ambitious Bishop of Viviers. In spite of his distaste for travel, Auguste Dupin makes the long southward journey, in the hope that he might be able to help an old friend, the evolutionist Claude Guérande. Guérande believes that he has made discoveries in the caves of Mont Dragon that might cast new light on the origin of humankind, and of life itself. Over the years, however, not everyone who has gone into the caves has come out again, and not everyone who has come out has been unaltered...and 1847 promises to be a critical year, more dangerous than any before it. And when the bizarre flameflower begins to bloom, everything changes! Another great tale in the Auguste Dupin series.

Published by The Borgo Press, October 2011
ISBN: 978-1-4344-3581-1

Review by Sally Startup

Another Auguste Dupin story, this time set in 1847, when great change is anticipated by everyone and feared by many.

The first few chapters introduce some revelations. We learn the narrator's name at last, and he learns the real name of the Comte de Saint Germain. The arrival of a mysterious lady visitor uncovers some intriguing details of Dupin's past.

All the main characters are familiar with theories of evolution and geology that were still new and controversial in the mid-nineteenth century. The feeling of uncertainty and instability combined with excitement that results from this is very convincing.

Dupin and the narrator must travel to Mont Dragon, named after a mythical sleeping dragon. This mountain is of special interest to Dupin's old friend Guérande, who is conducting archaeological research, but also — for a variety of reasons — to a bishop, a community of nomadic travellers, and the Prefect of the Parisian Police.

Mount Dragon is due to behave in some spectacular way involving something described in local myth as a flameflower. What eventually occurs is not exactly what anyone expects. Nevertheless, the flameflower's song cannot ever be quite forgotten, even by listeners whose understanding is limited. The earth's core turns out to be as enchanting, marvellous, alien and unexplored as the stars beyond our reach. And the appropriate response is simply to listen.

The Brian Stableford Website