"Albert Einstein's groundbreaking scientific discoveries made possible the creation of the most terrible weapon the world had ever known. But he made another discovery that he chose to reveal to no one--to keep from human hands a power that dwarfed the atomic bomb." When twelve-year-old Daphne Marrity takes a videotape labeled "Pee-wee's Big Adventure" from her recently deceased grandmother's house, neither she nor her college-professor father, Frank, realize what they now have in their possession. In an instant they are thrust into the center of a world-altering conspiracy, drawing the dangerous attentions of both the Israeli Secret Service and an ancient European cabal of occultists. Now father and daughter have three days to learn the rules of a terrifying magical chess game in order to escape a fate more profound than death--because the Marritys hold the key to the ultimate destruction of not only what's to come . . . but what already has been.

提姆·鲍尔斯 Tim Powers：

1952年生。历史、神话与文字的魔法师。《加勒比海盗Ⅳ》原著作者。

1984年以《阿努比斯之门》荣获狄克奖，1986年以《魔宫晚餐》（Dinner at Deviant’s Palace）再获狄克奖。1993年获得世界奇幻奖的《牌局的尽头》（Last Call），19 96年获得星云奖的《保存期限》（Expiration Date），以及1998年再获星云奖的《地震天气》（Earthquake Weather）三本书以现在加州为背景，重新搬演亚瑟王神话并赋予新意。 至于2001年为他赢得国际恐怖协会奖（International Horror Guild Awards）以及世界奇幻奖两个大奖的新作《宣言行动》（Declare）看似间谍小说，实则探索诺亚方舟、阿拉伯的劳伦斯之死，以及美苏冷战的真相。

鲍尔斯擅长发掘看似平凡无奇的历史事件，糅合神话、传说与文学典故，并重新赋予我们原本熟悉的世界全新的风貌。