Word: mouldwarp
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...book A Prophesy, but the playfulness of the opening pages does not seem to herald a serious bout of forecasting. A character named Plato, who serves as the orator of London, lectures his fellow citizens about ancient history, particularly the fragmentary evidence that has survived from the Age of Mouldwarp (A.D. 1500-2300). He mentions the name Charles Dickens and the only book by this author known to have survived, albeit in mutilated form: "The novel is entitled On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection by Charles D--. The rest of the name has been gouged...
Plato's lonely quest for the truth involves some tricky time traveling that takes him back to London during the Mouldwarp era. (Those familiar with Plato's Republic will note with interest that the destination of this journey is a vast cave.) The tales Plato tells on his return do not sit well with the governing authorities, and Plato meets a Socratic fate, put on trial for corrupting the young. By this point, Ackroyd's lively tale has shaded into an invigorating meditation on the changelessness, after no matter how many eons, of human nature and its uneasiness with...
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