Von Bek Family Books in Order

Humanity has reached the stars, but the universe itself now threatens to collapse. Count Renark von Bek and his companions investigate a mysterious galaxy outside ordinary space and time, seeking a means of survival whose consequences may be equally dangerous.

Mercenary Ulrich von Bek deserts the horrors of the Thirty Years' War and finds refuge in a mysterious castle. There, Lucifer offers him a chance to save his soul by searching for the Cure for the World's Pain.

An aging Rickhardt von Bek recalls taking refuge in a brothel with a young lover during a nineteenth-century siege. His account entangles desire, confinement, and war, leaving the past filtered through the unreliable memories of a dying man.

Disillusioned with the French Revolution, Manfred von Bek flees to Mirenburg and joins an unusual company of travelers. Their search for the Holy Grail leads toward the mystical Mittelmarch, where political disappointment gives way to stranger questions of salvation.

Seven linked stories follow the von Bek family's search for meaning amid a troubled twentieth century. Characters turn to music, drugs, belief, and political action, confronting the limits of each response to personal loss and collective violence.