When Ariadne helped Theseus escape the Minotaur's labyrinth with the aid of a ball of thread, she led the way for the bewildered victims of a twenty-first century minotaur. Trapped in an endless maze of Internet chatrooms, a group of mystified strangers find themselves assigned obscure aliases and commanded by the Helmet of Horror, the Minotaur himself. As they fumble their way back to reality through a mesmerising world of abundant information but little knowledge, we are forced to wonder - can technology itself be anything more than a myth?Translated by Andrew Bromfield"For a mind-expanding, surreally funny experience, it's worth getting lost here." Scotland on Sunday"A brilliant post-modern, eclectic vision of myth, mind and meaning. And of the human dilemma and its horns,ancient and modern." AS Byatt, The Times"Pelevin is a highly inventive writer with a sharp, jaundiced eye and an anarchic sensibility." Guardian"Witty, brilliant ... barking mad." Daily Telegraph