Madagascar Rhode's magical novel The Alchemist's Apprentice enchanted millions of readers, making him the most famous author in the world. And yet, strangely, you've never heard of him. Or his amazing book. The whole thing is a little hard to explain. To unravel the tangled threads of reality you have to go back to the beginning. To a rather odd New Year's Eve party in Cambridgeshire in 1996. Or earlier, when an unsuccessful novelist called Roderick Bent embarked on a train journey that surreptitiously turned into a nightmare. Actually, it doesn't really matter where you start from. The point is that you'll soon understand why there's never been another book like it. And, more importantly, why you can't remember that you've already read it.