In this fantasy novel about the nature of humanity and creation, Leo is a twelve-year old boy living in the City (which stands for any contemporary generic city), where everyone is nice and they all help each other, smile and live a genuinely happy life. What makes the main character special is the fact that he was born in-vitro, which only few people find odd or “unnatural”. That attitude changes when one day, with no particular reason, citizens of the City become hostile, mistrustful and secretive. They all start to put locks on their doors and alarms in their home: the City becomes an unconquerable fortress, and some places – unavailable to Leo. Also, every citizen engages in creating a mysterious machine – called the “Red Machine” – whose application is unknown to the main characters. Leo with his friend Ann follow the boy’s father old paintings and drawings – a symbolic map of the City – to discover the truth behind the machine and ultimately – save their home town. 

During the course of the story the children encountered six mythological characters: Xantos, Aquilo, Balios, Notos, Zephyros, and Euros, whom they later meet in real life. At some point, Leo and Anna also look into Cassandra’s eye, which shows possible scenarios for the future and suggests how the red machine can affect the world. The children also visit the Cave of the Moirai, where all data about humans are kept safe. At some point, Leo and Anna hear the story of how different versions of mythology were influenced by people’s needs and historical circumstances, and even though some characters of mythology are called by different names, they are still the same beings – only in different forms. 

As it turns out, the City was once an actual ancient polis, where all creatures known from mythology once lived – and apparently, still live to this day. Classical mythology and its characters help Leo and Anna destroy the red machine and bring back harmony to the City. At the end of the book, they find out that the Prometheus’ monument is about to be placed on Prometheus square. It becomes a celebration of antiquity, but also – of humanity, that should be celebrated in its diversity and wonderful otherness.

The main theme discussed by Marcin Szczygielski is otherness. Leo, born due to the in-vitro method represents a fairly large group of people discriminated against in Poland (catholic church dominates the main discourse in Poland and do not consider this method to be appropriate), treated as “unnatural children”, “created” in an unconventional way (Leo says that some call him “Frankenstein’s child”, p. 58; his teacher calls him “different”, p. 120, etc.). It is visibly expressed in the moment where main characters wonder who is really different: they or the “cursed citizens” (p. 150). Leo is an object of hatred and mockery, not only for other children, but also – for adults afraid of him. Another topic of the story is the red machine itself, a symbol of hatred “produced” by the inhabitants of the City. The machine is contrasted with the creativity represented by Leo’s father’s paintings and the kindness within Leo and Anna – the two outcasts and the only hope for salvation of the world. 

Even though seemingly antiquity is not the main subject of the book, it accompanies characters constantly along the way to solve the mystery of the red machine. The centre square of the City and a mall nearby which is called “Prometheus”, considered to be the first scientist in human history, already places classical mythology at the centre of the story. This name might allude to a special gift to the people, without which humans would not survive, but also to the high price the hero had to pay for his generosity. 

More classical characters appear in the story, as Leo and Anna discover the old monument to “Xantos Aquilo Balios,” a man with two horses (p .160). Xantos (Xanthus) and Balios (Balius) were two immortal horses, the offspring of Zephyrus and Achilles’ comrades; Aquilo was the Roman name for the god of wind, Boreas. All those characters seem to represent ideas about nature, and its guardians. On bas-reliefs the children also notice Zephyros’s image next to the name “Insurance Company «Zephyrus»” (p. 164-165). A few steps further they also see the remains of a monument to Euros. All those characters, carrying their own meaning, enrich Szczygielski’s book and represent antiquity in its finest. Thanks to them Leo and Anna saves the City, which only proves that classical heritage is, not only historical, but also moral, foundation of humanity.

Hunt, Peter, Understanding Children’s Literature, London and New York: Routledge, 2005. 

Killen, Melanie, Rutland Adam, Children and Social Exclusion. Morality, Prejudice, and Group Identity, Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, 2013. 

Parandowski, Jan, Mitologia. Wierzenia i podania Greków i Rzymian [Mythology. Beliefs and Legends of Greeks and Romans], Poznań: Wydawnictwo Poznańskie, 1989 (ed. pr. 1924).