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As he begins his journal, young Shim of Gitta is on his way to Egypt, to study the mysteries buried in the arcane texts and lost tombs of that ancient land. One day he will be Simon Magus, the first great supervillain of early Christian legend. Many tales tell of his magical battles with the first saints, his attempts to corrupt the new Church with silver and strange heresies, and his final ignominious downfall before the Emperor Nero. His whole village has pooled their resources to send him to the Academy in Alexandria, hoping he will return with the knowledge and connections to rise in the Roman administration. Shim has other plans.Thus begins A Search in Secret Egypt, the first volume of The Acts of Simon Magus. In it we learn of Shim's early life: his roving father, his dead brother (who won't leave him alone) and the village witch-woman who has doomed him to a mysterious, inconvenient quest. In Alexandria he moves into a tomb, studies under the philosopher Philo and the rascally wizard Dedi, participates in an epic hoax and, with the sorceress Selene, reaches for the ultimate power in a Lovecraftian climax. Only now, after millennia of slander, can we read Simon's story in his own words, assembled at the end of a long and eventful life, telling of his many adventures in the time of Christ and Nero. From Samaria to Egypt to Albion to Rome; from cave to temple to whorehouse to palace, Simon's seen it all and done it all and now he's sharing it all with you, the modern reader. It's time for the truth, from the Father of Lies!