A-Ma

A-Ma or Playing the Glass Bead Game with Pythagoras, a Historical Novel by Natasa Pantovic, Year: 2017, Publisher: Artof4Elements. Paperback: 207 pages, Size: 6"x9, a historical fiction novel set in the 17th century Chinese Macao. A mystical journey of Portuguese settlers to Macao, Jesuit Priests, Dutch traders, Chinese governors, and artists, set in the Age of Enlightenment during the Dutch attack to Macao in 1622, the Reform of Chinese Calendar in 1630-s, with Father Adam Schall's appointment to the Chinese Board of Mathematicians during 1650-s. "Was Athens black at the time of the ancient Greeks or was it full of Slavs that during the Dark Ages were not allowed to have their own European history? All my characters do have strong political, ideological and moral commitments, their ideas are ground-breaking; it is a science against the Church, male against female, East against West conversation. Holding up a mirror to society of ancient worlds can be fanatical or too obvious within the storytelling environment, so I had to break the rhythm with myths, with art, with dreams. This novel is, of course, about the search for truth, but from the goddess perspective, about love and union, of the priestesses that have given us the first commandment "Do not kill"" Natasa in an interview with Sunday Times. The main protagonist is Ama, an African alchemist, Goddess, a guru, a lover, a story-teller that inspires and gathers artists, preachers, priests, philosophers from all around the world within the magic settings of her coffee house.