Pelevin's reimagination of the myth of Theseus and the Minotaur occurs in an Internet chat room. Two isolated strangers enter an inescapable dialogue defined by the Helmet of Horror. Its wearer is Asterisk, a force for good and ill in which the Minotaur is forever present and Theseus is the great unknown. A darker exploration of postmodern epistemological uncertainty, guided by the figures of classical mythology.  (GRE250, $18.95)