He prays only to the sardine of Amvrakikos, to the beautiful papalina, and to his shrimp, the gambari. Twenty-two stories, centered around Preveza and starring the woman, make up the new book by Spyros Brinkos, who continues his successful journey in the literary field after the Medical Paradox two years ago.

As Anna Afentoulidou aptly notes in her informative and penetrating afterword, the narrative world of Brinkos's new book is defined by political allusion, moral criticism, and mythological vision. One could characterize his stories as existential and political allegories. His birthplace, Preveza, is at the center, along with Serifos, Makronisos, Gyaros, Crete, and certainly Ikaria, which the author persistently parallels with his hometown, are the places that play their own role in the plot of the narrative.

The author gently narrates his stories to the interlocutor-reader with simple, emotionally charged, and aesthetically polished language. In the rivers, he swims following the current, only to return again to the sea. He always gives birth at the springs of Xylosourti, at the second center of the universe. Ikaria. Here below, at the springs with the immortal water. Here, where the field of the last battle, between the civilized and the wild world, was set up.

The stories, although independent, give the book a unified character, as Anna Afentoulidou also notes, which is underscored by the succession of the texts, with the first serving as an introduction to what is about to unfold and the last closing the timeline of events that the narrator utilizes, creating a unified relationship between yesterday, today, and tomorrow.

Drawing his rich material from the history and tradition of his land, in both its narrow and broad sense, Spyros Brinkos transitions to contemporary reality, proposing his own ideal state. A substantial narrative/proposal that does not limit itself to recording a simple character-driven story but takes a stand on social issues, using his art as a springboard.

The stories interweave, adorned with colors, characters, and sounds within the pages of the future. Like messages from the future...

*papalina: a type of small sardine.