Is the colorful history of 19th-century Tbilisi real, or just a level in a futuristic simulation?

The Madatov Trilogy gathers Aka Morchiladze’s iconic three novels—Flight Over Madatov Island and Back (1998), Disappearance on Madatov Island (2001), and The Whale on Madatov Island (2004)—into a single, sweeping narrative. Beginning in 1899 with the discovery of a body on the mystical Madatov Island, the saga unravels a murder mystery that exposes the hidden underbelly of Tiflis. As the timeline jumps to 1910 and then 1920, the story evolves from aristocratic decadence to pre-revolutionary tension and the final gasps of independence. Rich with irony, parody, and a cast of eccentric characters, the trilogy concludes with a mind-bending twist: this entire thirty-year history reveals itself to be a scenario within a 21st-century computer game called "Magic Police."