In a packed Siberian church on a snowy day, a priest is eulogizing a 109-year-old town leader when the roof caves in, killing everyone inside. Only one speaker of the Ujide language remains: Nicholas, who’s still at college. His ex-girlfriend Jessica also has languages on the brain: namely finding a wellspring language, an idea that intrigued Ithaca serial killer Edward Rulloff. The collapse begins an amazing sequence of events involving the untranslated Voynich Manuscript, a spell, the return of Rulloff and Nicholas’ dead sister, and a Tower of Babel reversal. A few flakes of snow will change the world forever.