A summary of Victor Pelevin’s "Batman Apollo"

This book is a 2013 philosophical and satirical novel, a direct continuation of the story of the young vampire Rama. The text describes in detail the mechanics of the afterlife and the hidden methods of controlling human society.

Funeral and new appointment

The narrative begins with the funeral of Ishtar Borisovna, the former head of the Great Mouse. The ceremony takes place on the edge of a chasm in Heartland. Hired performers for the corporate event perform for the assembled vampires. A pop singer sings "Call Me Along," after which the performers return to the blue bus. Suddenly, the bus starts on its own, loses control, and plunges into the abyss. Enlil Maratovich sets off to explore the depths of Heartland, taking Rama with him. During their fall, the vampires use the Ancient Body to transform into enormous bats and gracefully descend to the underground lake.

The premeditated nature of the disaster is revealed. The old Ishtar deliberately staged the massacre for fun. The new Ishtar, Rama’s ex-girlfriend Hera, resides in a mother-of-pearl shell. She orders the young vampire trained as a diver. These specialists are skilled in descending into limbo, the afterlife as it is known in the novel’s world. Rama is sent to Dracula’s castle for training. The journey takes place inside a comfortable coffin. In the crypt, Rama meets the American vampire Sophie and three Frenchmen. The names of the Gaulish gods — Ez, Tet, and Tar — serve as their working aliases.

Lessons of Nothingness

Instructor Ull explains the nature of consciousness and the "hard problem" paradox to the cadets. The human brain doesn’t generate thoughts, but merely filters the bright white light of the Great Vampire. The mind is like a stained-glass window. Limbo stores animograms. Dead souls are complex information codes. Vampires enter the realm of death using a special device, the vamponavigator. The device, attached to the upper fangs, injects a red liquid into the mouth, and puts the bloodsucker into a controlled state of sleep called the minor nonexistence. The device’s supply of drugs allows them to perform incredible feats in Limbo, like heroes from video games.

Divers accompany deceased wealthy individuals along their karmic paths. The procedure is called the "Golden Parachute." Clients pay colossal sums in life to escape the painful decay of the lower realms. Rama successfully escorts the late Salavat Kedayev. They navigate a series of karmic illusions: a sinking pool resembling a Titanic cabin, gladiatorial battles in the arena, and gang warfare in prison corridors. The journey culminates in a safe anchor in a barn reminiscent of Kedayev’s childhood memories. The process is broadcast to the deceased’s relatives through French psychics.

Romantic illusions

Rama and Hera’s relationship is reduced to painful and humiliating encounters. Hera revels in power, reads Rama’s mind, and constantly forces her lover to betray her. During his training at Dracula’s castle, Rama has an intimate relationship with Sophie. The two explore the ancient Count’s bedroom. They repeat the seduction ritual, falling through the floor toward a pool of red paint. Sophie manages to retrieve a mosquito from Dracula’s own DNA.

A terrifying detail is later revealed. The real Sophie never visited Limbo with Rama. The American’s guise was first assumed by Hera, and then by the ruler of the world himself — Batman Apollo. Rama is deeply shocked by the realization of her own gullibility.

Chaldeans and political technologies

Meanwhile, events are unfolding in the human world. Enlil Maratovich gathers his trusted Chaldeans in a new monumental reception hall. The Rublyovka vampires are dissatisfied with the loss of control over human minds. Kaldavashkin, Shchepkin-Kupernik, and Samartsev are tasked with organizing a large-scale protest movement. People must feel indignation and civic dignity. The Chaldeans display holographic projections of future rallies: half-naked models on the catwalk discussing liberalism, and speakers in a pickup truck with a machine gun. They are introducing meme codes — special words that increase trust among young people.

The M5 unit generates intense negative emotions. This concentrated suffering feeds the magical worms in the vampires’ heads. Human life is artificially filled with frustration. Games, television news, and social media make people suffer every second. Apollo calls what’s happening the "Great Frequency Revolution" or "infofeed." Western technologies for draining life energy have long surpassed the old Russian methods. Enlil Maratovich, on the contrary, defends our own "Shield of the Motherland" — a system of total hopelessness and everyday absurdity that produces the purest and most intense pain.

The Secret Black Path

In limbo, Rama and the old vampire Osiris sail a boat through the fog. They fend off karmic illusions with short oars. The heroes encounter Dracula. The ancient bloodsucker appears as a six-armed blue deity seated in the center of a huge flower. He speaks of the "Secret Black Path." This concept demands a complete renunciation of the generation of suffering. One must recognize the absence of one’s own ego and stop reacting to any fleeting thoughts. Dracula quotes a Lermontov poem and an obscene ditty about a factory, calling for absolute spiritual indifference.

Osiris puts this knowledge into practice. Initially, he practices "positive vampirism," feeding on the joy of his Moldovan migrant workers. At the end of his karmic journey, he defeats the monster Fafnir, destroys the demonic border guards, erases illusions, and merges forever with the Great Vampire. Rama is left alone in the boundless void.

Meeting with Batman Apollo

Rama is summoned to Apollo’s personal court. The Emperor of the World resides on a gigantic black aircraft carrier in the ocean. The vessel is concealed from view by an impenetrable veil of invisibility. Apollo’s head is grafted onto a massive serpentine body stored in the hold. Apollo, resembling a Roman patrician in a purple toga, proposes that Rama introduce new money-making technologies to Russia. The Emperor wants to replace the crude Russian absurdity with a gentle but continuous digital consumption. He describes the "American Dream" program — a sixteen-hour nightmare of social inferiority, compressed into a few minutes of waking sleep. Each person experiences this dream every night, generating enormous amounts of money.

Upon hearing his refusal, Batman strips Rama of his "Ancient Body." The ability to transform into a bat will only return after a daring act. Rama receives the Aztlan Calendar — an encrypted summary of historical events five years in advance, which vampires use to guide the passage of time.

Return to Moscow and the finale

Rama flies back to the capital on a private jet. He sews himself a black T-shirt with a popular opposition slogan. Right on board, a tattoo artist gives him a tattoo of an offensive message on his stomach. On the way from the airport, Rama has a philosophical conversation with his driver, Grigory, about God and human suffering.

Walking out onto Tverskoy Boulevard during a winter rally, Rama dons a black balaclava with a horn on his forehead. He deliberately falls into the hands of riot police. The officers beat him with rubber truncheons and drag him into a police car.

In a paddy wagon, the vampire engages in a dialogue with a police colonel. Upon learning the name of the protective shield "Stained Glass," Rama bites the policeman’s neck. This absurd act is considered by the higher powers to be a required feat. The Ancient Body returns to the hero. Rama flies through the window bars and soars above the Moscow night. He flies toward the crimson eye of the Great Vampire, contemplating humility and the true nature of the universe. The text concludes with a short appendix containing Rama’s satirical notes beginning with the letter "S," recorded on a voice recorder during training with the vamponavigator.