第1章 阁楼上的寒鸦 

The crows in the attic

In 1881, at the height of the Victorian era, under the gaslight of London, crime and opportunity festered together in the thick fog. Arthur Collins, an impoverished former student expelled from Oxford University, had only his sickly sister and a mind full of literary memories from the 21st century as his only assets. To survive, he had no choice but to become a "fire thief"—stealing the sparks of thought from the next century to illuminate the obscure skies of this once-mighty empire. He introduced Edgar Allan Poe's dark poems to England as a "discoverer"; he became a "pioneer," making Sherlock Holmes's deerstalker hat and pipe symbols of reason; he founded "Arkham House," recruiting hidden talents like Lord Dunsani and Mr. James, building his own literary empire. He donned the mask of a "prophet," using...

1881年，维多利亚时代的荣光正盛，伦敦的煤气灯下，罪恶与机遇一同在浓雾中滋长。亚瑟·柯林斯，一个穷困潦倒、被牛津大学除名的前学生，仅剩的财富是病弱的妹妹和满脑子来自21世纪的文学记忆。为了生存，他别无选择，成为了一个“窃火者”——盗取未来百年的思想火花，来点亮这个日不落帝国的蒙昧天空。他以“发现者”之名，将爱伦·坡的黑暗诗篇带到英伦；他化身“开创者”，让夏洛克·福尔摩斯的猎鹿帽与烟斗，成为理性的象征；他成立“阿卡姆之屋”，将邓萨尼勋爵、M.R.詹姆斯等遗珠招至麾下，打造属于自己的文学帝国。他戴上“预言家”的面具，用...