Sure, "Zarkana" has silly bits, but ultimately it attempts to conjure a fantastical, seductive world of mystery.

WSJ: Cirque du Soleil: A Circus Not Worth Flipping Over

Cook even delves into a mystery dating from the last days of World War II, when Allied pilots reported seeing UFOs over Germany.

FORBES: Newton's Laws, Upended

Still, I'm not sure these theories really resolve the mystery of why we live in a Neanderthal-free world.

WSJ: Neanderthals: Why Us and Not Them?

Being so, we are the marvel and the mystery of the world, for that enduring liberty is no less a blessing than the abundance of the earth.

WSJ: And the Fair Land

And it is an elegy for a time before the internet, before everyone instantly knew everything about everyone, when the world was still full of mystery and surprise.

ECONOMIST: A strange and lovely story of ambition fulfilled