Russia In Fiction
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Russia in Fiction is a blog that reviews works of English language fiction about Russia. It is written and maintained by Edwin Bacon. Edwin is an academic and the author of several books on Russian politics and history, as well as many academic articles.
Russia In Fiction
9M ago
Russia is about to invade Ukraine. Or so the warnings from the UK, the United States, and various other western governments have been telling us for the past couple of months. Whilst normal practice would be for analogous war fiction to appear after the event, Russia in Fiction has a fascination with those authors who ..read more
Russia In Fiction
9M ago
For some thoughts on the lack on updates to the blog in 2023, have a look at the opening paragraph of the last post, our review of After Silence by Jessica Gregson. In its up-coming post, the Russia in Fiction blog will … … continue along the road to 100 books reviewed. The next book ..read more
Russia In Fiction
9M ago
The Russia in Fiction book blog has been on hold for much of 2022. Writing reviews of stories about Russia has seemed too frivolous whilst the reality of warfare has come to Ukraine. Reading about Russia and Ukraine in the daily news has been enough these long months, leaving little desire left for leisure reading ..read more
Russia In Fiction
9M ago
Russia in Fiction has a thing about novels published at key junctures in Russian history and set in that same time. (Just search this blog for ‘Chernenko’ to get an insight into how thriller writers saw the Soviet Union in 1984.) Writing about the Soviet Union in 1991 took matters to a whole new level ..read more
Russia In Fiction
9M ago
Russia in Fiction has reviewed nearly a hundred books set in Russia, and read hundreds more. Katherine Arden’s The Bear and the Nightingale is the first novel we have reviewed that is set in Rus’, as opposed to the modern state of Russia. It takes us also into a genre not so far covered here ..read more
Russia In Fiction
9M ago
Translated from Dutch by Paul Evans The Long Song of Tchaikovsky Street is a semi-autobiographical novel by Dutch author, and long-term Russia resident, Pieter Waterdrinker. Waterdrinker’s take on Russian history —from the revolution of 1917 to its 100th anniversary— puts Russia in Fiction in mind of a knowledgeable boxer, confident in the Russia-writing ring. His ..read more
Russia In Fiction
9M ago
It is a rare thing for a Russia-in-fiction novel to not have Moscow or St Petersburg in it. Yes, there are several that are set elsewhere in Russia, but even these tend to at least visit one or both of Russia’s current and former capitals. Kolymsky Heights is so absolutely determined to avoid them that ..read more
Russia In Fiction
9M ago
Part one of this review is here Metro is a semi-autobiographical novel, published in 1985. The author, Alexander Kaletski, and the novel’s first person narrator, share the central facts of their life stories — coming to Moscow from the provinces in the late 1960s to study at a prestigious drama school, beginning a successful acting ..read more
Russia In Fiction
9M ago
Part two of this review is here Published nearly four decades ago, Metro has long been a Russia in Fiction favourite. We read it back in the 1980s, and at least a couple of times since, latterly re-reading it for this review. We think of Metro as one of the last English-language novels about Russia ..read more
Russia In Fiction
9M ago
Russia in Fiction’s previous review was of Tom Clancy and Mark Greaney’s 700-page thriller about Russia invading Ukraine. Given the current war scares, it seemed appropriate. We follow up our review of Command Authority by reviewing a book that in almost every way has nothing in common with a blockbusting Clancy techno-thriller. In almost every ..read more