Editorial Review:Product Description:This is the first book featuring Erast Fandorin, a gentleman sleuth who solves murders and mysteries in tsarist Russia. A 23-year-old law student commits suicide in broad daylight in Moscow's Alexander Gardens. Fandorin is put on the case to find out what drove him to it, a case that deepens as he discovers that the young man was the son of a rich and influential factory owner. The story is enhanced by its authentic backdrop of nineteenth-century Russia. After all, it's difficult to keep your mind on a case when the new Dostoyevsky novel has just hit the shops. Fandorin has been described as 'the James Bond of the 19th century' and Akunin has been compared to Gogol, Tolstoy and Conan Doyle. The UK publication of these books marks the arrival of a startling new voice in the thriller marketplace.
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Average Rating:
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What's All the Fuss About This Novel?
I had been really excited about reading "The Winter Queen" for three main reasons: I am a huge fan of Russian literature, I loving reading books in the mystery genre, and because of all the great reviews written about this novel.
In a nutshell, I was sorely disappointed with this novel. "The Winter Queen" starts out great with its first scene of a young gentleman committing suicide in a park in front of several witnesses..... Plus the main character, Erast Fandorin, has some great adventures though out this novel.
But as a whole, this novel wasn't great. There are plenty of slow/boring scenes in the novel and many scenes didn't flow well together. Plus the last chapter/ending of "The Winter Queen" sucked!! I've noticed that some of the reviewers of this novel have read "The Winter Queen" in Russian, so perhaps there is something to be said about reading a novel in the language in which it was actually written.
I also thought the main character, Erast Fandorin, to be likable, but an unexpected main character for this novel. He is 19 years old and just out of the academy. So, Erast Fandorin is a total newbie on the police force.... Yet he has quite the detective skills to outwit his superiors in being about to determine that there was more to the young man committing suicide in the park than met the eyes.... Fandorin uncovers a lot of information that no one else uncovers, which I find unbelievable for someone his age and with such little experience in his field..... Intuition can take you only so far in this life, before you need some experience to go with it..
More incredible is the fact that Fandorin's superiors allow him to travel across Europe along without any back up in search of a lead to the case. This young man is barely out of the academy and has little experience being a police office, so why send him out to investigate a lead on his own???? The point is that as a lead character, Erast Fandorin, doesn't seem to be very credible, which is another reason why I didn't enjoy the book that much.
Rating: -
All the little children
In Germany it was student duelling - with sabres, as Mark Twain so vividly described. In late 19 century Russia it was suicide, sometimes performed in bizarre ways - one loaded chamber in a revolver [the reference to "American Roulette" is delicious]. In this case, the victim is a new orphan, having inherited a vast fortune. He doesn't leave life intestate, however. His will stipulates the property and money go to a British aristocrat who operates an international network of "progressive" orphanages. This raises a host of questions which will be sorted out by a new member of Moscow's Criminal Investigation Department.
In this rollicking story of a Moscow generally beyond our ken, Akunin introduces Erast Fandorin. He's a young man of aristocratic lineage lacking the financial security of Kokorin, the youthful suicide. Erast must make his way with his skills, and these are many. Language, in particular, is a significant talent, which is why he's sent to London seeking more information. He stakes out The Winter Queen - a down at heels hotel - because one of his contacts, the gorgeous Amalia Bezhetskaya seems to be using the hotel as a "drop". Tracking down people in London is risky at the best of times, but Fandorin, who is clearly too trusting, falls into one trap after another in his quest. He's also, in the best Russian tradition, too respectful of the nobility - until they prove unworthy of it.
Akunin is able to mix plot and characters with seamless talent. He builds this story and those involved with a deft touch. At less than 250 pages, to incorporate so much into such a limited space takes a rare skill. Nor, even with the economy of words, does Akunin leave anything out. The story flows and builds, starting from an incident in a Moscow park and culminating in a global conspiracy. It's a stimulating read and one which any "mystery" reader would enjoy - as would nearly everybody. stephen a. haines - [Ottawa, Canada]]
Rating: -
A young policeman investigates deaths in nineteenth century Czarist Russia.
This period novel is mostly to be appreciated for its atmosphere. It is set in Czarist Russia with a brief detour to nineteenth century London. Erast Fandorin, a minor functionary in the Imperial police, investigates a series of curious suicides/murders. Successes lead to rapid advancement and promotion within the service. It is the first book in a series about Fandorin's adventures. The style reminded me a little of The Three Musketeers and other Dumas novels, with regard to the use of helpful coincidences. It also resembles some of the writing of Arturo Perez-Reverte which captures the atmosphere of period Spain. Most fascinating was the description of the hierarchy of Russian society. An appendix lists thirteen ranks with civil and military equivalents, so readers do not get lost. The international conspiracy elements, on the other hand, struck me as anachronistic, speaking more to a modern paranoia. Interestingly, the book is politically disengaged. Perhaps avoiding politics and religion is the best way to retain readers. The Soviet Revolution is looming yet neither rich nor poor express monarchist, revolutionary or any religious sentiments. Apart from these criticisms it is a fine read for lovers of historic novels and international literature.
Rating: -
Interesting opening book
I knew nothing of Erast Fandorin nor of Boris Akunin, nor of Grigory Shalvovich Chkhartishvili, the actual author of the series until this first book. I had heard of it from LibraryThing discussions. I had asked for recommendations from the peopl on that web site for an intriguing mystery read. Someone suggested the Erast Fandorin series. I have been reading motly police procedural mysteries that are st in the modern day world. This was kind of stretching it for me. I was glad I took the chance.
The book begins with a very young very green Erast, our hero. The author puts him through a number of predicaments, as ll mystery writers are bound to do, but he does so in a very Russian and a very different way. The key attraction to this book is that no one is as they seem they are, in other mysteries, one can almost always discern the villains from the allies by the way they are described. Some obfuscation are always present, but the usual modus operandi is to inject doubt into every character. In this case the characters are written in a neutral enough or a generally positive manner. So much so that when the characters do turn, one is shocked by the turn of events.
The other attractive thing about this particular book is in its descriptions of imperial Russia and its description of the people who populate this landscape. It is all quite intersting and pulled me into the narrative.
My only probleminvolves the last little tidbit at the end of the mystery. I thought that last little episode was patched on and felt very forced and extemporaneous. The mood and the tempo of the story was disrupted unnecessarily bu the addition of the last 10-15 pages. I would assume that this last bit is going to affect the rest of the series, or else I would be quite ticked at Boris Akunin for adding that last bit.
Rating: -
"American Roulette" indeed!
I have to say that the translation of this book is horrible. There are numerous errors that are definitely distracting. More than that, it seems there has been very little effort made at all to take into account the considerable grammatical differences between Russian and English. Sometimes the book reads like a badly translated web page by an auto-translator. There are many long run-on sentences that verge on the incoherent and while this may read fluently in the original Russian - it just seems plodding and inexpertly done in the English language.
The translation aside and even trying to be generous, I find myself marveling at all the glowing reviews. The story itself isn't particularly original. The plot seems implausible. The "hero" seems relatively dimwitted and it seems like the story becomes (as one other reviewer put it) "sillier and sillier" as the story progresses.
I also found the historical inaccuracies very distracting - like the recasting of Russian Roulette as "American Roulette". The book blithely recounts the origins of this dangerous and suicidal game by the elder inspector declaring "I read somewhere its called American roulette. It was invented in America, in the goldfields. You put a single shot in the cylinder, give it a twirl and then - bang!" A little later in the novel, at a party - someone asks if someone knows what "American Roulette" is in reference to the youth who had previously committed suicide by these means. The response was: "It's common knowledge...You take a revolver and put in one cartridge. it's stupid but exciting. A shame the Americans thought of it before we did." I find myself wondering what the point of this is - for Russian Roulette wasn't invented in America - not in the gold fields nor anywhere else... But the beginning part of the novel is littered with references to what everyone else in the Western world know to be Russian Roulette, except that the author always calls it "American Roulette". If the rest of the book didn't seem so confoundedly earnest, I would think this was only a joke... but aside from the chapter titles, the book seems to take itself almost too seriously really, though I've heard other readers commenting that the novel is "tongue in cheek" - which leads me to wonder if this is yet another nuance that is lost in translation. But the misrepresentation of historical facts in a period novel is more than a little annoying, regardless of the motive. To be fair, there is apparently no specific evidence (that I was able to find) that "Russian Roulette" was ever actually "played" in Russia. There are many references to it in early Russian literature, but it could have been solely a fictional invention. (That's not to say that someone hasn't tried it once the idea was put out there...but that the story may have preceded anyone's actual attempts at such dangerous "historical" reenactment.) But even so - even if it *is* only a fictional invention, it is still not an American one.
This isn't to say that I'm some American flag-waving patriot who thinks somehow that America can do no wrong... I know that America has many, many embarrassing and even horrific legacies - but they're not ones I'd likely pin on another country just for the sake of telling a story - unless the story itself was clearly one of those historical "what if" stories - like "What would have happened if Hitler had won the war?" where it's obvious that the author is playing around with historical "facts" to the point where the novel can be considered more of a fantasy piece than it would be a historical novel. But for period pieces, purposefully misrepresenting facts seems odd, especially when done so casually and so consistently. It just makes it seem like some kind of cheap jab at America or some pointless tidbit of propaganda that is squeezed between other elements in the story, almost asking the reader not to notice such a howler. Indeed, when I was looking for other reviews of this book, one reviewer quipped "We learn the origin of American Roulette", without remarking on how inaccurate this is. And if I felt this misrepresentation advanced the story one bit, I might be willing to forgive or overlook this absurdity - but instead it's just repeated with certainty, as if the reader will readily accept it if it is repeated enough times.
All that aside, I wonder if later books are better - but I also wonder if it would be worth the effort for me. I still have yet to discover why others are praising this novel so much. It almost makes me feel like I should reread it in order to see more why so many others would sing the book's praises... But if I wasn't being influenced by other people's opinions, I would still give this book a D. I've read far worse novels and even worse translations. But I still can't give this novel a very high recommendation, despite other positive reviews.