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Every city contains secret places. Moscow in the tumultuous 1990s is nodifferent, its citizens seeking safety in a world below the streets -- adark, cavernous world of magic, weeping trees, and albino jackdaws, where exiledpagan deities and faery-tale creatures whisper strange tales to those who wouldlisten. Galina is a young woman caught, like her contemporaries, in the seeminglawlessness of the new Russia. In the midst of this chaos, her sister Mariaturns into a jackdaw and flies away -- prompting Galina to join Yakov, apoliceman investigating a rash of recent disappearances. Their search will takethem to the underground realm of hidden truths and archetypes, to findthemselves caught between reality and myth, past and present, honor and betrayal. . . the secret history of Moscow.… (more)
Not the best, not the worst, good, but frustrating. Just enough to get interested in the various characters, but only enough to be satisfied with regard to one. ( )
Just about anyone who loves to read is familiar with the great Russian writers of the 19th century like Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky, Pushkin, Gogol, Ckekhov, etc. But how many of us are familiar with the writers of modern day Russia ? While spending a lot of time watching the Sochi Olympics and hearing about Russia I decided it was time I looked into some current Russian literature, and wound up being really pleased with this selection. The Secret History of Moscow is a real gem. It has so many elements. It's part Russian history, part fairy tale, part horror, part fantasy. And for good measure there's even a bit of romance thrown in. Will definitely have to explore more modern day Russian fiction. ( )
This is "Neverwhere in Russia" and, truly, in a good way. E. Sedia may never have read Neil Gaiman's book about London Below and Above. This isn't a ripoff. It is, however, how that idea would look if it was written in Russia with Russian characters.
This book got off to a promising and dark start -- people disappearing by turning into birds. When the three main characters' journeyed to the underworld, the book turned too whimsical for my taste. Flat dialogue didn't help. ( )
Every city contains secret places. Moscow in the tumultuous 1990s is nodifferent, its citizens seeking safety in a world below the streets -- adark, cavernous world of magic, weeping trees, and albino jackdaws, where exiledpagan deities and faery-tale creatures whisper strange tales to those who wouldlisten. Galina is a young woman caught, like her contemporaries, in the seeminglawlessness of the new Russia. In the midst of this chaos, her sister Mariaturns into a jackdaw and flies away -- prompting Galina to join Yakov, apoliceman investigating a rash of recent disappearances. Their search will takethem to the underground realm of hidden truths and archetypes, to findthemselves caught between reality and myth, past and present, honor and betrayal. . . the secret history of Moscow.
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Every city contains secret places, and Moscow is no different, its citizens seeking safety under the city during tumultuous times -- a cavernous dark world of magic, weeping trees and albino jackdaws, where exiled pagan deities and fairytale creatures still whisper strange tales to everyone who would listen. Through their interlocking stories, a very different history emerges, full of betrayals and unseen hostilities, between the real world and the world below . . . and now, in the early 1990's, the conflict is escalating.
Galina is a young woman, caught like many of her contemporaries in the new economic uncertainty and apparent lawlessness of the country. In the midst of all this chaos, her sister Maria turns into a jackdaw and flies away . . . prompting Galina to help Yakov, a policeman investigating a rash of recent disappearances. Their search will take them to the underground realm of hidden histories and archetypes, to find themselves caught between reality and myth, past and present, truth and betrayal . . .The Secret History of Moscow.
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The Secret History of Moscow
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