HISTORICAL SIBERIAN NOVELS
| Tobol |
Tobol. Historical novel. AST. Moscow 2016. 638 pages.
|
|
Foreign rights:
|
Abu Dhabi (Arab)/ Kalima |
At the time of the great reforms of Peter I, Siberia, which is still buried deep in the Middle Ages, begins to thaw. Peoples and religions mix. Bukharans, officers and officials, convicts, foreigners, chroniclers and architects, Chinese smugglers, out-of-control schismatics, shamans, orthodox missionaries and struggling Dzhungaries of the steppe - all together fight or rescue each other and shape Russia's destiny in the far East.
| Zoloto Bunta |
Riot Gold. Historical novel. Azbooka. St. Petersburg 2005. 609 pages.
|
|
Foreign rights:
|
Abu Dhabi (Arab)/ Kalima |
1778. The Urals are smoky by mining plants. And for factories there is only one road to Russia - the rough river Chusovaya. But here the barks with factory iron are ruthlessly destroyed by coastal rocks. For the rafters, who lead the barks on the river stremnins, there is a way to avoid the wreckage: to ask Satan for help, and transfer their immortal soul, so as not to stain it with sin, to save the torturers in a schismatic sect. And that is why they keep the grandiose alloy of the "iron caravans" in their fists. However, the young raftingman Ostash raises a revolt against the sect that owns Chusova. The reason, it seems, is in the gold of the Pugachev treasure hidden somewhere on the rocks. Although the true “Riot Gold” is the answer to the question: how to do an overwhelming thing and not lose your soul?
| Serdtse Parmy |
Heart of Parma. Historical novel. Palmira. Moscow 2003. 668 pages. |
|
Foreign rights:
|
Czech Republic/ Host, Serbia/ Carobna Knjiga |
«Heart of Parma» is epic, romantic, lush, brutal and wrenchingly mystical: history blends seamlessly with invention, new religion with native magic, passion with death. It is a heady, superbly involving entertainment with battles and churches, captives and crucifixions, pagan temples and human sacrifice, princes and traitors, women who turn into wolves and men who are cursed to live forever. It is, at heart, the tale of conquest and clashing civilizations – the story of a Russian prince and a pagan chieftain, each unable to retreat from his nemesis, both crushed on the wheel of history, both destined to seek an impossible victory over one another and find it in tragedy and betrayal at the cost of their soul.
The book is set in the 15th century: Ivan the Terrible has just ascended the throne and the brutal push into Perm and Siberia, out from the Ural mountains begins in earnest. Moscow is centralizing power, though Novgorod and Kazan fight for their autonomy and the Tatars are still paid tribute. Meanwhile, in the deep forests ringing the Urals, the pagan ruler of Perm, Assyka, gathers a horde for a decisive push against the Russian invaders. The plot is anchored by four battles. The first, a raid on the fortress of a minor prince of Rus sent out from Moscow to carve a taiga stronghold, leaves his young sons Michael and Vassily homeless orphans. The second sees Prince Michael, grown to manhood and married to a native princess, smash Assyka’s own stronghold, avenge his father and take up the mantle of rule. A decade later, the fragile peace Michael is building with native clans is smashed by fresh demands from Moscow; Michael takes arms against Ivan the Terrible’s army to stand with his neighbors, the combined force is annihilated and the prince is taken captive to Moscow to face the wrath of the Tsar. The final battle pits Assyka and Michael against one another once more, but it is the betrayal of their sons, who conspire together, that destroys the two men and sets the course of history. Through it all, the taiga looms above and around the small Russian outposts as they huddle by the great cold rivers, fearful of the vast, teeming wilderness and the people and spirits who call it home, yet driven relentlessly to subjugate it.
It was compared to Lord of the Rings and Beowulf; but one could rather say Shogun and Clan of the Cave Bear.
