Russian author Boris Akunin clearly delights in literary experimentation. The Winter Queen, his first novel to win U.S. release, was a polic...
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Nov 19, 2011
Noce
rated it: 
Dalla Russia con amore.
Si può civettare in un accampamento militare?
Si può fare spionaggio col sorriso?
Si può investigare balbettando?
Si può far capitolare un giovane vecchio?
Se esiste un modo per vedere una guerra con occhi naif, questo libro spiega come.
Si può civettare in un accampamento militare?
Si può fare spionaggio col sorriso?
Si può investigare balbettando?
Si può far capitolare un giovane vecchio?
Se esiste un modo per vedere una guerra con occhi naif, questo libro spiega come.
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Apr 20, 2010
Joyce
rated it: 
2nd in the Erast Fandorin series.[return][return]Set during the Russo-Turkish War, this installment features not so much Fandorin himself, but a modern (1877 style) liberated Russian woman, 22 year old Varvara Andreevna Suvorova, an emancipated Muscovite (kissing a woman s hands is so 18th century), who is following the Russian army to Bulgaria in order to be reunited with her grass husband, Pyotr. A guide leaves her stranded at an inn, stealing her horse and her money, an emancipated damse
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Jan 15, 2012
Perry
rated it:
Enjoyable yet strangely tensionless espionage mystery featuring 19th century Russian super-sleuth Erast Fandorin, set during the Russio-Turkish war.
Somehow the defending forces seem to know exactly what the advancing Cossacks are up to, leading to a protracted and bloody siege at the city of Plevna and thwarting the progress of the superior Russian army hoping to make it all the way to Constantinople, against the wishes of the majority of European nations.
Akunin has had best- More...
Somehow the defending forces seem to know exactly what the advancing Cossacks are up to, leading to a protracted and bloody siege at the city of Plevna and thwarting the progress of the superior Russian army hoping to make it all the way to Constantinople, against the wishes of the majority of European nations.
Akunin has had best- More...
Aug 31, 2011
Barbara
rated it:
During the war between Russia and the Ottoman Empire in 1877, Boris Akunin's eccentric and brilliant detective, Erast Fandorin, finds himself yet again at the center of the action. While attempting to return home to Russia after being a prisoner of the Turks, he rescues a rash young Russian woman trying to join her true love stationed at the Front. Since the woman has been robbed and needs transportation, he joins a poker game where wagers this damsel in distress against a donkey. Fortunately
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Jan 25, 2011
Richard
rated it: 
The Book Report: Erast Petrovich Fandorin, titular counsellor of the Tsar's Special Branch (secret police, ugh), finds himself in the thick of the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878. In a manner very like that of a skinny, stammering love-child of James Bond and Nero Wolfe, Fandorin arranges things so that the party responsible for the sudden and inglorious halt of victorious Russian armies to Constantinople, long the most urgent desire of Imperial Russian froeign policy, comes inevitably to light.
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Jul 10, 2010
Mark
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This is, chronologically, the second of the Fandorin mysteries, although they weren't translated into English in the right order, and the title refers to the Russian-Ottoman Empire war of 1876-78. After the personal tragedy that ended the first Fandorin novel, in which he foiled an international conspiracy, Fandorin becomes a bit rootless, volunteering for military service in Serbia at a time when the Russians were trying to push the Ottoman Empire back from Muslim enclaves in Eastern Europe.
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Feb 19, 2010
Marfita
rated it: 
Not being well-versed in Russian history (which may actually help), this story based on the siege of Pleven during the Russo-Turkish war (well, one of the many) didn't have the appeal that the next book in the series did. There wasn't enough Fandolin (which is a shame because he is such fun), just the whole story from the point of view of Varvara, a "modern" woman who has romantically run off to join her fiance, a cryptographer. Varya is annoying in her fickleness, which she cops to
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Aug 16, 2009
Sps
rated it:
Listened to it from MyiLibrary, actually. Which was so easy: way faster and simpler than burning books on CD to the iPod.
I'm no expert on audiobook narration, and David Foster Wallace may have spoiled me for less-ideal narrators. I think this fellow is trying to be dry but sometimes just sounds blase, or limp. His voice differentiation is clever and useful but his accents are of mixed quality. The Irish is pretty good, the French eh, the Russian eh. In fact, if I'm not mistaken, More...
I'm no expert on audiobook narration, and David Foster Wallace may have spoiled me for less-ideal narrators. I think this fellow is trying to be dry but sometimes just sounds blase, or limp. His voice differentiation is clever and useful but his accents are of mixed quality. The Irish is pretty good, the French eh, the Russian eh. In fact, if I'm not mistaken, More...
Mar 20, 2009
Simon
rated it:
This is the third according to the publisher of Boris Akunin's Erast Fandorin Russian detective stories, however I think they must have them out of sequence as he departs on the trip covered in the second novel at the end of this story.
Akunin is quite interesting in that he looks at the narrative in each of these books in a different way, in this case we follow Varvara Suvorova as she journeys to the front line in the Russo-Turkish war of the 1870s to be with her cryptographer boyfri More...
Akunin is quite interesting in that he looks at the narrative in each of these books in a different way, in this case we follow Varvara Suvorova as she journeys to the front line in the Russo-Turkish war of the 1870s to be with her cryptographer boyfri More...
Nov 24, 2010
russell
rated it:
Another one for you Paul!
It's much better second time around. I think I panic read it immediately after
last time, so didn't really absorb all the subtle nuances pointing to the spy. Also, call it being more used to the myriad patronymic Russian names, this time I was less confused/bogged down by people being called different things.
To the story though! As ever it's a neat mix of Holmes, Tolstoy and my A-Level history teacher Mr Hydes. Strangely Fandorin takes a backsea More...
It's much better second time around. I think I panic read it immediately after
last time, so didn't really absorb all the subtle nuances pointing to the spy. Also, call it being more used to the myriad patronymic Russian names, this time I was less confused/bogged down by people being called different things.
To the story though! As ever it's a neat mix of Holmes, Tolstoy and my A-Level history teacher Mr Hydes. Strangely Fandorin takes a backsea More...
Dec 15, 2011
Rafal
rated it:
Akunin, po raz kolejny, nie zawodzi! "Gambit turecki" ma wszystkie cechy, które tak sobie chwaliłem w pierwszej powieści z cyklu o Fandorinie, "Azazelu". Ponownie więc świetna narracja, utrzymana w stylu retro-kryminału, jest idealnie kontrapunktowana przez całkiem nowocześnie prowadzoną fabułę - masa tu naprawdę zaskakujących zwrotów akcji, niespodziewanych "zejść" bohaterów i mylenia tropów. Intryga, co prawda nieco mniej skomplikowana, ale za to dużo bardziej pra
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Sep 22, 2010
Leah
rated it:
Picked this one up at a used book sale because I read The Winter Queen years ago for a Russian culture class and enjoyed it.
It has been several years since I read The Winter Queen, and I'd forgotten some of the characters, also there was apparently another book in between that one and this, which I missed. Still, it stood well enough on its own, and did a plot twist I was not expecting. I am, of course, sad at the characteristic callousness with respect to the lives of appealing character More...
It has been several years since I read The Winter Queen, and I'd forgotten some of the characters, also there was apparently another book in between that one and this, which I missed. Still, it stood well enough on its own, and did a plot twist I was not expecting. I am, of course, sad at the characteristic callousness with respect to the lives of appealing character More...
Jan 18, 2009
Bibliophile
rated it:
I enjoyed the second* of the Erast Fandorin mysteries more than the first. Unlike the first novel, we're never inside Fandorin's head; instead, we follow the picaresque adventures of Varya Andreevna Suvorova, a well-bred young revolutionary, who runs away from home to follow her fiance, serving in the Russian army during the Russo-Turkish war of 1876. Through a series of circumstances, Varya ends up as Fandorin's "assistant" and so takes part in a plan to unmask a Turkish spy in the
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Nov 08, 2011
I really have enjoyed reading Akunin's works. I appreciate seeing Russian history from a Russian perspective. The story dealt with the Russian war against the Ottoman Empire at the end of the 1800's. The author is openly critical of Russia's handling or mishandling of their war efforts, their government, and their ineptitude in dealing with foreign spies. Akunin writes well and since too often I have been exposed to only the English side of the war, it is good to fill in the gaps. Some of m
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May 07, 2010
Debbie
rated it:
This is another of the Erast Fandorin series sets in the 1870's in Russia and Turkey. In this installment, Turkey and Russia are battling one another, and so some reason the Turks seem to always have the upper hand. A spy must be in the Russians camp, and Erast must discover that spy before Russia loses everything. This story contained many long discussions of the battle, and like other Akunin novels, little stories pop up. I did not enjoy this book as much as the other two novels. I found
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Jun 21, 2011
Siria
rated it:
I bounced rather hard off this one. It's an interesting tactic, to shift the POV of a series so absolutely in only the second book, but Varvara's POV was too annoying for me to get into, and I didn't think we got enough of Erast to fully observe how the events of the first book had affected him. I get the feeling that Akunin is trying to parody the melodramatic plot devices of nineteenth century novels in this, but either the translation doesn't quite succeed in capturing his tone or he's not qu
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Dec 13, 2009
Vivienne
rated it:
This was a fun read but did not quite engage my attention as much as 'The Winter Queen' had. This may partly be my fault as I should have kept a note of the character names in the opening chapters. They all got a little confusing (to me!) later on.
Still it was interesting that Akunin did shift his perspective from Erast Fandorin, who here was a main supporting character, to that of a young progressive Russian woman, Varya Andreevna Suvorova, who runs away to join her "futu More...
Sep 08, 2009
Xue Yun
rated it:
Imagining separated from her fiance and tried to him in the middle of a war? This book is set in time during the Russo-Turkish War in the 1877. Varvara Suvorova, the main character traveled to the Russian headquarter to find her fiance. she disused as a boy in order to find and stay with her fiance. However, he was him accused of treason and there's only a few days before he gets executed. I really like the mystery of her adventures to unmask the Turkish spy in the headquarters. I recommend this
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Feb 20, 2012
Amber
rated it:
I enjoyed listening to this as I drove to and from work. However, toward the beginning I had trouble remembering who was who among the more secondary characters and found myself wishing I could flip back to earlier pages to remind myself. There were also a few times that I thought something was so beautifully written (or translated) that I wanted to stew over it for a bit. I think I'll eventually end up buying this in actual book form, so I can do just that.
So far I've enjoyed Akunin's Fan More...
So far I've enjoyed Akunin's Fan More...
Nov 19, 2010
Valissa
rated it:
"I am opposed to democracy in general. One man is unequal to another from the very beginning, and there is nothing you can do about it. The democratic principle infringes the rights of those who are more intelligent, more talented, and harder working; it places them in a position of dependence of the foolish will of the stupid, talentless, and lazy, because society always contains more of the later. Let our compatriots first learn to rid themselves of their swinish ways and earn the right
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Feb 12, 2012
Friederike
rated it:
"Gambit", literally "tricking somebody" is usually applied to military operations or chess strategies. In order to achieve the ultimate win some losses have to be accepted along the way. Both contexts fit here beautifully. Boris Akunin, Russian pen name of Georgian writer Grigory Chkhartisvili, has taken an actual episode from the 1877-78 war between the Russian and Ottoman empires to spin yet another successful yarn around young Erast Fandorin, secret agent in the Tsar's Spe
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Feb 25, 2008
Nancy
rated it:
really, a 3.5 stars rating
Just in case you're interested, this may be the 3rd book in the series in order of release in the United States, but it follows shortly after The Winter Queen in chronology.
I do recommend it, but probably only if you've at least read The Winter Queen and enjoy the character of Ernst Fandorin. This book is not quite as good as Winter Queen or Murder on the Leviathan, so you may not enjoy it as much.
The story is set in 1877, while Rus More...
Just in case you're interested, this may be the 3rd book in the series in order of release in the United States, but it follows shortly after The Winter Queen in chronology.
I do recommend it, but probably only if you've at least read The Winter Queen and enjoy the character of Ernst Fandorin. This book is not quite as good as Winter Queen or Murder on the Leviathan, so you may not enjoy it as much.
The story is set in 1877, while Rus More...
Jan 29, 2012
Elizabeth
rated it:
This is the third in a series of adventure/mystery novels written by Russian author Akunin featuring the Sherlock Holmes-like Erast Fandorin. I listened to the first two novels in the series, The Winter Queen and Murder on the Leviathan, on audio CD, and thoroughly enjoyed them. They’re set in the 19th century, and are written in the style of Victorian boys’ adventure fiction. Fandorin is a young and eager policeman in the first novel who displays cunning and daring beyond his years. He suffers
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Feb 28, 2010
Writerlibrarian
rated it:
Second title in Akunin's Erast Fandorin series. We find Fandorin again after the tragic ending of his first real case. He's become more detached, older despite his very young age. Less vain, less social. Which is the perfect backdrop for this tail of life, intrigue and heroism in the War between Russian and Turkey in the 1887. Fandorin is not much there, except for the high points of the mystery. We see life with the army, on the edge of the battlefield through the eyes of Varya. A young Russian
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Jan 07, 2009
Heidi
rated it:
My favorite genre, Russian style. A mystery, with some murders. Takes place during the Russian-Bulgarian-Ottoman War of the 1870s. I originally read this book after a trip to Turkey. My recent trip to Bulgaria required a second read. The style of writing is definitely different from most of the books I read - extremely formal with a dark sense of humor underneath it all. The writing is very descriptive and the characters (there are toooo many Russian generals!) jump out of the pages.
Oct 22, 2011
Arthur
rated it:
As seen through the eyes of a young Muscovite woman, Varvara Andreevna Suvorova, Detective Erast Fandorin helps uncover a spy in the Russo-Turkish war 0f 1877. She, of course, has a crush on Fandorin.
The device of seeing the action through Varva's eyes doesn't add much to the story. In the end, lots of talking, lots of characters, not enough Fandorin.
Perhaps Russians know about this conflict, but I would have been more entertained by this book if it had included a prefac
The device of seeing the action through Varva's eyes doesn't add much to the story. In the end, lots of talking, lots of characters, not enough Fandorin.
Perhaps Russians know about this conflict, but I would have been more entertained by this book if it had included a prefac
Jan 19, 2010
kathryn
rated it:
REad it fast! I missed getting more of Erast in this one, but it was also fun to have a new character(Varya). I wonder if she will figure in the later books in this series. This is the third one, but I haven't read the second one. My buddy loaned it to me but accidentally out of order-I want to read the second one now to see if there is more on Erast. I still disagree with the method of "establishing his character's motive" in the first book!
Aug 09, 2011
Türkisches Gambit besticht nicht durch Spannung und ist dennoch ein großartiger Roman, da Akunin einfach phantastisch erzählen kann. Der russisch-türkische Krieg, die sympathische Warja, der veränderte (im Vergleich zum ersten Roman) tragische Held Fandorin und vieles mehr. Nach zwei Abenden hat die Geschichte leider ein Ende, und es bereitet mir jetzt schon Freude, bald den dritten Fandorin Roman lesen zu können.
Jan 11, 2011
Emily
rated it:
I liked some of the other Erast Fandorin books more, mostly because there was more of him in them! The rather vacuous main character was just not as interesting to me. Also, there was a lot of battle and wartime strategy, and those aren't as much fun to me as a good old murder mystery. Still written with a fun, sarcastic wit.
Feb 08, 2011
Paul
rated it:
I'm going to write just one review for Boris Akunin's books. Both series, the Erast Fandorin books and the one (so far) Sister Pelagia book, are set in the pre-Revolutionary world of cultured Russians. They're not only great fun - imagine an 1890s James Bond or Mrs. Marple - but historically fascinating as well.
