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231st out of 419 books
—
401 voters
The Death of Achilles (Erast Fandorin Mysteries #4)
In 1882, after six years of foreign travel and adventure, renowned diplomat and detective Erast Fandorin returns to Moscow in the heart of Mother Russia. His Moscow homecoming is anything but peaceful. In the hotel where he and his loyal if impertinent manservant Masa are staying, Fandorin’s old war-hero friend General Michel Sobolev (“Achilles” to the crowd) has been foun...more
Paperback, 320 pages
Published
April 18th 2006
by Random House Trade Paperbacks
(first published 1998)
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I'm reading these all again as I have been told by my clever Russian professor that despite the books being set in 1880, they are actually about modern Russia and not only is it fun attempting to work out which characters could possibly be today in modern Russia it gives the whole story an entirely different feel.
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I love Boris Akunin's books, but I think this one is my least favorite of the Fandorin series (which still ranks it fairly high). Fandorin returns from many years in Japan to find himself out of favor and out of touch, "exiled" to Moscow and away from the political excitement of the capital. He's the first one to realize that the death of an old friend and military hero is actually a murder, and the only one to pursue that trail. The bodies keep piling up and the evidence of a conspiracy mounts,...more
Erast Petrovich Fandorin is a renaissance man, adept in diplomacy, literature, and the martial arts. After six years in the Orient, Fandorin is returning to czarist St. Petersburg to take up the governmental post of collegiate assessor. He hasn't been in town long, however, when an old acquaintance, General Sobolev, is found dead. Sobolev is a popular war hero, and Fandorin smells foul play from the beginning.
Fandorin stumbles across a plethora of clues, some leaving him with more questions than...more
Fandorin stumbles across a plethora of clues, some leaving him with more questions than...more
It's the second book in the series I've read and I have to say that I enjoy them a lot, more for the atmosphere than for the mystery, however. They have this vivid, funny, sparkling sense of humor which is a trademark of the better Russian literature (Gogol, Chekhov and the like). The main character is nice enough (nice, for lack of a better word), strong, honest and invincible and all that - I don't care for him that much, but he's all right. The ladies, I noticed, are always the same, passiona...more
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Read the full review at Pica Reads.
I have to say, this is totally different from most of the stuff I read. Sure, I like variety, but most of my variety is within YA Fiction. Having said that, this was, quite simply, a great book.
If I had to stick a label on this book, I’d say “Russian Spy Novel”. The thing is, it’s so much more than just a Russian spy novel. The premise is as follows: Erast Fandorin, returning to Russia after a few years in Japan, is appointed Collegiate Assessor and is sent to...more
I have to say, this is totally different from most of the stuff I read. Sure, I like variety, but most of my variety is within YA Fiction. Having said that, this was, quite simply, a great book.
If I had to stick a label on this book, I’d say “Russian Spy Novel”. The thing is, it’s so much more than just a Russian spy novel. The premise is as follows: Erast Fandorin, returning to Russia after a few years in Japan, is appointed Collegiate Assessor and is sent to...more
I'm sure I'm quite late jumping on the Boris Akunin bandwagon, but if you're not familiar with him, I say, run, don't walk, to this series of mysteries featuring the Holmesian, James Bondish Russian detective of the late 1800s, Erast Fandorin.
Like Henning Mankell's recent The Man From Beijing, this novel also contains two novels in one. After letting Fandorin plow through a confusing tangle of clues surrounding the sudden death of a famous Russian general, the book pauses to give you the backsto...more
Nadal stylowo i urzekająco, acz nieco mniej interesująco pod względem fabularnym, jak i stopnia komplikacji intrygi. Fandorin, powraca niejako w swej "pierwotnej" postaci brylującego towarzysko everymana, tym razem wzbogaconego o doświadczenia wyniesione z swych wojaży po Japonii. Pewne elementy owych nowych "doświadczeń" wypadają tu nadzwyczaj kuriozalnie, i pomimo mojego "patrzenia przez palce" na swoistą "pocztówkową" umowność w zakresie sposobu prowadzenia narracji, ciężko mi było pogodzić s...more
As someone raised on Agatha Christie, I say unabashedly that good mysteries are a delight to read. The problem is that there are too few good mysteries. Too many of them read like the book equivalent of Law & Order, where exposition substitutes as dialogue, plot points as action, and character familiarity for true character development.
God Bless You, Mr. Akunin.
Akunin manages to weave an intricate tale that skillfully draws us into 19C Moscow and its intrigues while reflecting on larger iss...more
God Bless You, Mr. Akunin.
Akunin manages to weave an intricate tale that skillfully draws us into 19C Moscow and its intrigues while reflecting on larger iss...more
Translated by Andrew Bromfield. The fourth Erast Fandorin mystery. The collegiate assessor, recently returned to Russia from Japan now with a fanatically loyal servant in tow, is immediately drawn into an investigation of the death of a military hero, General Sobolev, the “Achilles” of the title. Every new piece of information brings further mystery, however – the general’s retinue is hushing up the incident. It seems to be because he was in flagrante delicto with a lady when he died. But she ha...more
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A nice thing about series mysteries is the continuity of characters among the volumes. One grows accustomed to their faces and one expects they'll be back, if not the next time you read one of the series, then soon enough.
Bah! Humbug! sayeth Boris, happily killing off and abandoning people through the multi-year festival that is this entertaining and readable series. (Andrew Bromfield, the translator, deserves many kudos for producing such readable and thoroughly enjoyable translations.) This bo...more
Bah! Humbug! sayeth Boris, happily killing off and abandoning people through the multi-year festival that is this entertaining and readable series. (Andrew Bromfield, the translator, deserves many kudos for producing such readable and thoroughly enjoyable translations.) This bo...more
I really enjoyed this tale - Akunin is a comtemporary Russian author who has a good following in Europe. His character Fandorin is something of a Russian, 19th Century James Bond - a master of disguise that gets involved in all kinds of interesting adventures with a scruffy cast of characters that remind you of Dickens......
More intricately plotted with better villains and some fantastic scenes. On the other hand, it lacks the annoying yet haunting obstinate languor of the earlier three novels. A bit less post-modern. But still a fantastic tale. Would make an excellent movie and in this case I don't mean that as an insult.
Eh. As the Russians would say "tak sebe.: This opinion may change as I keep reading, but enough of descriptive jabber already! Get on with the story of murder of a Russian general and the wily doings of the ever-so-smart detective Erast Fandorin...
Keep checking this review page...
Keep checking this review page...
Another great book from the Russian mystery writer, Boris Akunin. I have become a fan of this writer and his character Fandorin, who is a cross between a diplomat and a detective. In this fourth entry to the series, Fandorin has just returned from Japan where he has spent several years learning the ways of the "silent ones" (ninjas), skills which come in handy in this tale. He takes up the case of a national hero who has died in the arms of a courtesan......or was he murdered? The story is extre...more
Mar 09, 2012
Hpstrangelove
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
audiobook_done
I have a pet peeve with POV changes in the middle of a paragraph, so I'm hesitant to give this one five stars. If I could give 4.5 I would, but since I can't I'll just have to round up.
That's the only flaw in this story and it comes in the third part when the hero and the bad guy meet. The story keeps flipping back and forth between their POVs.
I've listened to the audiobooks of the preceding stories and enjoyed them all. The format of this one changed a bit. The first part gives us Fandorin's P...more
That's the only flaw in this story and it comes in the third part when the hero and the bad guy meet. The story keeps flipping back and forth between their POVs.
I've listened to the audiobooks of the preceding stories and enjoyed them all. The format of this one changed a bit. The first part gives us Fandorin's P...more
Feb 25, 2010
Marfita
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Fans of spy thrillers, historical mysteries
Shelves:
mysteries,
period-mystery
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
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This is another in the Erast Fandorin series set in Russia. I have lost my interest in this series, the manner of Russian names is more stimulation than I can handle. Halfway through the book, I begin to wonder which character is which, even Erast has many other names. In this story a young popular Russian general dies, and the official announcement states a heart attack, but of course, Erast does not believe the doctor's statement. The chase to find the killer and the secrecy of the death invol...more
I really enjoyed this book. It was well-written, the storyline was intriguing and layered, and the characters were great too. :D Also, it's Russian, which pretty much just makes it that much better.
I loved Fandorin. People compare him to Sherlock Holmes but aside from both being brilliant detectives, I didn't see it that much...maybe Fandorin could be Sherlock Holmes's younger, exuberant, less asexual nephew. He acts a lot more...human, and screws up just like the rest of us :P The action could...more
I loved Fandorin. People compare him to Sherlock Holmes but aside from both being brilliant detectives, I didn't see it that much...maybe Fandorin could be Sherlock Holmes's younger, exuberant, less asexual nephew. He acts a lot more...human, and screws up just like the rest of us :P The action could...more
I admire Akunin's play with genre conventions. Transcends pastiche.
En 1882, Eraste Fandorine est nomm? ? Moscou en tant qu'agent pour les missions sp?ciales aupr?s du Prince Dolgorouko?, gouverneur de la ville. Il devra pour sa premi?re mission d?couvrir ce qui se cache derri?re la mort suspecte du g?n?ral Sobolev, grand h?ros de guerre. C'est un livre qui permet de passer quelques heures pour se divertir. Fandorine est un homme parfait, intelligent, jeune, beau, riche, d?cor?, sp?cialiste en tout et en plus il a un bon faire-valoir. Beaucoup de choses ne sont...more
I read these out of order starting with "Murder on the Leviathan." Akunin is a master at fleshing out the characters, particularly our hero. At once my curiosity was pricked by this tormented, stuttering, shadow of a man whose brilliance and etiquette captured my respect. So I went back and started over in order...
"The Death of Achilles", was lighter than the first three and gave me more insight into the romantic period of Russia prior to the revolution. In this one, Fandorin comes across as som...more
"The Death of Achilles", was lighter than the first three and gave me more insight into the romantic period of Russia prior to the revolution. In this one, Fandorin comes across as som...more
It is the year 1882, and Erast Petrovich Fandorin, detective and diplomat in Tsarist Russia, has returned to Moscow after six years of foreign adventures, ready to commence a new role assigned to the Governor General of Moscow. Hardly has he settled into his new environment that the news spreads that his former mentor and friend General Michel Sobolev, known as "Achilles" by the adoring Muscovites, has been found dead. Fandorin, however, is suspicious of the circumstances of the death: the thirt...more
Jun 26, 2008
Ollie
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
any one wishing to escape reality for a while
Recommended to Ollie by:
my boyfriend
Erast Fandorin's detective stories are my idea of perfect escapism. All the books are set in the later half of the 19th century - mostly in Russia - and feature a young, stuttering hero who is a mixture between Hercules Poirot, Sherlock Holmes and James Bond. In this fourth book of the series, Fandorin returns to Russia in 1882 after years of adventure in Turkey and Japan. He brings with him a loyal, if stubborn, sidekick and manservant called Masa who provides the novel's comic relief. By coinc...more
I will note that while you could feasibly read this as a stand alone, you really want to go back and read the entire series in this order (not necessarily in the published order):
the Winter Queen
The Turkish Gambit
Murder on the Leviathan
If you haven't met Erast Fandorin, then you definitely need to go back to the Winter Queen where he gets his start.
This book:
Our young hero has literally just returned to Russia from Japan after his duties there are completed. He comes to Moscow, where he is...more
the Winter Queen
The Turkish Gambit
Murder on the Leviathan
If you haven't met Erast Fandorin, then you definitely need to go back to the Winter Queen where he gets his start.
This book:
Our young hero has literally just returned to Russia from Japan after his duties there are completed. He comes to Moscow, where he is...more
Roughly based on historical events in 19th century imperial russia, the plot is a murder conspiracy of a famous russian war hero. The book again follows an unusual structure - the first half is told from the hero - Fandorin's perspective - and the second half is told from the perspective of the half chechen assasin which reads almost like a greek tragedy. The chechen assasin is a well drawn out character. If there is any fault in this book - it is the caricatured japanese, Fandorin's assistant M...more
Another enjoyable trip through nineteenth-centrury Russia with Erast Fandorin. Now back in Russia, but with a Japanese side-kick, this is more like the world and genre of the first novel. The split structure - exploring everything from the perspective of the villain works well. Reading this alongside A Little History of the World one is reminded how much in history can be shaped by individual 'Napoleons' like Achilles.
erast fandorin's old-time friend, general Michel "Achilles" Sobolev, was found dead. Fandorin thinks it wasn't a natural death and starts his own investigation. Good retro detective story showing 19th century Russia. Boris Akunin wrote a very good series of Erast Fandorin. The Death of Achilles A Novel is its fourth volume - after The Winter Queen, The Turkish Gambit and Murder on the Leviathan A Novel.
How could a credible storyline contain a Russian aristocrat from the mid-1800's? That is the first.
What makes Fandorin's thought process so fascinating? That is the second.
How can the incorporation of socio-political complexity in the Russian culture help any storyline? That is the third.
What will be the next step in the life of this intelligent, determined, and reportedly handsome young man? That is the fourth.
I can hardly wait to find out.
What makes Fandorin's thought process so fascinating? That is the second.
How can the incorporation of socio-political complexity in the Russian culture help any storyline? That is the third.
What will be the next step in the life of this intelligent, determined, and reportedly handsome young man? That is the fourth.
I can hardly wait to find out.
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Real name - Grigory Shalvovich Chkhartishvili, born in Tbilisi, Georgia, in 1956. Since 1958 he lives in Moscow. Writer and translator from Japanease. Author of crime stories set in tsarist Russia. In 1998 he made his debut with novel Azazel (to English readers known as The Winter Queen), where he created Erast Pietrovich Fandorin.
B. Akunin refers to Mikhail Alexandrovich Bakunin and Akuna, home...more
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B. Akunin refers to Mikhail Alexandrovich Bakunin and Akuna, home...more
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Will order #1 of this...more
Jun 01, 2012 03:20pm
Jun 02, 2012 08:30am