Android Karenina

May 24, 2012 Lolly's rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: first-reads, literary-mash-up, steampunk

My first thought upon finishing Android Karenina was that, had Tolstoy been aware of robots, androids, moon resorts, and magnetic grav trains, this is the book he'd have written. To my mind, the concept of robotics, with its sense of coldness and hardness and immovable logic, fits in perfectly with the idea of post-Tsar Russia; where bureaucracy and the welfare of the nation takes precedence over the welfare of the individual; where the sense of almost perpetual winter brings to mind the frigidi...more My first thought upon finishing Android Karenina was that, had Tolstoy been aware of robots, androids, moon resorts, and magnetic grav trains, this is the book he'd have written. To my mind, the concept of robotics, with its sense of coldness and hardness and immovable logic, fits in perfectly with the idea of post-Tsar Russia; where bureaucracy and the welfare of the nation takes precedence over the welfare of the individual; where the sense of almost perpetual winter brings to mind the frigidity of metal gears and iron exoskeletons; where hidden passions burn just as hotly as the groznium engines driving the mechanical contraptions in this book.

As much I enjoyed the first Quirk books, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters, they were quite obviously literary mash-ups, which, while amusing, would be somewhat jarring to read when the new storyline was introduced into the old, resulting in the occasional illogical scene. Android Karenina, on the other hand, flowed, for the most part, smoothly between the old story and the new. If high school kids were given a choice between reading this version and the original, we might be a more literate society, or at least more literature-curious. I would hope that anyone who hasn't read the original version would, upon finishing this book, do so, potentially opening the door to the discovery of a whole new world of literary possibilities, as I would hope would happen with all of the Quirk Books.

Personally, I have never felt a connection to any of the Russian authors and reading this novel, despite its somewhat "secondhand" rendition of the original, just reinforced that sense of alienation I have towards them and their literary creations. I understand the underlying despair which fuels Anna's story, but I cannot empathize with her. The other sympathetic character, Konstantin Levin, has moments of jealously which turn him into a despicable person, which makes me wonder, Are all men so insecure? So I can't say I'll be reading the original Anna Karenina anytime soon, but I'm not ruling out the possibility of trying it again. I used to be a picky eater, but I've forced myself to try foods I never used to like, only to find that, indeed, they actually taste good. Perhaps the same will be true of Russian novels.

Android Karenina is quite a lengthy tome, certainly not a casual read, much as is the original. But I hope potential readers won't be put off by this fact, as it is quite entertaining and, in my opinion, the best work put out by Ben H. Winters and Quirk Books so far.(less)

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May 24, 2012 Liz rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: guilty-pleasures, own

I feel i should start off by saying that if you haven't read Anna Karenina, you likely wont enjoy this 'remix' as much as someone who has. That's not to say that it doesn't stand well on it's own as a steampunk novel, but rather that it's likely to be more enjoyable if you're familiar with the original text.

That said, I really enjoyed this book. I've never been big on Tolstoy, and of all his books Anna Karenina was always my least favourite- However, this was brilliant. It's so inspired and out...more

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May 24, 2012 Louise Leetch rated it 4 of 5 stars

My taste in books runs to the ilk of Cold Mountain. I haven’t read one single vampire book. I never read the Harry Potter Books and I never could get into fantasy books—including the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings! I guess I’m just a snob! When I began reading Ben H. Winters’ mash-up of Android Karenina, my hopes were not high for a quick, light or funny read. Oddly enough, it was all three. Mash-ups are the latest thing in the literary world, mixing classics with new world monsters and demons. It...more My taste in books runs to the ilk of Cold Mountain. I haven’t read one single vampire book. I never read the Harry Potter Books and I never could get into fantasy books—including the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings! I guess I’m just a snob! When I began reading Ben H. Winters’ mash-up of Android Karenina, my hopes were not high for a quick, light or funny read. Oddly enough, it was all three. Mash-ups are the latest thing in the literary world, mixing classics with new world monsters and demons. It’s not really all that new; the music world has been doing it for ages. Mad Magazine used to rewrite the comics as written by, If Al Capp wrote Brenda Starr.

Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina is the original high maintenance drama queen. She falls in love with a dashing soldier, deserts her husband and child for him and complains when he doesn’t dote on her every minute of the day. We all know that Russian novels tend to have a gazillion characters, so what does Winters do? He adds more!

The author introduces us to the Robots made of Groznium. There are Class I robots acting as toys, candles and self-extinguishing ashtrays. Class II robots perform the functions of domestics, train drivers and miners. Upon reaching their majority, the upper classes receive a Class III, a beloved-companion robot. That robot is part alter ego, part Jiminy Cricket, part personal valet/maid. They provide a memory bank and communication, as well as protect, groom, mimic, nudge and commiserate with their human counterparts. Eventually, we meet the humanoid Class IV robot, the ubiquitous “toy soldiers”.

Count Vronsky’s Class III is shaped like a wolf; Anna’s is sveltely shaped but still robotic. Anna’s husband, Alexei, has a robot that takes form as a partial face, a la Phantom of the Opera. It is quite clear from the beginning that the face will be not only urging but also dictating Karenin’s actions. Alexei is extremely important in the Higher Branches of the Ministry of Robotics. He controls all the robots and protects the populace from the UnConSkia terrorists, former state scientists who threaten Russian’s utopian way of life.

The true marvel of this mash-up is the way the author flips the events thoroughly and seamlessly from Czarist Russia to something more akin to 1984. The religious enthusiasts are now Xenotheologists who believe “They will come for us in three ways” and those ways are in the form of hellhounds to delight any fan of Star Wars sand creatures. Vronsky’s English stallion, Frou Frou, becomes an exterior, a sort of suit of armor, for the cull--a steeplechase in which the contestants must eliminate each other. Anna will still destroy herself, not under a train, but beneath the Grav, which runs on an electrical force across a magnetic field. Ben H.Winters, playwright, librettist and author of the immensely popular Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters connects all of Tolstoy’s dots in the cleverly bizarre world he has created and he transforms a Russian novel into a reasonably demented work of science fiction.

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May 24, 2012 Marie rated it 5 of 5 stars

I reserve 5-star ratings for books of extraordinary creativity, skill, craftsmanship, and lasting impact to the reader. Of course there's that personal enjoyment variable, too.

Android Karenina meets every criteria I've got. Quirk Classics has yet to miss the mark on creativity, and Ben Winters molds words I could read or listen to all day in this work. My first three criteria have been met with each of the three previous Quirk Classics released, and I expected nothing less.

I expected more humor...more

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May 24, 2012 Graham Crawford rated it 1 of 5 stars Recommends it for: the criminally insane

I came to this book - and this Mash up genre with an open mind. There are many great examples of Post Modern re-contextualisations of classic artworks; Shakespeare productions set in during the second world war, Wagner's ring cycle set against a backdrop of industrial socialist revolution, Derek Jarman's quirky anachronisms. These clever works re-frame and re-present classic stories within a contemporary context refreshing sometimes stale ideas for new audiences. I was hoping Android Karenina wo...more I came to this book - and this Mash up genre with an open mind. There are many great examples of Post Modern re-contextualisations of classic artworks; Shakespeare productions set in during the second world war, Wagner's ring cycle set against a backdrop of industrial socialist revolution, Derek Jarman's quirky anachronisms. These clever works re-frame and re-present classic stories within a contemporary context refreshing sometimes stale ideas for new audiences. I was hoping Android Karenina would do this for a Russian Great.

I was not a great fan of the original, with its tedious self-absorbed characters and their petty bourgeois morality. I couldn't wait for the revolution to come so they'd be lined up against the wall and put out of their long suffering miseries. and I've always suspected that was the point of Tolstoy's master work. Behold life before the revolution - watch the annoying twats carry on like spoilt children over a failed marriage.

Hey - it couldn't get any worse dressing them in Steam Punk vogue and adding a couple of robots....could it?

Android Karenina is puerile rubbish of the lowest sort, it's a crayon moustache graffiti-ed on the Mona Lisa. Was this meant to be funny? If so, I don't get the joke. This book is meant to be the best example of the mash-up genre. There are heaps of 4 and 5 star ratings from Goodreads reviewers. There's no accounting for taste. There are a lot of boguns out there. I need to avoid this genre like the clap if this book is representative.

The standard of prose is bad fan fiction without the camp humour of slash.
High emotional points in the original story are defaced by absurd encounters with aliens, wormholes and poltergeist pyrotechnics, with all the subtlety of Vaudeville drum and cymbal boom tish joke punctuation.
The Steam Punk themes are a hack role call of popular SF stories with robots, Asimov, Terminator etc, all dressed up in clockwork drag.

The central premise of a culture based around companion robots is NEVER explained, and this absence sticks out like a bad graft on Frankenstein's monster, as every other laboured line in this turgid tome explains every tedious detail of all the other relationships, barring the most important one in that society- the human machine bond. Even the illustrations are clumsy uninspired ugly renderings, with robots looking like they came out of the Futurama factory. At least Bender had a sense of humour.

At a whopping 541 pages, this is a single joked stretched so thin the plot leaks and makes a mess on the carpet.

One star - because if if gave this a Zero like it deserves, you'd think I'd forgotten to rate it.(less)

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May 24, 2012 Lyssa rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: first-reads

*Received this in a first read giveaway*
Wasn't able to start this til a two weeks ago I'm really surprised that it's been this long and I'm still reading it. I've not read the original novel, so came into this with no expectations.

The robot/android angle to this book adds the little bit of sci fi "oomph" that might broaden the reading audience. That being said, I can sometimes infer what may have happened in the original novel that the robots are doing in this one (revolutionaries booby trappin...more

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May 24, 2012 Lisa Hayden Espenschade rated it 2 of 5 stars Recommends it for: steampunks, science fiction fans, the robot in you

Recommended to Lisa by: publisher copy of book

I think of Android Karenina's ideal audience in terms of Venn diagrams: that mysterious place where "fans of Anna Karenina" and "science fiction readers who love reading about machinery and robots" overlaps. Many of Winters's variations on Tolstoy's themes are very clever -- particularly his Karenin -- and Quirk did well to choose AK for a steampunk mash-up. Still, I thought the book dragged a bit, particularly in the middle.

I should admit that I think Anna Karenina drags a bit in places, too....more

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May 24, 2012 Snail in Danger (Sid) Nicolaides marked it as decided-not-to-read

Recommended to Snail in Danger (Sid) by: Suzanna

Shelves: science-fiction, cover-faceless-female, cover-pretty-white-girl

Anna Karenina (on which this is based) was the first "grown up" book I read (for lack of a better term). I think I was 8 or 10 or so. Yes, I was a strange child, and no, maybe I shouldn't have been allowed to read it. I remember thinking it was engrossing, but I can't say with any certainty how well I understood it.

But anyway, as a science fiction fan I have a high standard for books involving robots. (Actually I am fairly particular generally.) While I get the sense this is a better adaptation...more

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Sep 01, 2012 Anavie Alegre rated it 4 of 5 stars

Wow! I never really fully read Leo Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina, but I’ve been wanting to read it though the book isn’t available here. I’ve read the first part, only the first part. And because of this I can’t seem to connect Anna Karenina to Android Karenina. -__- I should really read Anna Karenina then. Regardless of that, I think that Android Karenina was a splendid read, I wasn’t really expecting Anna herself to be somekind of high-tech android. Yeah, that part shocked me the most. Altogether th...more Wow! I never really fully read Leo Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina, but I’ve been wanting to read it though the book isn’t available here. I’ve read the first part, only the first part. And because of this I can’t seem to connect Anna Karenina to Android Karenina. -__- I should really read Anna Karenina then. Regardless of that, I think that Android Karenina was a splendid read, I wasn’t really expecting Anna herself to be somekind of high-tech android. Yeah, that part shocked me the most. Altogether this novel brought certain topics into surface (I think it is also distinct in Anna Karenina) these are: censorship, love, deceit and state power. Well, I can’t help but imagine Alexei Karenin as Stalin, sorry I just can’t help it. Though I pity him. He loved Anna dearly although he was forced to withdraw all of his love for her because of the face. I think that Anna Karenina embodied Leo Tolstoy’s sentiment toward Russian government which the state is to overpowering and censors almost everything to the people.

Reading this book I began to submerge myself in the doubts of the people and how difficult marriage life is. How difficult love is altogether. Love isn’t enough to keep your relationship with your so called “love” in tact and most especially if you have quarrels. Human emotions can cause a relationship to ruin. Jealousy is focused here in the novel. Of course pride is embodied by Alexei Karenin. Love is a like a surreal image, it doesn’t stay for too long, in the long run realize that it never even existed in the first place. It is just something that you created for yourself. Something that you stirred deep inside of you towards another person. And this sensation would be overpowered by the realities of the world.

Alexei Karenin was not a bad man, I think he is a good man. The only fault in him is merging himself with a robot. This would enable the robot to overpower his humanity with mechanical rationality. To think that the sole purpose of his class III was to subjugate humanity. I empathize with him in the fact that he was deceived by his wife. And was strongly opposed to the thought of being jealous. I really really felt for him! T.T Because of this great anxiety in his heart, the power of the face grew stronger and stronger. He gave love and forgiveness but all he had in return was loneliness, being along. And the only solace he had was his metal face. If only he was happier, perhaps the disasters would’ve not taken place.

Vronsky and Anna’s love story was really problematic. And I must commend Levin and Kitty’s love story for being a little pure. Levin really loved Kitty even though at first he was rejected by her because she was supposed to be the bride of Vronsky who fell in love with Anna. Who was the start of the chaos.

Love really is a dangerous thing. One cannot be certain whether he’s guarded when he is in love because when one is in love he is vulnerable as a baby.(less)

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Jun 14, 2012 Cassie-la rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011-reads

REVIEW ALSO ON: http://bibliomantics.com/2011/03/04/a......

Until this week, I had not read Anna Karenina since an AP English class my senior year of high school. I remembered four things about this classic. 1. The book was recommended by Oprah which made me immediately not want to read it, 2. Tolstoy is Russian, 3. Anna kills herself and the book still insists on continuing for another 20 pages, and 4. I hated it with every fiber of my being.

Thankfully, due to the wonderful literary innovation o...more REVIEW ALSO ON: http://bibliomantics.com/2011/03/04/a......

Until this week, I had not read Anna Karenina since an AP English class my senior year of high school. I remembered four things about this classic. 1. The book was recommended by Oprah which made me immediately not want to read it, 2. Tolstoy is Russian, 3. Anna kills herself and the book still insists on continuing for another 20 pages, and 4. I hated it with every fiber of my being.

Thankfully, due to the wonderful literary innovation of the mash-up implemented by Quirk Classics in 2o09, I can re-read this classic in a much more satisfying and enjoyable way. And no matter how much classical purists dislike this new genre, one cannot deny that the main theme and thrust of the novel is never derailed, merely added upon and seasoned for the enjoyment of the masses.

The novel takes place in an alternate version of 19th century Russia, after the discovery of a mysterious alloy known as groznium, which allows technology to excel. Robots pervade everything, with Class I robots doing simple tasks such as brewing tea and Class II robots providing intermediate tasks such as raising children or driving carriages. The citizenry is in fear of a group called UnConSciya (Union of Concerned Scientists) who are blamed for attacking citizens with mechanical insect creatures referred to as koschei. Basically, there a lot of things that click, tick, have gears, and also a good number of things that explode.

It is also a world in which every citizen is allowed a Class III robot companion on their 18th birthday, who becomes their most beloved and understanding friend. These robots serve as an alternative to a lot of the inner-dialogue present in Tolstoy, and also replace the various servants that appear throughout the original.

Each Class III is personalised for the human they serve, filling a need that human requires while at the same time representing their character. Basically, Class III’s are big clunky, non shape-shifting daemons. These companions have the ability to replay memories of their masters, and receive and send messages known as communiqués, much like video chat or email but viewed on robot stomachs. Much like the Three Laws of Robotics in the stories of Isaac Asimov, the robots in this novel are held in check by the Iron Laws, which prevent them from damaging themselves and force them to obey human demands placed upon them. The most lovable Class III is Levin’s robot Socrates, who constantly provides helpful advice to his worrisome master. A slight second is the ridiculous sounding Tatiana, Kitty’s companion who is both pink AND a ballerina.

Unlike the original novel, which deals with social change and the transition into a technological world, Winters pokes fun at a removal from the modern world, and his version of Russia becomes less technologically advanced. At one point, Vronsky jokingly comments that Karenin plans to, “… Drain every vestige of technology from the nation… Russia will end up as some sort of vast agrarian monarchy, complete with horse races and peasants threshing wheat”. This comment is particularly amusing considering that Vronsky himself participated in horse races (in Tolstoy’s version) on a steed named Frou-Frou (the name of his battle suit in Winters’ version) and Levin was a farmer rather than a groznium miner.

Russia steps back when Karenin (under control from the robotic portion of his face, think Terminator) removes ALL robots from society and has plans to convert the Grav (fancy version of a train which is perpetually on time) into something much less modern. As he tells Anna’s brother Stiva, “Do not fear… The people of Russia will still be able to travel; they will travel, however, on a simple mechanical apparatus… The cars will be fired by the steam generated by burning heaps of noxious, dirty coal, and will run on rickety metal wheels along non-charged rails. This transportation machine we shall call a ‘train”. It was at this point that I literally couldn’t control my glee.

My only problem with the novel, which is no fault of Winters, is the source material upon which it is based. Unlike his other novel for Quirk, Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters, I had no prior love of the original. I think one of the great things about reading the aforementioned mash-up, and Seth Grahame-Smith’s Pride and Prejudice and Zombies were my knowledge of the source material and the ease with which I caught the inside jokes and could pick up on the alteration to the text. This presented a greater challenge in Android Karenina, and I would suggest at least reading the SparkNotes before or after finishing Winters’ novel, in order to catch the little nuances which had me giggling throughout.

This is also the fault that seems to be inherent in the mash-up, that the art imitates the art. Whereas Anna Karenina originally starts off slow and dragging, so too does Android Karenina, focusing on characters and relationships rather than much plot development. It wasn’t until I read the sentence, “Thus were the Scherbatskys blasted into space” that my interest was piqued. Rather than send her on a normal holiday to get over her woes upon losing the affection of Count Vronsky, Kitty is sent into orbit around Venus to convalesce. The novel significantly picks up pace from here, with Anna’s husband Alexei Alexandrovich Karenin being taken over by the metallic portion of his face, Madame Stahl being shot out of an airlock into space for being a practicing xenotheologist (member of a cultist religion that awaits arrival of an alien species to save humanity), and Anna and Vronsky taking refuge on the moon.

However, all this wonderful ridiculousness is merely working its way up to strangest moment in the novel, which arrives in the final 40 pages. I would love to tell you the amazing twist of this ending, but it is really necessary to read the entire story to get the full scope of the finale. At this point in the narrative, robots have been removed from society, aliens are bursting out of people’s bodies and attacking humanity, and Anna realises that UnConSciya have the capacity for time travel. It is from here on out that time shifts back and forth from a new future to an old future, showing the result in both worlds of Anna’ suicide. The whole plot twist BLEW MY MIND. And that’s a pretty difficult thing to do.

Don’t let the original dissuade you, this novel will not have you contemplating throwing yourself in front of a train.(less)

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May 24, 2012 Gretchen rated it 4 of 5 stars

I have read anna karenina before, but I did not really remember all of the plot line so it has been fun reading this book and slowly remembering some things, but then there are androids! it's very much an alternate reality that is fun to discover. I must admit that by the end, I was sucked in and wondering how the book was going to end and resolve some of the outstanding plot points. So this is a good addition to the other novels that have added zombies and sea monsters to jane austen books.

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May 24, 2012 Uriah rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: first-reads, sci-fi

I received this book as a First-reads copy. At first I wasn't sure if it was something I would enjoy but I was interested to see how it would work as a novel. (I should say I have not read the original.) It turns out that I really enjoyed the book. The writing of the two authors blends together seamlessly. Tolstoy's work is ideal for blending in the "high" science fiction/steampunk genre. The character development is excellent, especially for the main players.

Overall a very enjoyable read.

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Sep 19, 2012 Bar Shirtcliff rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Winters fans

It's not as much fun as Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters, but, this is a pleasant way to spend some time.

I wouldn't want to do what Winters has done here because it must be impossible to please Tolstoy fans, but, I suppose most of this book's readers probably can't stand the original (in translation). I've read the original several times in English, and once in Russian, so, I'm not in the intended audience.

That said, I found the multi-ending to be a bit of a drag, and I didn't like the wa...more

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May 24, 2012 Christopher tm rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: goodreads-first-reads

Dry.

Dry dry dry.

Dry dry dry dry dry dry dry dry dry dry dry dry dry.

Gah.

I could not make headway into the original without being bored to distraction and the introduction here of Robots! does naught to hold my interest.

Undoubtedly I will try again at a later date, but that date and I are not looking forward to meeting each other.

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May 18, 2012 Shauna rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-for-blog-review

Disclaimer: I got this book free for review.

Ahhhhh....all the tragedy of the original Russian romance Leo Tolstoy delivered to us in Anna Karenina, plus all the robots, aliens, and political intrigue you've always wanted.

Mr.Winters, co-author with Jane Austen, of Sense and Sensibilities and Sea Monsters, teamed up with Ol' Leo this time around to give Anna Arkadyevna a liberal sprinkling of Steampunk. I was over the moon when I heard Mr.Winters was part of Quirk Classic's newest project. I adore...more Disclaimer: I got this book free for review.

Ahhhhh....all the tragedy of the original Russian romance Leo Tolstoy delivered to us in Anna Karenina, plus all the robots, aliens, and political intrigue you've always wanted.

Mr.Winters, co-author with Jane Austen, of Sense and Sensibilities and Sea Monsters, teamed up with Ol' Leo this time around to give Anna Arkadyevna a liberal sprinkling of Steampunk. I was over the moon when I heard Mr.Winters was part of Quirk Classic's newest project. I adored what he did with S&S, so in my mind he could do no wrong with Anna. I am pleased to say, Mr.Winters did not disappoint.

To be entirely honest and up front about this all, Quirk Classics sent me the book a few weeks ago for free. The only strings attached were that I read and blog about my feelings on the book as well as toss in a few links (which I'll get to in a moment) for my readers. I'm all about free books. Especially free books I might actually enjoy. And enjoy I did. Win-win, folks!

And since I'm in the midst of this outpouring of honesty, I'll also tell you I have never actually read the original Anna Karenina. Sorry. But as soon as I dug into Android Karenina, I called my mother and asked to borrow one of the many versions of the movie she owns on DVD. She brought me the BBC version filmed in 1977. If it follows the BBC's literary movie tradition, it was probably very accurate. I really think Tolstoy missed the mark with his original concept. There was always something missing. Sure, it has adultery, emotional melt downs, morphine, madness, and a healthy dose of political commentary, but what it was really missing was robots. Robots and aliens. Robots, aliens, and interplanetary travel. Mr.Winters has fixed that nearly fatal flaw.

I believe we can now set aside the worn out issue of Team Edward or Team Jacob and ask ourselves a new, more pressing question: Team Karenin or Team Vronsky?

(And for the record, Anna Karenina is now sitting in my to-read book pile in my room. I'll get to it eventually.)(less)

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Aug 13, 2012 Ashley rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: to-finish

I'm not typically a person that "hates" a book. But this one comes close.

I feel like whenever the story is picking up speed, the next chapters to follow are completely and utterly boring.
I did like the sci-fi highlights but they weren't enough to keep me interested.
I dislike how the book is broken into chapters and sub sections, as well as how the robots are addressed in the book II/Governess/47-T (I get that they are trying to explain the type of robot, but it completely irritates me when ev...more

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May 24, 2012 Amanda rated it 4 of 5 stars

I admit that I've never read Leo Tolstoy's classic Anna Karenina. I did, however, get to see a theatrical version put on by my high school's drama department. I don't remember much about the plot itself -only that the entire thing was incredibly dreary, dramatic and well, depressing. What is it with Russian literature and being super-long and super-depressing? Maybe it had something to do with living in such a cold, dark country. Anyway, up until now, this was my entire relationship with Tolstoy...more

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May 24, 2012 Aimeekay rated it 4 of 5 stars

Android Karenina is set in the late 1800's, the same time period as the original Anna Karenina, by Leo Tolstoy. But I do not think Tolstoy ever pictured his Russia quite like this one. Groznium has greatly changed the way people live. Everything that isn't human is basically a robot. From the simple Class I's, like the I/Mouse/9, that keeps pests away, to the Class II's, such as the II/Governess/D145, that teaches the children, to the Class III's, the robot companions to the wealthy. The lights...more

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May 24, 2012 Sarah rated it 5 of 5 stars

The newest in the Quirk lineup of mash-ups, this one allows the world of Tolstoy’s “Anna Karenina” to collide with a futuristic world of aliens and robots. If you are unfamiliar with the basic story of “Anna Karenina” here’s a brief throwdown. Rich and prominent (and married!) Anna Karenina falls in love with dashing young officer Vronsky. Their affair is used to contrast several other loving relationships in the book in their different levels and forms, as they face hardship and stigma from soc...more The newest in the Quirk lineup of mash-ups, this one allows the world of Tolstoy’s “Anna Karenina” to collide with a futuristic world of aliens and robots. If you are unfamiliar with the basic story of “Anna Karenina” here’s a brief throwdown. Rich and prominent (and married!) Anna Karenina falls in love with dashing young officer Vronsky. Their affair is used to contrast several other loving relationships in the book in their different levels and forms, as they face hardship and stigma from society. In this version, Anna and Vronsky are also caught in the middle of a changing Russian society. Under constant attack from the UnConScia (a terrorist group of scientists), they find themselves defending their right to own robots. Upon reaching adulthood, every person in Russian society is given a Class III robot companion to serve them throughout life. Each Class III is unique. Now, Anna’s husband has taken a change for the worse, the violent, and is formulating laws which will ban all robots whatsoever, and Anna and Vronsky must decide whether they will fight or trade their ideals for a place back in society.

I was a bit dubious about how this mash-up would turn out, but considering one of the authors is the author of my favorite mash-up (Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters), I had faith. For the first third of the book, I felt way too much was going on in the way of additions. There were robots, aliens, strange monsters and terrorists in the countryside, time travel and psychic powers, space travel and a dystopian society forming. Whoa, so much going on. However, Winters deftly brings together all the elements at the end of the novel to make a terrifying whole.

The addition of the robots, especially the Class IIIs, adds a whole new element of relationships to the story. And for a novel about relationships, that makes the story all the more rich. (Not that one could ever improve on Tolstoy). You come to care for the Class IIIs just as much as any of the other characters. Winters uses them as a voice of logic and reason, a control, while the rest of Russia goes haywire through fear and power struggles.

If you haven’t read Anna Karenina, the original, I would hesitate to recommend this book to you. The original is such a fantastic piece of literature by itself, you almost need to force yourself to read it before this book. The mash-up version is similar, but so vastly different that you won’t be getting a good picture of what the original is like (the only complaint I have about Winters’s writing style when it comes to mash-ups). But if you have read the original, by all means, pick this one up and give it a go.(less)

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Feb 26, 2013 Leah rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: quirked-classics, read-in-2011

FINALLY. It only took me over six months. WHY IS IT SO LONG? Having ADD does not go well with reading this book. So much droll talk of feelings and Anna being a simpering female and not even putting out for me in the end. Although the time travel ending did drop a pretty sweet knowledge bomb on me. I like to think that I would have liked it more had I been able to concentrate on reading it continually instead of in little bits and pieces because I kept getting bored. I do recall liking it quite...more

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May 24, 2012 Anna Engel rated it 4 of 5 stars

It's part "Anna Karenina," part Isaac Asimov, part Men in Black, and part steam punk. It's fantastic. It's been long enough that I don't remember how faithful the text is to the original, but I've decided it doesn't matter because you can read and enjoy both for what they are. It is to Winters' credit that you can't distinguish Tolstoy's words from the more modern edition. One thing Winters did right was to delete extraneous characters and subplots – a big thank you for that!

I'm amazed at how s...more

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May 24, 2012 Marcus rated it 3 of 5 stars

Android Karenina by Ben Winters is a Steampunk take on Leo Tolstoy’s classic novel and in deed, the plot resembles the original to a great degree and all original protagonists are present. They are incarnated in a way befitting a Steampunk setting. Android Karenina is set against a high-tech Steampunk background, placed in a pseudo 19th century Russia.
What first struck me was the easiness with which the human protagonists interact with their robotic alter-egos/side-kicks, the Class III companion...more Android Karenina by Ben Winters is a Steampunk take on Leo Tolstoy’s classic novel and in deed, the plot resembles the original to a great degree and all original protagonists are present. They are incarnated in a way befitting a Steampunk setting. Android Karenina is set against a high-tech Steampunk background, placed in a pseudo 19th century Russia.
What first struck me was the easiness with which the human protagonists interact with their robotic alter-egos/side-kicks, the Class III companions. These robots have been around quite a while by the time the events of the novel unfold and have helped create a unique society.
The society of Android Karenina’s Russia, and in deed the whole country, could have been taken from a Belle Epoque vision of the year 2000: Fashion and society has not changed, only technology has advanced and provides novel ways of travel, new methods to treat illnesses and new forms of entertainment. The three-dimensional dance early in the novel and the grav-skating are just two particularly delightful examples of this.
The first part of the novel takes the reader into a very intricate and detailed vision of a Belle Epoque utopia, brought about by the discovery of the mystery and almost magical metal Groznium, which has transformed society “since the days of the Czars” and brought amazing advances.
The Class III companions are the most visible part of these advancements. The Class IIIs are sentient machines, extensions and complementaries of their owners personality. They are also part of Coming-of-Age. Children do not have Class III companions. The gift of a Class III marks the entry into adult life.
But despite all this technology, society has changed little. For the most part it resembles the highly stratified society of late-czarist Russia. All protagonists are also part of the upper echelons of society, common people are absent. Their absence is so drastic, I at times wondered if they had not been completely replaced by Class II (menial work) robots. This fear was elevated later in the novel, though. Interestingly, the automatons seem to have a standing covering the entire spectrum from slaves to trusted friends. Levin, Stiva and Anna Karenina treat their companions with respect, while other members of High Society delight in cruel games involving their mechanical servants, very much like serfs used to be treated in czarist Russia, depending on their lord.
In the first part of Android Karenina, we are also introduced to all the main characters and their various companions. This introduction is quite lengthy. As a result, Android Karenina has a rather slow start. Still, the high-tech vision of an extended 19th century depicted in the novel is quite enthralling.
As the Ben Winter’s tale progresses and the reader learns more about the world, the utopia becomes tarnished. There is an underground movement of scientists using strange and advanced technologies to create emotion-bombs and god-mouths (I think they are miniature black holes of some sort) to wreak havoc.
There is also the shadow of an alien presence, the Honored Guests, which is cast over some occultist fringes of Moscow’s high society. There is even a religion based around these aliens, but the government acts rather harshly against it.
Another quite fascinating but rather disturbing feature is the almost complete absence of other parts of the world.
Count Vronsky and Anna Karenina sometimes converse in French and Count Vronsky’s mecanicien
is an Englishman. At some later point, Vronsky accompanies a “foreign prince” and shows him around Russia, but that is it. The rest of the world only exists in the margins. Even during part two of the novel “Voyage of the Shcherbatskys”, in which the reader is taken along the Shcherbatskys voyage into space, we only meet Russians. I was left with the impression that Android Karenina’s Russia was not quite a real place, even in the context of the novel. Rather, it seems to exist in some other, dreamlike state, all on its own. This isolation becomes even more apparent in the last part, when the people of Russia are faced with a dire threat that sure would have caused the neighbouring countries to intervene on Russia’s side.

Without wanting to spoil anything, the plot of Android Karenina offers quite a few interesting twists. This is one of the most enjoyable factors of the novel, but also one of its flaws. At first, I was surprised and delighted, when a surprising new element was added, but there are too many of these. The plot contains elements of I, Robot, Terminator, Aliens and The War of the Worlds. You can also argue that one scene is reminiscent of Starship Troopers. Leaving out some of these elements would not have hurt the plot and would have prevented it becoming somewhat overburdened towards the end. The second (and final) element I found irritating are the lengthy descriptions of everyday events and looks inside the minds and musings of the protagonists. It made me skip pages on a few occasions and thus I missed an important bit, just half a page in length, which is actually the key scene of the novel. Without said lengths, Android Karenina would have been more enjoyable.
Those two are my only points of criticism, though. I found Android Karenina to be a thoroughly entertaining, enthralling and inspiering novel. I especially enjoyed the Russian flavour to Steampunk, something I had not encountered before.
Sadly, I cannot completely credit Mr. Winters for the creation of the very believable characters, since they were closely based on Tolstoy’s work. His creation of the Class III companions, especially Lupo and Little Stiva (whose passing I mourned) deserve all the credit that is due.
On a final note, Android Karenina does something I have not encountered before: The book, not just the novel, breaches the fourth barrier. There are elements in the book, little details, that presume the book is printed in a world were the events of Android Karenina are as likely as the events of Anna Karenina are in our world. All I can say is: Special thanks to II/ENGLISHRENDERER/94!

In conclusion, Android Karenina is an engaging and at times heavy read with unnecessary lengthy stretches and a few too many elements in the plot. It is also a beautiful, harrowing and sad tale of a technological Utopia descending slowly into a strange form of Orwellian Steampunk Stalinism. It is rich in detail and creates a very unique and even by Steampunk standards strange and dreamlike world within its pages that strives to reach out towards the reader.(less)

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May 24, 2012 Suzanne Lazear added it

Full review at Steamed! http://ageofsteam.wordpress.com/2010/...

This retelling of Tolstoy’s classic tale of love and betrayal brings us into an alternate version of 19th Century Russia full of amazing technology, adventure, and robots. Winters does an excellent job of blending the gloomy feel of Pre-Revolutionary Russia with futuristic technology and modernism creating a believable and interesting tale that feels familiar yet is deliciously different. The amazing illustrations only add to it.

Fro...more

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May 24, 2012 Mollymillions rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2010, scififantasy

Quirk Books has dubbed themselves “Masters of the Public Domain,” and it’s no idle boast. They’ve struck gold with the idea of mashing up classic literature with classic science fiction and fantasy tropes. Of their current titles, Android Karenina makes for the most successful pairing. As in the original, the book follows the relationships of two couples: the tragic Anna Karenina and Count Alexei Vronsky, and the more hopeful Nikolai Levin and Princess Kitty Shcherbatskaya. Frankly, that’s as fa...more

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May 24, 2012 Steve Love rated it 1 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I loved Anna Karenina, so add in robots and how could Android Karenina not be good? Leave it to Ben H. Winters to squander his opportunity to do something brilliant.

The sad truth is Android Karenina's robots are little more than props. They're introduced early on as the "beloved companions" of their human owners, and only seem to exist for the sake of boosting the self-esteem of these humans. When Stepan Arkadyich feels guilty about cheating on his wife, his robot companion consoles him by match...more I loved Anna Karenina, so add in robots and how could Android Karenina not be good? Leave it to Ben H. Winters to squander his opportunity to do something brilliant.

The sad truth is Android Karenina's robots are little more than props. They're introduced early on as the "beloved companions" of their human owners, and only seem to exist for the sake of boosting the self-esteem of these humans. When Stepan Arkadyich feels guilty about cheating on his wife, his robot companion consoles him by matching his mood and displaying "memories" of her on his display monitor. The robots rarely speak, and when they do, it's usually to echo a phrase said by their owner. We're told that they are confidants and sounding boards for ideas and great discussions, but we never see these discussions take place.

Some minor spoilers ahead.

The villain of the story, Alexei Karenin (Anna's cuckolded husband), has a robot of his own — his "Face". The inherent ridiculousness of this aside, the Face eventually takes over Karenin, and uses his position in the government to confiscate everyone's robots in the guise of having them adjusted. The reader, along with a few of the central characters, eventually learns that this is all an evil plot. While the characters are desperate to save their robots, whom they love like brothers or sisters, the reader could care less. Ben H. Winters has not developed the robots has characters, and as a result, this whole plot evokes about as much concern or sympathy as does a weekend of Blackberry or iPhone network outages.

Winters lets even more air out of the crisis of his plot as the people of Russia start to enjoy this new life without robots and electronic gadgets. So is the reader supposed to be rooting for the resistance movement that's trying to rescue the robots? Or for the villain Karenin?

And then it becomes clear what's happening here. Winters is attempting to make us learn something about ourselves and our own gadget-obsessed society. At this point, feel free to throw the book across the room and abandon any remaining hope that the story will redeem itself without the need to have a moral at the end.

The end of this book couldn't have come soon enough. I very nearly gave it two stars, wanting to shrug it off as OK, but the parts that make it almost likable are the parts that come more or less from Tolstoy's Anna Karenina. The addition of robots, mad scientists and aliens does nothing for the original story, and when judged on its own merits, Android Karenina is weak and hardly interesting.(less)

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May 24, 2012 Beth Woodruff rated it 3 of 5 stars

I received this book as part of the First Read program. I was in the process of finishing two other books so this one kept getting pushed back and back on my schedule. I also struggled with the fact that I have never read Anna Karenina. I debated whether I should read the Classic first, pick up some footnotes, or watch the movie in order to get me oriented with the story line. I figured I had delayed enough so here I am, diving headfirst into a book that is a classic story to many, but is a firs...more

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May 24, 2012 Zach rated it 4 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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May 24, 2012 Keri rated it 4 of 5 stars

I fear I have no romantic bone in my body.

Okay, let me amend that. I do, just not one when it comes to Anna. Kitty and Levin? Yes. Adorable and I found myself rooting the whole time. Anna? No.

Let me start from the beginning though: I thoroughly enjoyed the novel. I haven't read Anna Karenina, so I can't compare how close it was to the original, but this one I did enjoy.

A reader can tell where Tolstoy's words shine through. They can tell where Winters placed robots (and that's not all, ladies and...more I fear I have no romantic bone in my body.

Okay, let me amend that. I do, just not one when it comes to Anna. Kitty and Levin? Yes. Adorable and I found myself rooting the whole time. Anna? No.

Let me start from the beginning though: I thoroughly enjoyed the novel. I haven't read Anna Karenina, so I can't compare how close it was to the original, but this one I did enjoy.

A reader can tell where Tolstoy's words shine through. They can tell where Winters placed robots (and that's not all, ladies and gents). And it all seems to flow together rather well. The twists at the ending, which I have spent wondering how they related to the original work and if they have anything to relate to, were somewhat surprising. I didn't have any idea of one of them until shortly before it was revealed, so that gave me a pleasant surprise.

I enjoyed the story, following the downward spiral of Russian life, and of the life of Anna and the upward spiral of others. The idea of UnConSciya combined with the Honored Guests was interesting, if not somewhat easy to figure out. It's the type of sci-fi twist that could entertain both sci-fi readers and classics readers alike.

The only downside that made me want to throw the book (and, as my boyfriend pointed out, indicated that I must enjoy it if I cared about the characters so much) was Anna. I just hated the title character with a passion that almost made me put down the book. She's the most self-centered, wishy-washy person I've ever read about. She gets what she wants with little regard to her husband (who I really felt rather bad for the entire novel, and not angry even if he was "evil"), her son (who she suddenly goes, "Oh my! I want to see him"), her daughter (What happened to her?!) and all the friends and family that went out of their way to help her. The only thing she thought about was herself and getting her own way, as evidenced by the way her story ends.

Regardless, I'm still recommending this to people. Sometimes, I wonder if the books like this are encouraging people to read the original source material. It certainly brings the idea to people who would be less-than-eager, I think. Because I assure you, I'm going to pick up Anna Karenina and see if she's just as annoying originally than she is here.

(Disclaimer: I received this book as part of the LibraryThing Early Reviewers Program)(less)

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May 24, 2012 Mark rated it 1 of 5 stars

“Android Karenina,” Ben H. Winters' mash up of the Leo Tolstoy novel, is set in a technology-driven human society right out of Frank Herbert’s “Dune.” “Android” really doesn’t have a soul. It’s the tribute band that you like because they remind you how truly great was the original. And Tolstoy's classic is considered by some to be the greatest novel ever. Those who don’t agree generally don't like the romance nature of the main storyline. But “Anna” is about so much more. “Android” reads similar...more

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May 24, 2012 Heather rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: arc, 2010-read, own, historical-fiction, sci-fi

Maybe it takes a lover of Tolstoy to really enjoy this work, I'm not sure since I've never read Tolstoy before. I had a really hard time getting into the characters. They never spoke to me.

Many times the events happened slowly and the next we have a paragraph describing a few years. I especially had a hard time with Anna Karenina. She's very complex, I'll give you that, but she was pretty messed up. She's willing to leave her son behind to run off with her lover and in the meantime she says she...more

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