Android Karenina (Quirk Classic) [Paperback]

Leo Tolstoy (Author), Ben Winters (Author), Eugene Smith (Illustrator), Constance Garnett (Translator)

Book Description

Release date: June 8, 2010

Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters co-author Ben H. Winters is back with an all-new collaborator, legendary Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy, and the result is Android Karenina an enhanced edition of the classic love story set in a dystopian world of robots, cyborgs, and interstellar space travel.

As in the original novel, our story follows two relationships: the tragic adulterous romance of Anna Karenina and Count Alexei Vronsky, and the much more hopeful marriage of Konstantin Levin and Kitty Shcherbatskaya.These four, yearning for true love, live in a steampunk-inspired 19th century of mechanical butlers, extraterrestrial-worshiping cults, and airborne debutante balls. Their passions alone would be enough to consume them-but when a secret cabal of radical scientific revolutionaries launches an attack on Russian high society's high-tech lifestyle, our heroes must fight back with all their courage, all their gadgets, and all the power of a sleek new cyborg model like nothing the world has ever seen."

Filled with the same blend of romance, drama, and fantasy that made the first two Quirk Classics New York Times best sellers, Android Karenina brings this celebrated series into the exciting world of science fiction.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The next installment in Quirk's much-heralded sci-fi/classics mashup series, this steampunk take on Anna Karenina discards tsarist Russia for an alternate reality where a miracle metal, gronzium, has fueled the development of a thriving robot culture. Carriages and candlesticks persist, but everything is mechanized, including the servants: at the peak of the robot hierarchy are the near-sentient "Class IIIs," humanoid robots who aid and comfort their upper-class owners. These futuristic additions are more than background filler, though; Winters incorporates an entire action-packed sci-fi sub-plot, with terrorist attacks from a group of renegade scientists, an alien invasion, and the growing menace of a certain scorned cyborg husband. The sci-fi elements are carefully accomplished, sometimes brilliantly extrapolated from the original. The Class IIIs, for example, also act as telling externalizations of their masters: cold, duty-bound Karenin becomes half-robot and childish Kitty gets a pink, mechanized ballerina companion. Tolstoy's text is more than strong enough to stand up to this sort of treatment, its force attenuated just enough to allow Winters (Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters) to integrate his additions-a feat he manages with aplomb. Illustrations.
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From Booklist

The extraordinary success of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (2009) has spawned an entirely new genre. The publication of Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters (2009) and Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (2010) left readers wondering what famous figure or classic novel would be the subject of the next delightfully irreverent mash-up. Wonder no more, just sit back, relax, and prepare to consider Tolstoy's masterful Anna Karenina in a whole new light. Anyone who has ever delved into the works of the great Russian novelist knows that he was, first and foremost, a realist. Somehow Winters manages to pay homage to Tolstoy's pragmatic tone while investing this timeless, ill-fated love story with robots, cyborgs, androids, and a host of other familiar sf elements. As Anna and Count Vronsky embark on their scandalous affair, they must also battle a band of radical scientists intent on fomenting a revolution. When upstart machines rebel, adultery becomes the least of their problems. Although Tolstoy purists may sniff, the parallels to nineteenth-century Russia remain surprisingly true in this futuristic version of his timeless classic. Advise readers to suspend their disbelief and go along for the ride—most won't be disappointed. --Margaret Flanagan

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Product Details

• Paperback: 541 pages
• Publisher: Quirk Books (June 8, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1594744602
• ISBN-13: 978-1594744600
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 1.4 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (54 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #729,064 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Ben H. Winters is the author of six novels, including The Last Policeman, an Amazon.com Best Book of July, 2012. His other books include Bedbugs, Android Karenina, the New York Times bestseller Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters, and the middle-grade novels The Mystery of the Everything and The Secret Life of Ms. Finkleman, a Bank Street Best Book of 2011 and an Edgar Award nominee. Ben is also the author of many plays and musicals for children and adults, and he has written for national and local publications including the Chicago Tribune, Slate, and the Huffington Post. www.BenHWinters.com

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars From an unsullied (or perhaps ignorant) perspective... June 21, 2010

By Richard Stoehr VINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback

I have to admit, I am remiss in my knowledge of Russian literature. To wit: I've never read 'Anna Karenina.' So what happens when the science-historical-fiction version 'Android Karenina' comes out? Dive right in, of course!

I wasn't sure what to expect. Even the previous Quirk Classics I'd read - 'Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters' and 'Pride and Prejudice and Zombies' - didn't really prepare me for this. I knew the Jane Austen source material of the other two, but I didn't know Tolstoy.

I thought 'Android Karenina' might be funny, based on the others. Injecting zombies and ninjas into Austen's romances of culture was a wacky move, and at first blush adding robots and aliens into Tolstoy's tale of 19-century industrializing Russia would seem to be too. In the end it wasn't funny, but somehow it works.

'Android Karenina' is an alternate-history version of Russia seen through the lens of a vague sort of steampunk science, where the mysterious element of groznium makes advanced technology possible, everything from clean and efficient anti-gravity trains to simple mechanical aides (Class I robots) to semi-intelligent robotic companions (Class III robots). Interleaved with the science-fiction elements is a complex tale of romance and political intrigue involving multiple characters, locations, and walks of life across industrialized and robotically-enhanced Russia. From the dashing Count Vronsky to the sinister Alexei Karenin and his metallic, intelligent Face. From the honorable Levin to the tragic, yet strong, Anna Karenina and her beloved-companion, Android Karenina. From the simple Class Ones to the mythical Honored Guests, who will appear to humanity in three ways.... All have their tale to tell, all are represented fairly, all will have their effect on the others, and with a satisfying, even surprising conclusion.

Is the symbolism of class structure and technology and oppression a little heavy-handed at times? To be sure, it is. Conflicts which might have been rendered with subtlety and nuance are made overt and obvious here, as giant robot armored suits battle for superior rank and metallic worms lurk beneath the ground, to appear in times of strife. But I'm sure that's the point - to take the finer themes of the original work and poke them to see where they hurt. To brings what's under the surface to new light, to give us a new way to look at an old story.

I haven't read 'Anna Karenina,' so perhaps I am a poor judge of the humor or the worth or the value of this book. What I know is that 'Android Karenina' was a tale well-told, and I enjoyed it. The additions of new elements - robots and technology and aliens - were done with care and integrated well. From my perspective, I now find it hard to imagine the same story told without those elements. And that, to me, means they took this one a little more seriously than the others. This one didn't strike my funny bone so much, but it did at times excite the imagination.

But that's me.

What's next for Quirk Classics? 'War and Peace and Werewolves,' perhaps? 'Of Mice and Magic?' Whatever it is, I'll definitely be watching with interest. Read more ›

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A Quick Tolstory June 15, 2010

By Tresillian

Format:Paperback

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 and such like.

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 world of Groznium, which is the essential ingredient for the new classes of robots. 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. Read more ›

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic idea, but the execution was overkill October 9, 2011

By Arts Lover Karen VINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

The title of this book was as impossible to resist as the question of whether anyone could successfully integrate robots into Tolstoy's era.

The placement of the robots is perfect: each is a servant and confidant to one of the main characters. The detailed descriptions give the robots distinct personalities, making them seem almost human. The robots' tasks and capabilities are futuristic, but not excessively so--they're more steampunk than Star Wars. It doesn't take much before they start to seem right at home.

And yet, with the story's wonderful setup, I hardly made it more than a few chapters into this book.

"Android Karenina" gives the impression of having been lovingly crafted by someone who knows and adores Tolstoy. Unfortunately, for the casual reader, that also leads to the book being difficult to read.

First, the length itself is Tolstoyan, at 500-plus pages. That's simply much too long for a satire, parody, or even a mashup (as one reader who finished the work says this is). Second, the style is as Tolstoyan as you would expect, with frequent detours into background description and a tendency to reference characters by ever-changing designations (given name, diminutive nickname, patronymic, and noble title and lineage). The descriptions make the plot maddeningly slow, and the naming conventions make distinguishing between new and recurring characters very difficult.

The language itself has the warm, cozy feeling of Tolstoy, but other parts of the style bog the reader down.

I gave up on the book before Android Karenina even appeared, and I fear this book will be a misfire for many.... Those who love Tolstoy are sure to admire the writing technique and effect, but may have little patience for the notion of reworking this famous novel. Those who love parody, satire, or simply creative reinterpretation may find, as I did, that any joke wears thin when it is dragged out too long. I would have loved to read a 200-300-page version of this same idea, but at its current length I am doomed to miss out on any genius that might be waiting farther along. Read more ›