Customer Reviews

Crimson Snow: The Last Desperate Days of Imperial Russia; Historical Fiction Based on the Romanovs

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1 star:		(2)

 

 

In the winter of 1916, Imperial Russia was about to drastically change. It was Christmas... Russia's third at war and the longstanding rule of the Tsars was about to come to an end. Crimson Snow, the enthralling historical fiction by David Shone on the last decadent days of imperial Russia, explores the Romanovs final days. Set largely in the beautiful city of St. Petersburg, Crimson Snow interweaves fact and fiction to arrive at a mesmerizing story on an exciting period of history.

Swarmed with war refugees from Poland and the far reaches of Russia's vast empire... the forsaken souls of the Russian empire have lost everything because of the Tsar's war with Germany. To make matters worse, the city is facing a food shortage of Russia's own making. In nearby fields, mountains of unpicked wheat have simply withered away as bellies lay empty... no one was left to harvest the lands. It is within this setting the Crimson Snow draws readers in....

Russia's youth is at war and because of their inexperience and poor leadership, they are losing badly. Germany and her allies are growing bolder and members of the German High Command have become specialists at the art of warfare. Meanwhile, Russia's generals have failed to embrace modern military tactics and are paying the price ... six million Russian men have died or been wounded. It's a premature end to a generation, yet the rich Tsar and his government - safe in St. Petersberg - appear not to care. The Tsar's spiritual adviser, a renegade priest named Rasputin, is making a mockery of the imperial cabinet and court as he uses his influence over the empress to appoint men to high posts who are willing to do his bidding only. The once god-like Tsar is no longer the people's hero... a fact recognized by the ambitious men who have surrounded him.

Historic fiction always treads a fine line between getting the history right and making the fiction enthralling. Crimson Snow does both - deeply researched, full of facts centering on Russia's fall into communism, and packed with humane characters - this book will take you to a time when trust, loyalty, and royalty were all intertwined.

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Peter N. Jones
New Great Books
http://newgreatbooks.blogspot.com

Crimson Snow is a novel which centers around an attempted coup in Russia during the World War I. It follows a very engaging story of intrigue, betrayal and the threat of war. The character evaluations are solid between fathers and sons, families in general and various political rivals. I was eager to find out just how all of these different relationships would play out and who would be left standing.
If you are looking for a an intellectual character analysis, this book is something you will enjoy. The relationships between these people, their motivations, aspirations and their internal demons take center stage.
Every story tends to deal with a microcosm of people and events, in Crimson Snow there is such a breadth of characters and material that it really feels like you get a broad and detailed account of everything taking place in Russia at the time.
The way the story is interwoven with historical people and events is done very well and seamlessly.

This is a disappointing, boring, badly written, confusing read. Characters were stock and flat--dialogue stiff and predictable. I wasn't able to get past the first couple of chapters before I gave up. I had hoped to read something along the lines of Robert Massey's book on the Czar's family--informative, well-written, engaging. Of course, Massey's work is a classic, and few could hope to achieve his level of research and skill, but I did hope for something more sophisticated than this. Please don't waste your money. Nice cover and title, though.

Love the imagery this author provides the reader throughout the novel.
Transforming oneself into another era gives way to wondering what life
would have been like under rule of the Russian regime during the early 1900's.
The characters are well developed, intriguing and not without mystery.
On individual journeys their lives eventually intertwine with each other
and I have to admit I enjoyed being along for the journey as well. Take the
time out to read Crimson Snow and you will not regret it.

I actually had high hopes for this one... And it does have a few relatively good moments, although they are outweighed. It was all over for me when [warning - spoiler!:] Rasputin turned out to be alive after being assasinated... Not to mention some annoying minor mistakes like referring to Rasputin as "Father Rasputin", to a grand duke as "Boris Konstantin" and to a palace as "Alexander's Palace". Need I go on?