Every city contains secret places. Moscow in the tumultuous 1990s is no different, its citizens seeking safety in a world below the streets - a dark, cavernous world of magic, weeping trees, and albino jackdaws, where exiled pagan deities and faerytale creatures whisper strange tales to those who would listen. Galina is a young woman caught, like her contemporaries, in the seeming lawlessness of the new Russia. In the midst of this chaos, her sister Maria turns into a jackdaw and flies away - prompting Galina to join Yakov, a policeman investigating a rash of recent disappearances. Their search will take them to the underground realm of hidden truths and archetypes, to find themselves caught between reality and myth, past and present, honor and betrayal . . . the secret history of Moscow.
The Secret History of Moscow
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Sedia (According to Crow) applies urban fantasy templates to her Russian setting with mixed success in her second stand-alone novel. Masha, the cheerfully normal sister of vision-prone translator Galina, turns into a jackdaw and flies off, leaving her just-born child behind. Joined by police detective Yakov Richards, Galina tracks the missing Masha into an underground milieu where lost souls mingle with beings out of Russian folklore. A host of secondary characters rapidly clutter the narrative and cloud its focus, and Sedia's persistently curt prose favors contemporary atmosphere over mythic resonance, diminishing Koschey the Deathless and Zemun the Celestial Cow to near-mundane status. Modern blue-collar Moscow is pitch-perfect, however: bustling yet seedy, disorganized and none too respectable. While undeniably authentic, the cynical tone may alienate many Western readers before they reach the startling but well-grounded climax. On the whole, this wholeheartedly Russian tale is most compelling as social commentary. (Nov.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
People (including Neil Gaiman, by the blurb on the cover) keep comparing this to _Neverwhere_, but it reminded me much more of _American Gods._ It also reminded me of Little, Big and _So You Want to Be a Wizard._ The division between our world and the other is thin and has has holes, and troubles in one place reflect in the other. Although the author wastes no words, she creates characters you can believe in, whose feelings you can understnd. While not a funny book, it's hopeful. Read it.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback
I visited Moscow which gave more appreciation to the characters and settings. When the book mentioned a particular place, I was there. For those of you interesting in reading novels based in Russia, it is an emotional book about the lives of people in Moscow as well as some mythological characters from the Russian past and folklore. The author shows an appreciation of life in Russia as well as Russia's history and folklore.
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful
By Tuulia
Format:Paperback
Some compare this to Gaiman's Neverwhere, but this is quite different, I think, even if this too is kind of an urban fantasy where people go to an ... underground world. What I loved best in this book was all the Russian mythology, of which I know shamefully little - though it was fun to spot some familiar things. (Actually, the only reason I recognized some characters etc, like e.g Koshchey the Deathless, was because I've got one single fairytale by Eduard Uspensky. Pathetic.)
Anyway, this is a pretty good book - not excellent or anything, but worth reading if you happen to get this into your hands. Some people seem to be annoyed at the way the author keeps on interrupting the story: every time a new character is introduced, the story of his or her life is also told. But. At one point I started to get the feeling that _this_ in fact is the "secret history of Moscow", these stories of small people who otherwise wouldn't get their voice heard, who, behind the brilliant Russian/Soviet coulisse are not living so wonderful lives. This isn't just fantasy, but also offers an interesting look into the everyday life in Russia/Soviet Union.
Anyway, this is a pretty good book - not excellent or anything, but worth reading if you happen to get this into your hands. Some people seem to be annoyed at the way the author keeps on interrupting the story: every time a new character is introduced, the story of his or her life is also told. But. At one point I started to get the feeling that _this_ in fact is the "secret history of Moscow", these stories of small people who otherwise wouldn't get their voice heard, who, behind the brilliant Russian/Soviet coulisse are not living so wonderful lives. This isn't just fantasy, but also offers an interesting look into the everyday life in Russia/Soviet Union.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
1.0 out of 5 stars
NOT similar to Neverwhere
I bought this book because of the many reviews saying it was similar to Gaiman`s Neverwhere.
So just to be clear to other possible buyers I really found out that`s not the... Read more
So just to be clear to other possible buyers I really found out that`s not the... Read more
Published 7 months ago by Javier Arroyo Ferrer
4.0 out of 5 stars
Enjoyable
This was an enjoyable and interesting book. It has a very intriguing premise.
The writing style is nicely relaxed. Read more
The writing style is nicely relaxed. Read more
Published 9 months ago by The Emperor
5.0 out of 5 stars
History of the defeated and lost
This is not not a typical urban fantasy book, and in many ways it's closer to the magical realism of Gabriel Garcia Marquez or Catherynne M. Valente. Read more
Published on February 15, 2010 by Michael
2.0 out of 5 stars
Falls far short of my expectations....
I started out very much loving this book. It was the third in a row I'd read with Russia as the setting (Child 44, Moscow Rules and then this). Read more
Published on April 11, 2009 by L. Boswell
3.0 out of 5 stars
Lovely writing, unique concept, but drags a little & needs direction
Russian urban fantasy is not normally my thing, but Sony was offering this free as a promotion on the E-Reader site, so I went ahead and downloaded it. Read more
Published on December 23, 2008 by Tigger
3.0 out of 5 stars
A romp through the Moscow underground
The Secret History is a romp through 1990s Moscow, where the underground is a world of magic and secrets that may hold the answer to a rash of mysterious disappearances. Read more
Published on October 17, 2008 by Paul E. Richardson
5.0 out of 5 stars
Like Neverwhere channeled through Chekov
This has an unmistakably Russian sensibility; it's very stark.
I bought this on Gaiman's recommendation. Read more
I bought this on Gaiman's recommendation. Read more
Published on September 6, 2008 by Lisa M. Mims
4.0 out of 5 stars
Fine fantasy
It is wonderful to find this well written fantasy based on characters out of Eastern European myths. Read more
Published on August 17, 2008 by Margaret Dybala
4.0 out of 5 stars
Just good, solid writing
To me good writing lets the reader fall into the story and never disturbs that dream-like state by calling attention to itself; there are a few writers whose writing style is worth... Read more
Published on July 3, 2008 by Rollick Hooper
3.0 out of 5 stars
Good but hit and miss
I just finished read it today. I liked it for the most part but it does have some large flaws. Some parts are well written with fantastic imagery but shortly afterwards you hit... Read more
Published on June 7, 2008 by DragonRock LTD
