The Secret History of Moscow [Paperback]

Ekaterina Sedia (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 2007

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.

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.)
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Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Prime Books (November 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0809572230
• ISBN-13: 978-0809572236
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,129,443 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Russian Fairy Tale, April 16, 2008

By 

L. Guerrero - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Secret History of Moscow (Paperback)

When Galina's sister turns into a bird and flies off leaving their mother to care for her newborn child, Galina is confused and perplexed but also determined to find her sister. Yakov is the downtrodden cop assigned to investigate the disappearance of Galina's sister and the others around Moscow who have met a similar fate. Together he and Galina, with the help of a street artist named Fyodor, must find their way into an underground version of Moscow. It is in this secret world that characters from myths, fairy tales and long forgotten religions abide and some of them are willing to help the travelers on their quest.

The Secret History of Moscow was a creative and intriguing urban fantasy novel. Ekaterina Sedia developed a unique world and wonderful multi-layered characters to inhabit it. I was captured by the story she wove and the way the Russian traditions and mythologies came alive in her writing. Fans of Neil Gaiman and Charles de Lint will not want to miss this work.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A luminous, spare, fine book, April 7, 2009

By 

Laura Jefferson "Rhyolight" (Henniker, NH United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Secret History of Moscow (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.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars ...or three and a half stars, rather, July 28, 2008

By 

Tuulia - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Secret History of Moscow (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.