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The Turkish Gambit
The Turkish Gambit: A Novel | Boris Akunin
4 posts | 7 read | 1 reading | 1 to read
[Akunin] writes gloriously pre-Soviet prose, sophisticated and suffused in Slavic melanchioly and thoroughly worthy of nineteenth-century forebearers like Gogol and Chekhov. Time It is 1877, and war has broken out between Russia and the Ottoman Empire. The Bulgarian front resounds with the thunder of cavalry charges, the roar of artillery, and the clash of steel on steel during the worlds last great horse-and-cannon conflict. Amid the treacherous atmosphere of a nineteenth-century Russian field army, former diplomat and detective extraordinaire Erast Fandorin finds his most confounding case. Its difficulties are only compounded by the presence of Varya Suvorova, a deadly serious (and seriously beautiful) woman with revolutionary ideals who has disguised herself as a boy in order to find her respected comrade and fiancPyotr Yablokov, an army cryptographer. Even after Fandorin saves her life, Varya can hardly bear to thank such a lackey of the throne for his efforts. But when Yablokov is accused of espionage and faces imprisonment and execution, Varya must turn to Fandorin to find the real culprit . . . a mission that forces her to reconsider his courage, deductive mind, and piercing gaze. Filled with the same delicious detail, ingenious plotting, and subtle satire as The Winter Queen and Murder on the Leviathan, The Turkish Gambit confirms Boris Akunins status as a master of the historical thrillerand Erast Fandorin as a detective for the ages. From the Hardcover edition.
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review
Nebklvr
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Mehso-so

A very complicated plot and the needless killing off of my favorite character made this a slow read. At least the woman in this one (yes, there was basically only one) was more complex.

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Abailliekaras
Turkish Gambit | Boris Akunin
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Mehso-so

An espionage caper set in the Russo-Turkish war. I love Boris Akunin's playful take on the spy genre, mix of Russian and other European influences and the Holmes-esque character of Erast Fandorin. But this is told from the point of view of Varya, at the war to find her fiancé, & Akunin portrays her as a silly (if plucky) woman without any real agency. And I prefer his books set in Moscow or St Petersburg to the war fields setting. Good ending.

charl08 I read somewhere that each one is written to a particular crime style (e.g. the one on the boat is pure Christie) but am not that good at sporting the style. 7y
charl08 Spotting! 7y
Ole I enjoyed this one, but agree Varya was really annoying... 7y
Abailliekaras @charl08 interesting, I didn't know that! Maybe this was a little James Bond... hmm, now I'm trying to work it out. 🤓 7y
Abailliekaras @Ole she improved by the end but i found her immaturity a condescending premise (albeit tongue-in-cheek). 7y
25 likes5 comments
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Abailliekaras
Turkish Gambit | Boris Akunin
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Good rainy day reading weather. I love Boris Akunin's irreverence (& the synchronicity of reading this after Cry, Mother Spain, which mentioned Bakunin often) so hoping this will be a good light read. #bookandcoffee

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Reading_E
Turkish Gambit | Boris Akunin
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#notinEnglish my favorite collection of modern detective stories by Boris Akunin. I own all of them but these are the ones I currently have with me. Most of them are translated from Russian to English. And they are amazing! #seasonsreadings2016

LukkiAnn Love him so much😍 enjoy 😊 8y
Reading_E @LukkiAnn I have read everything I could find by him! Is there anything new?!?!? 8y
LukkiAnn @Reading_E I saw "История Российского Государства" in three volumes and "Другой путь" is a series from him. Really curious about his history book 8y
LukkiAnn "Is a new series" 8y
17 likes4 comments