Rating: 
Summary: Wish I would have liked it better --
Review: I loved the beginning and feel the ending is incredible; however, it just didn't grab me emotionally at all. I found the language very difficult to follow in places, the characters became confusing (and thus uninteresting), and some of the events totally unbelievable. Sometimes I felt like I was reading a spoof instead of a real mystery novel. After reading some of the other reviewers who loved this, I'm beginning to feel like I should go back and reread this. In short, this is not a "light" read - one has to stay with it and concentrate; then it certainly could be worth while. Perhaps I just didn't put the effort into it (sometimes I'm a lazy reader).
Rating: 
Summary: The great start of a stylish series
Review: Being Russian and living in Moscow, I've read this novel a couple of years, before it was translated into English, and had since read several of the over novels in the series.
So, I can't say anything about the quality of translation, but in Russian Akunin is a splendid reading experience!
His grasp of the late 19 - early 20 century style is superb. And this style, plus a sympathetic cast are the main draws of this novel, as well as later volumes of the series.
I'm mystefied by reviewers, who state that the plot of the novel kept them guessing ... for me it was mostly obviouse ... well, maybe Russian mind works in other ways then Western ...
Still, as I've stated the style is very good, and it's enough to keep you reading, like, for example a Robert B. Parker novel, which also should be read for its characters and dialogue.
In the following novels Akunin showed (or should I say will show, as they are not yet translated) other styles, used in books of the time. Every novel in the series is narratively different from others, but not one of them is bad.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent read!
Review: As a longtime Russophile and current resident of Moscow, I found this an incredibly entertaining book and am glad that I purchased it. I do not usually read mysteries and therefore am not going to comment on this in comparison with the rest of that genre but I literally could not put this book down. I won't give away the ending but nevertheless it has insired me to try and read the 2nd volume in Russian (no mean feat considering how much I hate reading Russian) as I do not think I can wait for the English translation.Mr. Akunin's snapshots of Moscow and St Petersburg remind me of Caleb Carr and his portrayal of 19th century New York in his books (The Alienist etc). Mr. Akunin captures that era and and its "feeling" exquisitely. Many of the streets and churches still exist here and you can easily picture yourself strolling with young Erast through the city. There was a rigid class structure but thanks to the legacy of Peter the Great and other developments, it was possible for one, like our young hero, to move up the Table of Ranks. Russia, then, had "hope" for the future before the Revolution. However, this book is not just for historians and Russia-lovers like myself. The plot definitely keeps moving. In James Bond like style, our young hero is dashing about Europe in pursuit of the answers to this crime. He employs the latest "technology" and doggedly pursues all clues. Some might claim that the villain was no surprise (I was still surprised though) but the ending was very "Russian" and probably will be surprising to western readers not accustomed to Russian literature and its themes. I would highly recommend this book to Russia and mystery lovers alike. For the Russophile, it is an engaging and well written snapshot of Tsarist Russia with intrigue. When reading the English translation, you can easily imagine the word games the author is playing in the original Russian (as so many good Russian writers do). For mystery lovers, it is a step into a different realm - these are not your typical Western characters but Russians to the tips of their toes. I judge a book by if it was worth ordering versus checking out of the local library. This book more than justifies the purtchase of it in hardback AND the shipping costs to Russia. Please Random House, comntinue to translate the rest of the series (I understand there are 9 more Erast Fandorin books).
Rating: 
Summary: A Darn Good Read
Review: You can't go wrong reading this wonderful mystery set in turn-og-the-century Russia. The central characters are appropriately endearing, devious, or mysterious, while the plot twists and surprises in just the right places. Recommended!
Rating:
Summary: The Flame of a Series Extinguished?
Review: To the significant detriment of The Winter Queen, it's narrative is excessively reliant upon dialogue to set the ship of story to sail; it tells rather than shows. Of additional concern, perhaps my primary difficulty with the work, was the lack of a compelling character at the center of the novel; Erast Fandorin is simply not that interesting a protagonist. Fandorin doesn't arrive at his conclusions through his fierce powers of deduction, so much as he stumbles over them by accident, or after being manipulated into a situation of peril. Based on the all-too predicatable conclusion, there is the potential for Boris Akunin to invest his creation with greater depth in future novels, but at present, pessimism about his powers rule the day.
Rating:
Summary: A Rather Sputtering Start
Review: Boris Akunin's The Winter Queen starts promisingly but quickly falls off the shelf of plausibility, its plot and action more worthy of the fabulistic graphic novel genre - see Alan Moore's "League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" or "V for Vendetta" - than that of the literary thriller. I am particularly puzzled by the all the laudatory ink that's been spread on behalf of Akunin's protagonist, Erast Fandorin, who after this first outing seems insufficiently interesting to warrant a second look: his deductions aren't so much deduced as given to him by the narrator out of a magician's hat. And although Fandorin surely seems plucky enough, the author allows him to escape the consequences of uncalculated recklessness with an inexplicable imperviousness to the rules of chance. This is a very cinematic book, and Akunin's model may well be "007" - with a thoroughly unbelievable Bondian bravado born of a series-length immortality - rather than the Sherlock Holmes who has been invoked in several reviews. Indeed, the movement of the story is reminiscent of Ian Fleming's yarns, with increments of plot and subplot building nicely, until the monster-plot and, behind it, the super-villain make their appearances - and out goes the laws of physics and any semblance of reality. Despite such maddening tendencies, The Winter Queen nevertheless has its charms, which reside primarily in its appealing 19th century Russian (and London) locales. For Tolstoi-, Dostoyevskii-, and Tugenev-mavens, this is welcome terra cognita; for others, Akunin provides a graceful introduction to a lost world of manners and mores among the Russian aristocracy and near-aristocrats. The author enjoys his little word games and puzzles - and gamesmanship is one of the book's running themes - and entertains his readers with such things as a spurious etymology for the phrase "Russian Roulette" (which sent me, for one, to the reference books). Some reviewers have commented on the literary quality of the original Russian-language novels, and the translation, by Andrew Bromfield, is lively, colloquial, and prettily wrought. (The footnoted foreign phrases - Akunin's well-bred Russians were at least bilingual and often had English and German in addition to French - will please some and seem intrusive to others. I liked them.) Akunin has written another nine Fandorin novels (and, by now, perhaps another). The Winter Queen itself has a enough loose ends to lay clear the way to several sequels. I'll probably take a look at the second number in the series, but - despite The Winter Queen's many strengths - I'll be wary.
Rating:
Summary: A literary pleasure.
Review: Such a small book and yet so richly packed. The translation is, well, delightful. You'd swear this book really was written in the 1870s. It's full of wonderful little details such as Russian Roulette being referred to as American Roulette, and Fandorin's boss having one of the first of a new invention called the telephone. The characters are intriguing, especially the neophyte detective Erast Fandorin. More than a few times I was thinking, "No! Don't do that! Pay attention to your job!" But, obviously he wasn't listening...
I was sad to see this book end and hope the rest in the series get translated NOW. If you like reading Tolstoy or Dostoyevsky (is that spelled right?), give this a shot. It's not as deep as those authors, but it captures their styles well.
Also, this had one of the most shocking and devastating endings I've read in a book in a LONG time. I am still trying to deal with it.
Rating:
Summary: Well worth time and money
Review: OK, I'll confess right off the bat -- I've read all of Akunin's books, in Russian. They're simply amazing. This particular book is like an addictive drug, once you start, you simply can't stop. Get it, read it, you won't be disappointed. There're others, some better than Winter Queen, some worse, yet all equally engrossing and will keep you guessing until the end -- promise!
Rating:
Summary: Enjoyable
Review: The author's prose owes a strong (probably intentional) debt to the 19th century Russian greats -- full of humanity and compassion, and lots of attention to human weaknesses (although the comparisions to Tolstoy are over the top). The author really didn't do much that's original, but he did more than just rehash an existing tale. Rather, he mixed the usual detective story ingredients in an unusual way, added some oddball stuff out of a Bond book/movie, and sprinkled in a dash of humanity for taste. The result is a story that is compelling, and an ending that is thoroughly modern. I respect McInerney's opinion (one of the reviewers), but I really think he's way off the mark on this book. The point is, while it's easy for us to see the hero's short comings, it was intentional and not the result of stilted plotting and poor character development. So for example, when the hero realizes "how simple it all was", we're pretty sure that he's dead wrong about what will happen next. I'm waiting, eagerly, for the next book.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant
Review: ...the book itself, it is brilliantly written and skillfully translated. Masterfully developed plot kept my attention and the protagonist, Fandorin, is one of the most memorable characters in contemporary literature. The book has philosophical depth and humor, romance and mystery, lovable villains and laughable heroes, deceit and honor, greed and loyalty. In other words - a perfect novel. If you are very selective of what you read, it is the book for you. Enjoy it and recommend to your friends. And did I mention that it is perfectly suitable for older children and book clubs.
|
