A few days ago, I checked the weather for the week. Today in Jordanville it was supposed to be in the forties and raining. But …
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Goodbye 2017: Reflections on My Self Publishing Journey and Future Plans
The end of the year should be a time of quiet reflection. The weather here around Jordanville encourages this with its cold, …
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Isaac Asimov + Spiders = Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky
Children of Time (A Serenade for Spiders?) by Adrian Tchaikovsky My rating: 4 of 5 stars What a fascinating, challenging, …
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6 Surprising Stereotypes of Russian Cities
Stereotypes are a funny thing. On the one hand, they’re often no more than caricatures. On the other hand, there’s a surprising …
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Constantine the Great: Russia’s Secret Tsar
The problem of power and personality is one that has fascinated people from the beginning of history. We are going to through our …
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The Rosetta Stone for Old Rus Was… a Piece of Birch Bark?
Have you read Evgenii Vodolazkin’s excellent novel Laurus? If you haven’t, you’ve deprived yourselves of a rare experience of …
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The Stone Sky by N.K. Jemisin
The Stone Sky by N.K. Jemisin is one of only two books that I actually anticipated with something like trepidation (the other is …
Mikhail Nesterov: Torn between Two Passions, Part II
Last week, we delved into the early life and work of Mikhail Nesterov , an artist who was, in many ways, a bridge. He bridged …
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Mikhail Nesterov: A Modern Artist with an Old Soul, Part I
The end of the 19th and turn of the 20th century was a period of rich cultural growth for Russia. As the empire expanded, the …
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Heroes from Slavic Mythology: Ivan the Idiot (or the Genius?!)
This week has been even more distressing than usual. And it’s been a pretty distressing year. Frequent terrorist attacks, a …
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A “Divine” Fantasy: Robert Jackson Bennet’s City of Miracles
Is it me, or do "reading is really really good for you" stories keep showing up again and again in the news? Check out the newest …
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One Month Into Self Publishing
Exactly a month ago, I hit the "go" button on a new phase in my authorly adventures and I self published my first book, The Song …
How to Self Publish a Book: The Story of My Novel
The Story of My Novel Part I In a psychedelic cafe in Schiphol airport in Amsterdam, a Sirin came and sang to me. (well, …
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The strange tale of how Napoleon’s soldiers became Cossacks
You know that scene in Godfather II where young Vito is given the last name “Corleone” by the American border guard, only because …
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Don’t blame the Byzantines: Why does Russia have such problems?
One of the early readers of my first novel complained that I had too many adjectives in my writing. He was absolutely right; I was …
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What do the most popular Russian insults actually mean?
Something a little less serious this week for your reading pleasure. I found a rather absurd little article about the historical …
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The Curse of the Murdered Prince Dmitry of Uglich
Several episodes in Russian history are so fanciful that they read like novels. One of the more mysterious and interesting is the …
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The Coronation of Nicholas II: Triumph and Tragedy
The problem of ideal government has bothered people for millennia. Perhaps until very recently, some people might have considered …
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