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Erast Fandorin

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Erast Petrovich Fandorin (Эраст Петрович Фандорин), fictional 19th-century Moscow detective, is the hero of the most popular historical detective stories in Russia by writer Boris Akunin.

Boris Akunin set off to write a cycle about Fandorin with exploration of every single subgenre of detective in mind, from spy novels to serial killers. However bold this goal was, plots of the novels are not all equally interesting, but Russian editions provide a very insightful and interesting description of times written in good language.

Oleg Tabakov as knyaz Dolgorukoi and Oleg Menshikov as Erast Fandorin in the 2005 movie The Councillor of State.

Overview

To date there are 11 books about Fandorin, several translated into English and some other European languages. The Crime Writers' Association of Britain nominated Akunin for the 2003 Dagger Awards for The Winter Queen, a translation of the novel "Azazel".

To date, four books featuring the sleuth Erast are available in English, translated by Andrew Bromfield. They are "The Winter Queen", "Leviathan", "Turkish Gambit" and "The Death of Achilles". Differing greatly in tone and setting, nevertheless they all display a knowing self-mockery of the genre, lively characterisation, and intricate plots that develop in an almost cinematic fashion.

The novel series traces the career and development of Erast Fandorin, born 1856, through the course of 25 years. Starting out as a destitute officer of the Moscow criminal police in 1876, Fandorin by his extraordinary criminalistic talent is quickly involved in important matters of state.

The story of "Turkish gambit" is set against the backdrop of the Russo-Turkish War, in particular the 1877 Siege of Pleven. After the war, Fandorin asks for a remote post in diplomatic service and spends four years in the service of the Russian Empire's ambassador to Japan. In "Leviathan", Fandorin is involved in a series of murders on the passenger ship taking him to his new post. The Japanese adventures of Fandorin are described in 2nd part of "Diamond Chariot".

File:Mikhalkov.jpg
Nikita Mikhalkov in the 2005 movie The Councillor of State.

During his absence, Alexander II is assassinated by revolutionaries, and after his return, under Alexander III, Fandorin is involved in the increasing terrorist activity of the Narodniki that will lead up to the Russian Revolution of 1905. On his return from Japan in 'Death of Achilles" Fandorin enters the service of knyaz Dolgorukoi, governor of Moscow. His first case is the death of the "White General" Mikhail Skobelev (called Sobolev in the novel), one of his acquaintances from the 1877 campaign in the Balkans, in a Moscow hotel. In "The Decorator" Fandorin is confronted with an appearance of Jack the Ripper in Moscow. After involvement in a dirty political scheme, described in "Councellor of the state", Fandorin resigns from his state service and becomes a freelancer. In "Coronation, or the last of the Romanovs", Fandorin is investigating criminal activity surrounding the ascension of tsar Nicholas II and the Khodynka catastrophe of 18 May 1896. The subsequent novels, "Mistress of Death" and "Lover of Death", portray Fandorin as a private investigator in two criminal cases in Moscow, dealing with a suicide club and a smuggling ring.

Novels

Note:Years in brackets show the year when the respective book is set.
  1. Azazel / Азазель (1876, translated as The Winter Queen), subtitled конспирологический детектив ("conspirologist detective") [1]
  2. Turkish Gambit / Турецкий гамбит (1877) , subtitled шпионский детектив ("espionage detective") [2]
  3. Leviathan / Левиафан (1878, also translated as Murder on the Leviathan), subtitled герметичный детектив ("hermetic detective") [3]
  4. Death of Achilles / Смерть Ахиллеса (1882), subtitled детектив о наемном убийце ("detective of the hired killer") [4]:
  5. The Jack of Spades / Пиковый валет (1886), subtitled повесть о мошенниках ("a story of cheaters") [5]
  6. The Decorator / Декоратор (1889, also translated as The Set Designer), subtitled повесть о маньяке ("a story of a maniac") [6]
  7. The Councillor of State / Статский советник (1891), subtitled политический детектив ("political detective")
  8. Coronation, or the last of the Romanovs / Коронация, или Последний из романов (1896), subtitled великосветский детектив ("high-society detective")
  9. The Mistress of Death / Любовница смерти (1900), subtitled декаданский детектив ("detective of decadence")
  10. The Lover of Death / Любовник смерти (1900), subtitled диккенсовский детектив ("Dickensian detective")
  11. The Diamond Chariot / Алмазная колесница (first part - 1905, second one - 1878/9)

The English translations of The Jack of Spades and The Decorator are scheduled to be released in 2007 in a single volume entitled Special Assignments: The Further Adventures of Erast Fandorin.

Adaptations

Azazel was filmed in 2003 by Alexander Adabashyan. Paul Verhoeven is set to make a film about the same novel [7]. Two further Fandorin novels, Turkish Gambit and The Councillor of State, were made in 2005 into big-budget movies by Dzhanik Faiziyev and Philipp Yankovsky respectively.

See also

External links

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