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Projekt Stalin (2010)

by Adam Roberts(Favorite Author)

3.63 of 5 Votes: 5

languge

English

genre

Historical Fiction

publisher

Zysk i S-ka

review 1: Shortly after World War II, Konstantin Skvorecky along with a group of other Russian sci-fi writers, is forced to write an alien invasion story for Stalin. Forty years later, it appears as if it's about to come true, right at certain power plant in Kiev. Yellow Blue Tibia is a fantastic book. But before you think I'm praising it, I mean fantastic in the sense that Tzvetan Todorov meant it--as a story that is constantly wavering between the supernatural and the world as we know it. Constantly pursued by KGB men, strange Americans, and even stranger beings, Skvorecky holds to the notion that the UFOs can't be real--after all, he was part of the group that invented them. His bleak, sarcastic nature (he identifies himself as an ironist)bounces off the absurd, comically stubbor... moren people he's forced to deal with. And this is where the setting comes in handy; in terms of literature, Russia is always the perfect place for the bleak and absurd. Roberts pulls off a deft series of reversals, keeping the real nature of the plot against Skvorecky very close, setting up both plausible and extraterrestial explanations of the novel's outcomes, right until the end. If there's a fault to the book, it's that, in comparison to Konstantin, everyone else is a little too absurd. It's definitely one of those fictional universes where only the narrator seems like a fully fleshed out character. But Skvorecky IS well fleshed-out. His age, infirmity, and general outlook make him a rather reflective protagonist in comparison to the usual hero of the alien invasion story, but also allows Roberts to justify using some very nice turns of phrase ("Applause filled the little space like expansive aural foam") as well as some general ruminations on the nature of Russian history, Stalin, radiation, and science-fiction. The plot meanders a bit, but the fantastic aspect keeps you invested; this is one fantastic story that really is very good, too.
review 2: Gripping , funny, sad, romantic .A Whiff of Chesterton in it`s frenzied and hysterical pace particularly at the start gives way to a Vonnegut like satirical tone wrapped artichoke like round a legitimately sentimental centre .It reads Like a soviet spy novel infiltrated by the worldview of Whitley Strieber. Most satisfyingly it confirms itself as a genuine sci-fi novel towards the end , refusing to take the metaphorical / realist stance it could easily have settled for. IRONY AND AN OPEN MIND. Great read. less

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