It is the waning days of the Russian monarchy. A reckless man rules the land and his dragons rule the sky. Though the Tsar aims his dragons at his enemies-Jews and Bolsheviks-his entire country is catching fire. Conspiracies suffuse the royal court: bureaucrats jostle one another for power, the mad monk Rasputin schemes for the Tsar's ear, and the desperate queen takes drastic measures to protect her family.
Revolution is in the air-and the Red Army is hatching its own weapons.
Discover Russia's October Revolution reimagined in flight, brought to life by the acclaimed mother-and-son writing team of the Locus Award-winning novel, Pay the Piper, and the Seelie Wars series.
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[YOUR REVOLUTION IS A LIE]***
(@TachyonPub, 19 June 2019, 192 pages, ebook, copy from @TachyonPub and voluntarily reviewed)
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I've read a few of Yolen's book and been very impressed and was looking forward to this even though it sounded very different from her usual books. I enjoyed some things about this novella but it felt very short at times. I'm not familiar with Russia at all, just vague things I've heard or seen on TV and I've never read any historical fiction set in Russia so I wasn't sure what to expect or at all familiar with the actual events. I felt the historical characters in the novella, such as Rasputin were little more than stereotypes. I've never really read historical fiction with a bit of fantasy thrown in but felt this didn't always work here. Stalin plays a bodyguard to some dragon eggs. Something felt very wrong about this. There are a lot of explanations in this book. Many of the important events take place off screen and are summoned up in a few sentences. This didn't work as much is lost. I loved the idea of the novella - the Russian revolution with dragons. Unfortunately, this does not pan out in the book. In additional, this is marketed as an adult book but it written more like a middle grade book. There is too much here that just doesn't work.
