The iconic collaboration between Pavel Pepperstein and Sergey Anufriev reimagined the landscape of early 2000s literature and culture. What began as a bold experiment evolved into a vivid, shared vision, now presented as an avant-garde graphic book. Thirty artists contribute individual segments, weaving a living tapestry where the narrative shifts in style from austere realism to striking grotesque. It echoes a lineage that spans Soviet illustration traditions to today’s color-forward experimentation. Textures oscillate between intimate black-and-white sketches and sweeping, full-color panoramas. The mood traverses warm, cozy fantasies and eerie, dreamlike sequences that linger long after the pages are closed.
Shamil Idiatullin, Until February
Two-time Grand Prize winner Shamil Idiatullin crafts a thriller about a serial killer in a small Russian town. Yet, as with many of Idiatullin’s works, the narrative unfolds as a multi-layered, thought-provoking meditation rather than a tidy solution. Early chapters plant questions that stretch beyond the immediate crime, inviting readers to confront unsettling truths and the messy, often painful insights that attend them.
Alexey Kolmogorov, OTMA. Rescue of the Romanovs
The acclaimed screenwriter and director offers his first novel, an alternate-history tale asking what might have happened if the Romanovs had escaped catastrophe. The story runs on two intertwined timelines. In 1918, a devoted ensign named Leonid Annenkov keeps a diary about a daring plan to free the Romanovs and guide them to safety through perilous, trap-filled journeys. In 1937, a Chekist named Krivoshein and a red commissar who believes in a legendary Shambhala follow their own intertwined path. The two threads eventually converge, creating a dramatic arc in which catastrophe is averted while the inner lives of the protagonists grow even more compelling and consequential.
Vasily Avchenko, Red Sky. Non-Fiction Tales of Earth, Fire, and the Flying Man
The latest work from the author known for Total Dictation 2023 continues a deep dive into the Far East. The narrative blends mystery with aviation lore, centering on military pilot Lev Kolesnikov. The life of a single flyer becomes an epic that ties together the region’s development with early encounters between Russians and Japanese. The book also braids in the evolution of poetry at the dawn of the twentieth century and the energetic cultural surge of the sixties, alongside the major events of aviation history, the Great Patriotic War, and the Korean War of the 1950s. It stands as a sweeping panorama that places personal aspiration inside the larger currents of world history.
Tom Meade, Death and the Sorceress
A gripping tale that nods to Christopher Priest’s The Prestige, set in London in 1936. The city is unsettled by the unexplained death of a renowned psychiatrist, Anselm Rees, discovered in his own clinic with no clues left behind and the killer vanishing from a locked room. Inspector George Flint recruits a seasoned illusionist, Joseph Spector, to aid the investigation. A precise observer and master of secrets, Spector helps peel back the deceit until the truth behind the impossible crime comes to light. Translation by Elizaveta Shagina adds another tonal layer to the mystery.
Kirsten Chen, Fake
Kirsten Chen’s Deconstruction of the American Dream blends feminist critique, crime drama, and the fashion world’s hunger for status and branding. Ava Wong, a mother and attorney, gets a tempting offer from a former Stanford roommate to join a counterfeit luxury goods ring. She resists at first, having built a stable life as partner, wife, and professional. Yet circumstances shift, alliances form, and the plot deepens into a dizzying web of crime and loyalty while probing the costs of ambition and the bonds of friendship. The novel has crossed into popular culture through notable endorsements, and translation by Alexandra Smirnova ensures accessibility for a broad readership.
Natalya Tretyakova, Shorts and Sadness. Heartwarming Tales About Happiness, Love and a Magical Little Cat
Natalya Tretyakova writes with warmth and humor, delivering intimate, diary-like stories that feel like conversations among close friends. Her tales touch on love, chance encounters, funny mishaps, and even a cat with a hint of magic. Readers recognize moments of tenderness that ease into laughter, followed by a quiet sense of healing. The collection includes newly published pieces alongside beloved stories that have already found a wide audience, offering a cozy, human look at everyday magic.
Daria Savelyeva, Daria Tretyakova, Conscious Cooking. A Useful Maker of Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner for Everyday Life
The duo presents a practical guide to nourishment that makes healthy living plausible. Daria Savelyeva, a nutritionist and fitness coach, shares strategies for balanced meals while debunking diet myths. Daria Tretyakova, a photographer, contributes visuals and everyday recipes designed for real life. The book offers tools to redesign daily meals, emphasizing sustainable changes that respect individual bodies and lifestyles, with a focus on steady, enjoyable progress rather than drastic, unsustainable shifts.
Elena Afanasyeva, Theater of Melting Shadows. The End of an Era
The central figure, Anna, seeks safety for her family while moving through a landscape scarred by civil conflict. The journey sweeps across Petrograd, Crimea, and Berlin, weaving encounters, love, and the peril of war into a moving historical panorama. The narrative remains anchored in timeless themes—love, family, freedom—while placing them against the backdrop of upheaval. The arc underscores how human dignity endures even when everything else seems broken.
Aliya Slyakaeva: Let’s Go Along the Corn Rows to the Right, to the Sun. The Story of a Miraculous Rescue Through the Eyes of a Flight Attendant
Co-published shortly before a major film premiere, this memoir-style account from a Ural Airlines flight attendant recounts a dramatic rescue of 233 passengers during a forced landing after a bird strike on August 15, 2019. Engines failed, the crew executed a risky emergency landing in a cornfield near Zhukovsky, and all aboard survived. The narrative captures the voices and emotions of the eyewitnesses, offering a vivid, first-person window into the crisis. Additional insight comes from Damir Yusupov, a civil aviation pilot and decorated commander of the Airbus A321, whose commentary enhances the story with professional authority.