Amazon.co.uk: The Turkish Gambit (Erast Fandorin Mysteries): Boris Akunin, B. Akunin, Andrew Bromfield: Books

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Product Description

Christina Hardyment, The Times
'William Hootkins romps zestfully through the period high-jinks and intricate plottings. Eat your poetic heart out Joanna: Akunin is my comfort food.' --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Omer Ali, TIME OUT (5-12 January 2005)
'this is...the best so far...[a] sheer swashbuckling frenzy, perhaps in the style of George MacDonald Fraser.' --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Customer Reviews

11 Reviews

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

Delightful!, 19 Jul 2006

By	Didier (Ghent, Belgium) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Turkish Gambit (Paperback)

The plot is captivating. That is one. Erast Fandorin is one of the most likeable detectives ever. That is two. There's a host of other quixotic characters. That is three. The language is delightful (three cheers for the translator). That is four. The humour is at times hilarious. That is five.

Conclusion: by all means buy this book!

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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

Akunin does it again......., 7 Jun 2005

By	"mark_shell" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Turkish Gambit (Hardcover)

I must confess to becoming a Boris Akunin addict as i find his writing to be so descriptive and captivating. Turkish Gambit is the third Erast Fandorin novel (chronologicaly second)and for me succedes on every level. Akunin has away of portraying scenes that drag you into the very midst of the action. His desccriptions of 19th century Russia with it's complex social hierachy and politics are vivid to say the least and the use of this skill in Turkish Gambit is brought to its best. The insight into Russias war with the Turks is facsinating and the intrigue and plot are pure Conan Doyle. I can hardly wait for the fourth installment

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

An exciting take on spy thrillers, 14 Jun 2007

By	tybalt-quin (London, UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Turkish Gambit (Paperback)

As with Murder on the Leviathan, I think that Erast's character comes across in a much more entertaining manner when he's viewed from the perspective of another character and here we have the somewhat naive, passionate and at times, coquettish Varvara Suvorova.

Suvorova starts the book in something of a predicament - having poorly disguised herself as a boy in order to travel from Russia to Bulgaria she is betrayed by her guide who leaves her in a pub and makes off with her money, passport and possessions. It is only due to Fandorin's timely arrival (he is heading to the front line to give the General Staff some urgent intelligence on troop movements) and his uncanny luck at games of chance that she is rescued and together they head to the Russian camp.

As the story continues, Suvorova begins to have second thoughts as to whether she is right to marry her beleagured fianc� and has her head turned by the many brave journalists and dashing Russian officers who take note of her and of course, also the brilliant young Fandorin. As a character, I found that I quite liked her and Akunin makes good use of her naivete and at times, contrary nature. There's a constant undercurrent that her feelings for Fandorin are growing, even if she doesn't understand it and at times, Akunin hints that he could reciprocate.

The actual mystery element to the story is deftly handled in such a way that whilst you have your suspicions as to who the spy is, it's not so obvious that you can't enjoy the denouement. Akunin's skill at pacing the plot definitely helps in this regard - as a reader you feel catapulted along with events and he constantly throws up new twists to keep you guessing.

I do however have two criticisms of the book. Firstly, I couldn't help but feel that Akunin really leaves Suvorova's fianc� as a cipher on the sidelines. He has no character development, rarely turns up (excpet to get arrested and thereby form the rationale for Suvorova staying with the camp) and because there's little interaction between her and him, you do wonder why she feels obligated to marry him or indeed, what their connection is. Secondly, (and understandably) because most of the characters in the book are Russian, there are an awful lot of names to try and keep in your head. At times, I found it v. difficult to keep track of who everyone was and it's not helped by the fact that at times characters refer to each other by their surnames or their Christian and middle names in an inconsistent manner. It might have been useful if the translator (Andrew Bromfield) had either used character names in a consistent manner or if a table of characters had been added to the book so that you could quickly check who so-and-so was.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

Who is tricking whom?
"Gambit", literally "tricking somebody" is usually applied to military operations or chess strategies. Read more

Published 16 days ago by Friederike Knabe

DREADFUL
Be warned; this goes nowhere very slowly indeed. Our hero Fandorin is reduced to a virtual cardboard cutout and hardly features. Read more

Published 1 month ago by Booko

Name's Fandorin, Erast Fandorin!
What can I say, I am an absolute fan of Akunin, and can't wait for each new release. Fandorin series is my favourite however I read all Akunin books I could get my hands on... Read more

Published 3 months ago by N. Van Reenen

Disappointing
This is the second Erast Fandorin book that I have read. I thoroughly enjoyed "Murder On The Leviathan" and couldn't wait to pick up "Turkish Gambit". Read more

Published 22 months ago by V. J. Rowland

Unadulterated tedium
I am aware that Akunin is popular in his country and has also been receiving rave reviews in the West, but, having read this book, I am not sure