I'm wavering between a 2 and a 3 for this. I wanted to like it, but ultimately didn't really connect to or care much about any of the characters. It was a good concept that wasn't executed as well as it could have been.

It has potential, and i liked the connection with russian and slavic myths and culture in it, but i didn't connect with the characters, i didn't feel with them or sympathise with them, i didn't care about the main character's lost sister Masha - so the story just felt kind of... flat. I think the plot and characters could have been developed much better if the author took some more time maybe.

This novel gives a new meaning to Russia's underground, combining Slavic fairy tales with Russian history and interesting characters. Perhaps I will find more to say when I don't have the flu.

Magic is always dark and sad. It pools like oil; sticks like tar. Born out of grief and disconnection, it opens up new spaces. Vacant spaces. Naked spaces. Memory fused with a desire that has cooled into tiny glass nuggets. Its ozone smell itches and tickles like feathers. Shimmering with menace, it burrows or flies. It coats, licks, melts away.

All secrets have been collected. All hopes molder. And to love is to forget is to endure is to cascade is to tarnish is to ferment is to feel the shotgun blast right before it tears through your chest.

An enjoyable read, but it healps if you are fascinated by/like Russia. Very evocative of its place (Moscow) and its time (early 1990's).

2.5

When I saw the reviews for this book I saw it discussed as a mixture of [b:Neverwhere|14497|Neverwhere|Neil Gaiman|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1256043709s/14497.jpg|16534] and [b:American Gods|4407|American Gods|Neil Gaiman|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1258417001s/4407.jpg|1970226] - two books I love from Neil Gaiman. And while the comparison is a fair one when it comes to the premise of the story, it doesn't really live up to the comparison in execution.

I wanted to love this book. It's right up my alley, and it's a book that I should've loved, but while it was interesting, it just sort of fell flat. I think mostly it's because the characters never seemed really developed to me. Whether mortal or mythical, they didn't breathe.

Also the pacing. The first part of the story slowly unfolds as we learn the stories of the various players as they sort of meander around life and then on their quests, but then the ending sort of happens all at once, and I kept thinking I was missing pages or something because it all came together too neatly without any real rhyme or reason getting there. It sort of just happened.

There were good things to it. I really liked learning more about both Russian history and mythology, and seeing the depiction of life in Russia at the time was definitely one of the highlights of the book.

But, overall, I'm just left with the let down feeling that it could've been so much better than it was.

Again, it's not bad, really... it just... well, maybe my expectations were just too high. *shrugs*


ETA: I originally bumped my 2.5 up to 3, but I realized that the 3 was more left over for liking the premise and wanting to like it but if I compare it to other 3s, it just doesn't hold up. So I'm changing it to a downgrade instead of a bump. Still 2.5 either way, really, but, ya know...

What I liked about this book was also what I found most challenging: I have very little insight into Russian folklore, and while I have an okay knowledge of history, I don't share the cultural references at the heart of this narrative (such as images from the civil war).

So this was an expansion of my horizons, which is never a bad thing, which sent me seeking for images and explanations and texts online to better understand what I was reading. The book itself didn't spoon-feed me its contexts, and that is just fine. It's enjoyable even without pre-existing understanding of the mythology.

I look forward to reading more novels by Sedia.

I give up! I made it halfway through, and I'm bored out of my mind, and sick of reading terrible dialogue. And this book's Koschey is impossibly dull when one has dealt with [b:Deathless|8694389|Deathless|Catherynne M. Valente|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1316635864s/8694389.jpg|10733651]'s Koschei, so maybe I'm just spoiled for Russian fairy tale characters for the rest of my days.

I have yet to read a book by a Russian author that has all that many nice things to say about Russia or Russians. Something in the character of their artists just seems to provoke statements in the genre of, "You know what wrong with this place?" Having never been to the country, I'm uncertain what colors that world view.

Anyhoo....

It's strange after reading a sword n' horses fantasy for me to actually encounter a book that could have used more pages.

"The Secret History of Moscow" is a book about a woman who's sister turns into jackdaw and flies away. In her search for her sibling, she travels to the underworld beneath Moscow and encounters many of the fables and outcasts who have built a civilization beneath the regular world.

Have you ever reached the 2/3rds point of a book, noticed how few pages were left, and said, "There's no way in hell they're wrapping this up satisfactorily." This book had that feeling at the halfway mark.

Too much time is wasted on flashbacks and oddly the characters while rich in history are kind of weak in characterization even after knowing their back story. Again, this could have been resolved with more space and time.

There's enough going on in this universe to fill a book three times this novel's 300 pages, but it doesn't feel like it even has a third act. They discover the underworld. They figure out the crime. And then it ends.

The ultimate source of villainy isn't even all fleshed out or exciting. I was expecting Baba Yaga or some other terrifying creation to be working with the Russian gangsters in the story, making the reveal rather underwhelming.

Yet I recommend this book, and I'm willing to give it three stars for the great set up and the good pacing. More than anything Sedia's first novel just comes off as a little green, a bit inexperienced in crafting a tale so massive.

I will definitely be checking out, "The Alchemy of the Stone", which just came out in paperback.

A very strong 3.5 star book, almost touching 4. When her sister becomes a jackdaw, Galina searches for her in Moscow's Underground where she meets all sorts of folklore characters. Very good read.