Since Boris Akunin’s books have disappeared from sale in Russia, and new ones are no longer being printed, yet readers still want to buy the books about the legendary Erast Petrovich Fandorin, the author has launched a re-release of the entire series under his new publishing house. However, this time, the books will be slightly different. Here’s what Boris Akunin himself has to say:
This is a reissue with an addition. I have included an appendix in each book—’Deciphering’—where I talk about the origins of the plot, prototypes, and more.
In Azazel, for instance, the deciphering section begins like this: ‘This novel, the first of The Adventures of Erast Fandorin, was formed from four components. Or rather, it has four ancestors: two grandfathers and two grandmothers.
In addition to the supplemental content, this reissue features stunning artistic design. Each book will have a beautifully detailed cover, and the endpapers of all the books combine to form an image of Erast Petrovich’s iconic jade beads.
The first book of the updated edition is available for purchase on the author’s website, both in print and electronic formats: https://babook.org/store/7-ebook.
I’m so torn. It’s such a beautiful edition that I wouldn’t even mind spending the money (though my wife definitely would), but I simply don’t have any more shelf space for physical books.
