The latest addition to my website is Eugene Vodolazkin‘s Оправдание Острова (A History of the Island). This is the history of an imaginary island, told both in a series of sometimes contradictory chronicles as well as with commentary by the 347 (sic) year old former royal couple. The story takes us from the early days – arrival of books and Christianity – to the modern days when we have had our Russian Revolution and post-Soviet era. Despite some similarities with the real world, there are a lot of differences, some highly imaginative such as the age of the royal couple, some deliberate distortions (the story of Noah in the Bible is altered), strange prophecies and a cast of decidedly mixed people – good and evil, corrupt and honest. It was an interesting attempt to create a new world but at times chronicles can be less than exciting.