We specialize in hard to find items
All Categories
*Price and Stocks may change without prior notice
*Packaging of actual item may differ from photo shown
- Electrical items MAY be 110 volts.
- 7 Day Return Policy
- All products are genuine and original
About The Last Tsar's Dragons
Product Description “Vivid, gripping and actually riveting as the Red Danger takes a whole new meaning here. Loved it.” ―The Book Smugglers It is the waning days of the Russian monarchy. A reckless man rules the land and his dragons rule the sky. Though the Tsar aims his dragons at his enemies―Jews and Bolsheviks―his entire country is catching fire. Conspiracies suffuse the royal court: bureaucrats jostle one another for power, the mad monk Rasputin schemes for the Tsar’s ear, and the desperate queen takes drastic measures to protect her family. Revolution is in the air―and the Red Army is hatching its own weapons. Discover Russia’s October Revolution, reimagined in flight by the acclaimed mother-and-son writing team of the Locus Award-winning novel, Pay the Piper, and the Seelie Wars series. Review Praise for The Last Tsar’s Dragons “Master fantasist Yolen ( How To Fracture a Fairy Tale, 2018, etc.) and her son Stemple collaborate on a novella that merges dragons with the Russian Revolution. Cycling among the points of view of the last tsar, Nicholas II, his wife, the tsarina Alexandra, the notorious Grigori Rasputin, Leon Trotsky, and an unnamed court official, the story tells the downfall of tsarist Russia and the rise of the revolution―but if you think you know the story, think again. Because in this Russia, the tsar sends out flights of black-scaled, fire-breathing dragons to harass his enemies, especially the Jews, and Leon Trotsky (known in the book by his birth name, Bronstein) has managed to secretly raise an army of his own dragons―these are red and fighting for the revolution. Despite the high stakes, the story feels quite intimate as it leads us to gaze on each player in turn: the tsarina, a foreigner to her husband’s country, plagued with worry over her ill son and believing that only Rasputin can save him; Rasputin himself, driven by his madness, lusts, and ambition; Bronstein, who struggles to keep hold of the weapon he has given to the revolution; and our nameless court dignitary, whose hatred of Rasputin drives much of the action. The dragons themselves are never afterthoughts―their effect on the characters, even when they are not present, worms its way into nearly every scene―but they are also not the players of the drama. Like the impending revolution, their presence simply hangs over the characters with the shadow of brutal, impersonal violence. Where the characters end up is not surprising―we know the history, after all―but getting there is delightful, carried along by crisp, tight prose and the authors’ marvelous imaginations.” ― Kirkus “Mother-and-son writing team Yolen and Stemple’s first book for adults explores the period right before the Russian Revolution―but with the fun addition of dragons, which serves to heighten the conflict between the political strife and the Russian court. Alternating narrators give insight into the various historical figures, including the uniquely enjoyable Rasputin, and the relationship between the Tsar and Tsarina adds an emotional element. The dragons present a challenge to the revolution, but the enemies of the crown, whether revolutionaries or not, may have a way to defeat the beasts. The melding of historical fiction and fantasy with a known and important moment in history creates a thought-provoking, creative novel.” ― Booklist “A dark and disturbing alternate history, laced through with symbols and secrets.” ―Emma Bull, author of The Chronicles of the Borderlands “This one is vivid, gripping and actually riveting, as the Red Danger takes a whole new meaning here. Loved it.” ― The Book Smugglers “In essence, Yolen and Stemple create new origin or ending tales for key people of the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917. The dragons, though a real part of the story, are also a metaphor for power, and the story becomes as philosophical as entertaining.” ― Grasping for the Wind “To include dragons in the Russian Revolution seems like the kind of inspired idea t
