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inverarityA strange girl with a violin and a murderous teddy bear.
Harper Voyager, 2006, 304 pages
It seems somehow appropriate that I queued this one up next: Marina and Sergey Dyachenko are best-selling Russian-language fantasy writers from Ukraine.
The Dyachenkos write some very strange, dark fantasies, and a common theme I find in them is that they don't always make sense in the end. Maybe it's a Russian lit thing, introducing a lot of weird twists and very frustrating conversations that go nowhere, and in the end, there is no neat tying off of all the plot threads. They call their works "M-Realism" without defining the M.
Daughter from the Dark is about a DJ named Alexey Igorevitch Grimalsky, who goes professionally by "DJ Aspirin." DJ Aspirin is a callow, selfish playboy, mostly interested in hooking up with younger women and keeping it on a strictly "FWB" basis.
One night Alexey finds a little girl about to be mugged in an alley, and overcoming his worser instincts, intervenes to save her. The would-be bullies get torn apart by a monstrous, unseen beast, and the little girl, Alyona, ends up staying the night in his apartment. She has a stuffed bear with her named "Mishka."
Alexey intended to just hand the girl off to the authorities. He has no interest in taking in orphaned waifs. But somehow, she ends up manipulating him into letting her stay. Despite repeatedly threatening to kick her out, he never does, and when the authorities do intervene, he resists having her taken away. Their relationship is a constant source of tension and misery for them both. Alexey mistreats and ignores Alyona, and she drives him crazy with her fables and her dark hints, veiled threats, and taunting condescension.
Alyona tells him two different tales. One is that she is from "another world," and that she must find her brother and play a single song on the violin for him perfectly, whereupon she can take him back to her world and leave Alexey alone. As bizarre as this seems, a mysterious visit by a vampire-like figure who tries to take her away, and is rebuffed by Alexey, and the people and animals who threaten Alyona being torn apart, as if by a bear, leave him unsure of what's real.
She also tells him that he is her father, by a woman he's pretty-almost-sure he never actually had a one-night stand with, from some remote town.
This is a strange story. Alexey's arc is somewhat predictable: he starts out being a total, raging douchebag, and gradually develops actual paternal feelings for Alyona. Alyona herself leaves us guessing along with Alexey. Who is she? What is she? Will she find her brother? Does that stuffed bear really turn into a monster when Alexey isn't looking?
The ending does not exactly resolve things, but neither is it so inconclusive as to suggest a sequel.
I have enjoyed all of the Dyachenkos' fantasy novels, but they can be strange and perplexing. "M-Realism" is about right.
Also by Marina and Sergey Dyachenko: My reviews of The Scar, Vita Nostra, Age of Witches.
My complete list of book reviews.
Harper Voyager, 2006, 304 pages
Late one night, fate brings together DJ Aspirin and 10-year-old Alyona. After he tries to save her from imminent danger, she ends up at his apartment. But in the morning sinister doubts set in. Who is Alyona? A young con artist? A plant for a nefarious blackmailer? Or perhaps a long-lost daughter Aspirin never knew existed? Whoever this mysterious girl is, she now refuses to leave.
A game of cat-and-mouse has begun.
Claiming that she is a musical prodigy, Alyona insists she must play a complicated violin piece to find her brother. Confused and wary, Aspirin knows one thing: He wants her out of his apartment and his life. Yet every attempt to get rid of her is thwarted by an unusual protector: Her plush teddy bear that may just transform into a fearsome monster.
Alyona tells Aspirin that if he would just allow her do her work, she’ll leave him - and this world. He can then return to the shallow life he led before her. But as outside forces begin to coalesce, threatening to finally separate them, Aspirin makes a startling discovery about himself and this ethereal, eerie child.
It seems somehow appropriate that I queued this one up next: Marina and Sergey Dyachenko are best-selling Russian-language fantasy writers from Ukraine.
The Dyachenkos write some very strange, dark fantasies, and a common theme I find in them is that they don't always make sense in the end. Maybe it's a Russian lit thing, introducing a lot of weird twists and very frustrating conversations that go nowhere, and in the end, there is no neat tying off of all the plot threads. They call their works "M-Realism" without defining the M.
Daughter from the Dark is about a DJ named Alexey Igorevitch Grimalsky, who goes professionally by "DJ Aspirin." DJ Aspirin is a callow, selfish playboy, mostly interested in hooking up with younger women and keeping it on a strictly "FWB" basis.
One night Alexey finds a little girl about to be mugged in an alley, and overcoming his worser instincts, intervenes to save her. The would-be bullies get torn apart by a monstrous, unseen beast, and the little girl, Alyona, ends up staying the night in his apartment. She has a stuffed bear with her named "Mishka."
Alexey intended to just hand the girl off to the authorities. He has no interest in taking in orphaned waifs. But somehow, she ends up manipulating him into letting her stay. Despite repeatedly threatening to kick her out, he never does, and when the authorities do intervene, he resists having her taken away. Their relationship is a constant source of tension and misery for them both. Alexey mistreats and ignores Alyona, and she drives him crazy with her fables and her dark hints, veiled threats, and taunting condescension.
Alyona tells him two different tales. One is that she is from "another world," and that she must find her brother and play a single song on the violin for him perfectly, whereupon she can take him back to her world and leave Alexey alone. As bizarre as this seems, a mysterious visit by a vampire-like figure who tries to take her away, and is rebuffed by Alexey, and the people and animals who threaten Alyona being torn apart, as if by a bear, leave him unsure of what's real.
She also tells him that he is her father, by a woman he's pretty-almost-sure he never actually had a one-night stand with, from some remote town.
This is a strange story. Alexey's arc is somewhat predictable: he starts out being a total, raging douchebag, and gradually develops actual paternal feelings for Alyona. Alyona herself leaves us guessing along with Alexey. Who is she? What is she? Will she find her brother? Does that stuffed bear really turn into a monster when Alexey isn't looking?
The ending does not exactly resolve things, but neither is it so inconclusive as to suggest a sequel.
I have enjoyed all of the Dyachenkos' fantasy novels, but they can be strange and perplexing. "M-Realism" is about right.
Also by Marina and Sergey Dyachenko: My reviews of The Scar, Vita Nostra, Age of Witches.
My complete list of book reviews.
