Muscovites are shocked by a wave of horrifying events: the Vivisector maniac attacks young girls, automatic bursts sound in the squares, and the seizure of buildings in the very center of the city only horrifies residents even more.
During the investigation of all these incidents, Lieutenant Kornilov unearths unusual details. He finds out that magicians, priestesses, magicians and mythical creatures live next to ordinary people, and the reason for recent events an ancient feud between the Commissioner of the Dark Court and the Queen of the Green House began in the city. Now, the Secret City is about to be engulfed in war, it is important to know that the losers will be the first to rush to the offensive, and the final battle heroes will win.
war commander
Who would have thought that humanity is far from the only intelligent race on the ground. The descendants of long-lost civilizations still live in the magical Secret City, which has existed on the territory of Moscow for many millennia and is hidden from the eyes of people by magic spells. However, a number of people still manage to look there and even find their place in the Secret City, among witches, sorcerers and black sailors. Such a person becomes - Artem, main character novel. It is he who must save the Secret City from a terrible catastrophe ...
Attack by the rules
Artyom and the inhabitants of the Secret City have another enemy on the horizon. She is a human witch, passionately desiring immortality. She is smart and cunning, her schemes and moves are difficult to predict even for a professional chess player. Her name is Kara. And it is she who is going to arrange chaos in the orderly structure of the Secret City ...
But will this cunning villainess be able to bring her plan to the end? ...
All shades of black
Everyone was convinced that the metamorphs - beings who are able to transform their body as they please and, moreover, use magic - no longer exist. But in a tiny village, a girl Anna is born with these unique abilities. When Anna becomes an adult, she will begin to actively avenge her abused childhood. She, using magic, will seduce men and destroy them by the dozens. The heads of the Great Houses of the Secret City must at all costs save people from the evil metamorph. But what can they do?
And there are heroes in hell
The new artificial drug "stim" is becoming a way to create monsters, not only in the foggy brains of drug addicts. Thanks to the “stim”, a faithful servant of the Great Master penetrates into this world. He appeared to revive the seeds of Hatred sown centuries ago. And again, as has already happened in the distant past, mortal danger forces the current owners of the Earth - people to begin to cooperate with the descendants of the ancient magicians who ruled the planet in prehistoric times. With the inhabitants of the Secret City...
Concubines of hate
Thousands of tourists, walking along Red Square, do not even suspect that deep underground, right under their feet, in a hidden sarcophagus, the very fiend of hell is hidden - Azag-Toth, the ruler of the empire of hatred of Hyperborea. The Hyperboreans were defeated many centuries ago, but now, thanks to the drug "stim", they began to rebel, and Azag-Toth is removing his old shackles. Will the Great Houses of the Secret City be able to defeat the Realm of Hate if they are not even able to reconcile with each other?
Doll of Last Hope
A doll of last resort or a sleeping geisha is a powerful magical artifact that gives life to a person who has lost all his resources and is on the verge of death. Clara Sommerset tried to deliver this rare figurine to the famous collector Ivan Razin, but the artifact disappeared and Clara dies under unexplained circumstances. Which of the inhabitants of the Secret City is guilty of this crime? Who and why needed a chrysalis of last hope?
Shadow of the Inquisitor
Previously, Mark had been confident that he would be able to find his way back to the Hidden City. He was obsessed with the desire for revenge for his flight. He was convinced of his uniqueness, of his necessity. But the realities showed him a completely different picture and doused him with an icy shower.
An ordinary person in the Secret City cannot count on much. The incredible possibilities of Mark in non-humans only cause a smile. And despite everything he did for the Great Houses, he faced a ton of indifference and indifference.
But now the shadow of the Inquisitor is already approaching Moscow, fires are preparing to blaze, the real and other worlds must converge in a bloody war. And just then an ordinary person can change everything ...
Pulpit of Wanderers
A century has passed since some people discovered the way to other worlds. And for a hundred years no one has been able to repeat what they did. The members of the Great Houses of the Hidden City have always wanted to take possession of the knowledge of the Pulpit of Wanderers (that is how these pioneers began to be called), and now such an opportunity has opened up before them. Wanderers have reappeared in our world. Looking for Big Road the nur, the megamorph, the Keeper of the Black Book, the mercenaries and the rest, who are already familiar to the reader of the Secret City series, are about to set off.
blood rules
For many thousands of years, the world of magicians and sorcerers, the remaining descendants of the ancient rulers of the Earth, existing on the banks of the Moscow River, has been hidden for prying eyes. But the Secret City has not become a monument to itself, it is not subject to aging - no, it lives and prospers, new streets appear in it regularly, and the life of its population is filled with different colors. "Rules of Blood" is an excellent proof of this fact...
Royal Cross
Nikita Krylov, one of the owners of the largest Moscow casinos, is hard to surprise with anything related to the world of gambling. However, a certain circumstance appeared that threw him into confusion - a simple-looking deck of cards ...
But what is surprising for a simple person, even perhaps a cynical and experienced one, is quite normal for any of the readers of Vadim Panov, who are well aware of the inexhaustible source of secrets and puzzles on the territory of the modern capital ...
king of the hill
For a long time, strife and schism have not faded away in the Masan family. The brothers were separated immediately after the agreement between the Great Houses and the Church was signed. The cause of the controversy turned out to be the Dogmas of Submission, with which some Sabbats, who soon left the secret City, did not agree.
However, as time passed, the old slogans of a split began to be questioned. And so the brothers, tired of internecine wars, began to remember their past, where they were united. And even Commissar Santiaga understands that it is time to unite the warring groups under the leadership of a single leader ... The same opinion is shared by Baron Bruja - Cardinal Sabbat. What are they capable of to achieve this goal?
Dragon Day
He is a brave knight endowed with magical powers. She is a sorceress from a race in which magic is available only to women. And then, ironically, feelings flare up between these two in the Secret City. They belong to different civilizations, different types of magical creatures, and they should not have any feelings for each other.
For the first time in the Secret City series, Vadim Panov introduces a love line into the center of the plot ....
The smell of fear
Fear is one of the oldest and most powerful feelings. It doesn't matter who you are - human or miracle, people or nav, you are still afraid of something. And not to use this small (or, on the contrary, huge) weakness would be a ridiculous omission, especially if you are an ordinary sorceress, and the inhabitants of the Secret City are sure that you are mediocrity ..
A series of strange crimes began in Moscow. Everything points to the fact that they are committed by someone not from the race of people ...
Rebus Galla
Something terrible is happening on the territory of the Secret City: golems have begun to disappear somewhere. And the Queen of the Green House suddenly decided to have a wedding and get heirs. And at one construction site in the capital, for unknown reasons, the death rate has increased significantly. How can all these events be connected? All clues lead to the last of the remaining Gallus Rebuses.
And the question that once split the mighty Order reappears: “Was the Sleeper a magician?”
Web of confrontation
The novel "Web of Confrontation" by Vadim Panov is a collection of stories that are combined common theme: The ancient feud between Commissar Santiaga and Yarga. It is worth noting that some of the stories are the work of connoisseurs of the author's work, who have shown a lot of imagination and strength to complete and continue the cycle of books about the Secret City.
The basis of the collection is the story "Web of Confrontation". It was created on the basis of the dialogue between Santiagi and Shinka, Yarg's henchman, who was captured. This "interview" reveals many details about both the commissar's past and the life of his longtime enemy.
Dizziness
The title of the novel "Vertigo" perfectly captures its essence, because most of the inhabitants of the Secret City will feel dizzy.
A young successful person named Dasha, despite an excellent career, lives like Cinderella. But one day it becomes known that she is an amazing daikini fairy. The girl finds herself in a new magical world that is full of amazing creatures and magic, the world main character changes forever..
In the circle of time
Ten years have passed since Andrey Riznyk left the territory of the Secret City. He was confident that his fate would never again collide with the fate of the Great Houses and their inhabitants, but Yarga's proposal changed his mind...
Knowing settlements. An ancient riddle of human sorcerers. It is Andrei who will have to revive them again and face off in battle with the Great Houses. Why does Yarga need it? He intends to crush the greatness of the Houses. But why does Andrey agree to such a risk?
Mystery of revenge
The collection "The Mystery of Revenge" includes the works of talented young writers - winners of the competition "Secret City - Your City".
And as the main chord in the collection, the reader will find a detective story by Vadim Panov. It is an investigation into the murder of a young woman, and the work of the investigation leads the detective from the ordinary world to the Secret City.
New old characters, captivating storylines, exciting adventures await you in this diverse Mystery of Revenge collection.
wild Persians
A talented worker of the Secret City (although he is not a sorcerer) Yuri Phaedra is given a very unusual task. He is tasked with finding the killer of Shasa's beloved pet Karida Kumar. Ridiculous? Offensive? Maybe. But already 2 groups of operational intervention officers could not cope with this mission. And Yuri Fedra travels to St. Petersburg to find the elusive criminal. On this, his adventures are just beginning, because along the way he will need to uncover a number of cruel bloody crimes.
Ermine hunting
The Ermine Hunt collection is a new collection of stories about the world of the Secret City, which was released by the author of the cycle, Vadim Panov, and fans of his work.
It includes such novels and short stories as "Letters of happiness", "All that glitters is not gold", "Coast of no return", "Three steps to the abyss" and "Tales of the Secret City". These works add new details and details to the already created world…
The main story of Panov himself "Hunting for Ermine" is the story of Sharga, a father who has hardly recovered from grief, but now dreams of taking revenge on the inhabitants of the Secret City.
Green Gambit
This continuation of the central plot of the cycle was expected by many fans. Vadim Panov in his novel brought back old characters to history. As a result, the book acquired a meaningful intrigue, and the plot began to unfold at a high dynamic level. The reader will find everything here - battles, betrayals and even irony.
A harsh and destructive war is coming. Will Yarg be able to wipe people off the face of the earth and kill the most powerful magicians? And what will he do next if he wins?
Fools die first
The book tells about the events taking place in alternative St. Petersburg. A dangerous artifact has been hidden here for more than a century. The monster of St. James was imprisoned in chains thanks to the strongest spells. Now he is one of the most popular exhibits in the city on the Neva. Every day, thousands of tourists admire it and do not suspect anything. But what will happen if the demon of the past is released? ..
The silver hoop that kept the monster in a lethargic state is shattered. A fatal accident can turn into a terrible catastrophe. The magical world is real...
Vampire hunters
Even in early childhood, Veniamin Dolinsky witnessed vampire attacks on ordinary people. And now, after a couple of decades, he quite by accident himself encounters these sinister monsters.
A dynamic plot, humor and interesting twists in the story, which is read almost in one breath. Several main lines, not connected at the beginning, at the end they intersect ...
family business
Ozersk is a small town with a terrible secret. Here, in an old manor, the treasures of the count's family are buried. Therefore, the shore of the Dark Lake constantly attracts local inhabitants, German invaders and Chekists. But only a few of the secret city know that the province hides not only gold and untold riches, but also a huge power that is worth it to spend ages searching for it ..
The moment has come when you need to find the key to unraveling. But the one who can lift the veil of secrecy is not yet aware that for the sake of wealth, you will have to go to great lengths ..
Night of the Sun
At first glance, it is difficult to imagine a more peaceful science than archeology, but the treasure discovered near Khabarovsk did not give scientists world fame, but only led to death at the hands of cruel criminals. And only the leader of the expedition managed to survive in the bloody massacre - a talented scientist named Mira, the fairy of the Green House. The brutal crime shocked the Secret City, because many believed that the ruthless criminals managed to get the artifact ancient civilization The earths are asuras. But the reality turned out to be much more terrible - the Khabarovsk box did not belong to the asuras, but this find endangered the entire Secret City ...
Ring of Paracelsus
The existence of the Ring of Paracelsus has long disturbed the entire magical world. Many would like to subdue the capricious artifact, but so far no one has been able to conquer and take control of its power. And yet, attempts to get into the secret of the alchemist continue ...
How can the death of predecessors be frightening when the key to unprecedented power can be in your hands? The power to become not an ordinary strong magician, but a real ruler? Brandelius is not afraid of death and the fate of gullible people, because he is sure that he can become the first after Paracelsus who will get the ancient artifact.
Thirst
The novel tells about Zoran, his torments and emotions, which were described by the writer with special depth. A story about terrible killers who appeared in the city - they can become a threat to the whole world.
A fascinating plot makes you constantly be in suspense - what will happen on the new page? Kornyushin turns into a thirsty one. At the sight of a stone, people are ready to voluntarily commit suicide in order to pour their blood on this stone. Despite the drama of the presentation, the book is read surprisingly easily and pleasantly ...
wish fulfiller
For Maxim from an early age, his great-grandfather was an idol. Stately, elegant and with a watch on a chain - a true Chekist of the old school. And he traveled so much! Once he even participated in the expedition of Nicholas Roerich, the seeker of Shambhala. But the old man passed away, and his chronometer ended up in the hands of the protagonist. Maxim decided to repeat the usual movement of his great-grandfather, opened the lid of the watch with his finger and ...
Everything around has changed! The objects sparkled with colors, and the portrait of Lenin suddenly became a safe. In it, the heir to the Chekist found diaries, and in them - golems, witches, shases and mysterious ancient forces. How did it happen that great-grandfather found the gates of a magical land and opened a portal to other worlds?
native blood
The death of Sophia Engel was a real tragedy for the whole of Vladimir - a quiet, small town. And not just because this old lady was a powerful witch. The confrontation with the assassin left too many clues in the human world and attracted relic hunters from the Secret City. All of them are trying to get the legendary magical artifact, forgetting about the rightful heiress... Will Sophia's granddaughter be able to escape from sorcerers, witches and other hunters? Who is agent Lisin serving, who is hiding behind a police badge? And how is the cat Sema connected with the struggle for a powerful inheritance?
proof of strength
Sometimes even the inhabitants of the Secret City do not know what is actually a legend and what is a real story ... What can we say about ordinary people who, by coincidence, fall into a whirlpool of amazing events. These events were caused by forces so powerful that even experienced magicians fell into a stupor. Crimea and Ladoga, caves and diving, fishing that ended in death, and death that saved a person's life for 20 years - in this story the reader will learn everything ...
But this story doesn't end well for everyone.
Kiss of Ouroboros
To start a war, one of three conditions is enough - the desire for power, love or hatred ...
On one side of the scales is the royal crown, and on the other - the lives of loved ones, and the choice is deafening with terrible force: swift and sharp. There is not a minute to think ... But the outcome cannot be changed either by force or by requests, because it is impossible to change what has already happened ...
The tragic wedding of Queen Vseslava turned out to be the prologue of a series of upheavals that affected not only the Green House, but also the fate of the Secret City...
Ballad of the Dead Queen
Wounded in body and soul, the Erliian Hematus conceived plans for revenge on the world that had deprive him and the main culprit - the Sleeper, who would create such an unsuccessful Universe ...
Will the prophecy that accidentally became known to the human witch Tina, according to which all living things must perish, come true? In particular, the remaining representatives of the ancient races that ruled on Earth long before the appearance of the human race. Is there really no way to destroy the plans of the Dead Queen, who is capable of devouring the Universe itself?
The clock started by the Erliy has begun its deadly countdown, and only Tina can prevent the coming catastrophe...
Sometimes wars start casually. In broad daylight, men jump out of cars parked on an ordinary Moscow street and, without hesitating anyone, open heavy fire from machine guns. And at the same time they aim at a group of some nondescript short men in red bandanas, who have just shopped at the nearest McDonald's. Of course, panic immediately sets in, passers-by rush in all directions, and one of them suddenly turns over the table of a street cafe and takes cover behind it, clutching his backpack to his chest.
And he does it right.
Indeed, unlike most of the inhabitants, Artem knows well what will follow all this. One of the reasons for the beginning of the war just lies in his backpack. The only thing Artyom doesn't know is that in the Secret City, the losers start wars, but the heroes end them.
Until he knows...
They go to the same shops, streets, squares and parks. Some of them have green eyes, some have red or white hair. They are almost the same as us. And they also live in Moscow. Except they are not human.
For several millennia, the capital has been inhabited by Navi, People and Chud - representatives of the Great magical houses. The descendants of civilizations that have long disappeared, under a veil of spells invisible to the common man, live, love and fight for their lives.
A threat loomed over the Secret City. And the lives of its inhabitants must be saved by an ordinary person ... Will he succeed? And will mages, vampires and werewolves accept a stranger?
Artyom and the inhabitants of the Secret City have a new enemy. She is a human witch who dreams of immortality. She is smart and prudent, her combinations and moves are difficult to guess even for an experienced chess player. Her name is Kara. And it is she who will be able to bring discord into the orderly structure of the Secret City ...
But will this cunning villainess be able to withstand such "titans" as Santiaga and Cortez's team? What secrets does the Commissioner of the Dark Court keep? And who will pay with their lives for spreading a forbidden spell?
Everyone was sure that there were no more metamorphs - creatures that can change their body as they please and, moreover, use magic. But in a small village, a girl Anna is born with these rare abilities. When Anna grows up, she will begin to cruelly avenge her abused childhood. She, using magic, will seduce men and kill them one by one. The heads of the Great Houses of the Secret City need to protect people from the evil metamorph at all costs. But how to do that?
Hyperborea is an empire of hatred. Its inhabitants drew strength from a special plant called the Golden Root, under the influence of which they turned into uncontrollable monsters. Only the concubines of Azag-Tot, the head of Hyperborea, did not succumb to such terrible transformations. But all this was in the distant past. Hyperborea sunk into oblivion many centuries ago. No one expected that one of the concubines of Azag-Toth would be reborn…. The Great Houses of the Secret City need to capture her and destroy the stim drug that caused this rebirth. Will it be possible to prevent the formation of a new Empire of Hatred?
How many tourists, walking along Red Square, did not even realize that deep underground right under their feet in a sealed sarcophagus lies the very fiend of hell - Azag-Tot, the ruler of the empire of hatred of Hyperborea. The Hyperboreans fell many centuries ago, but today, thanks to the drug "stim", they are reborn, and Azag-Toth is freed from the shackles. Will the Great Houses of the Secret City be able to defeat the Realm of Hate if they cannot even reconcile with each other?
A doll of last resort or a sleeping geisha is the strongest magical artifact that can give life to a person who has exhausted all resources and is on the verge of death. Clara Sommerset was supposed to deliver this unique figurine to the famous collector Ivan Razin, but the artifact was lost, and Clara died under mysterious circumstances. Which of the inhabitants of the Secret City is involved in this crime? Who and why needed a chrysalis of last hope?
More recently, Mark was convinced that he could find his way to the Hidden City again. They were driven by a desire to avenge their flight. He was sure of his uniqueness, of his necessity. But reality sobered him up and doused him with an icy shower.
A simple person in the Secret City cannot count on much. The incredible abilities of Mark in non-humans do not cause anything but a smile. And despite everything he did for the Great Houses, he faced a wall of indifference and indifference.
But now the shadow of the Inquisitor has already fallen on Moscow, bonfires are flaring up, the real and other worlds are about to converge in a bloody war. And just then a simple person can change everything ...
A hundred years have passed since the group of people found their way to other worlds. And for a hundred years no one can repeat their path. The members of the Great Houses of the Secret City have always wanted to gain the knowledge of the Pulpit of Wanderers (that is how this group of people came to be called), and now they will have such an opportunity. The wanderers have returned to our world. Nur, a megamorph, the Keeper of the Black Book, mercenaries and many other heroes of the Secret City series familiar to the reader will go in search of the High Road.
Gambling is one of the most serious vices of both people and residents of the Secret City.
In the center of the plot of Panov's book "The King's Cross" is a deck of cards. But not a simple deck, but a Destiny Deck created in early XIX century by the brilliant man-sorcerer Saint-Germain. These cards have changed the course of history more than once, and therefore now they are a tasty morsel for many in the other world.
The insidious intrigues of Santiaga, the war between vampire clans, the hunt for a powerful Destiny Deck, meeting new heroes and the emergence of new mystical secrets. All this - in the continuation of the cycle "Secret City".
For many centuries, a split has reigned in the Masan family. The brothers were separated immediately after the agreement between the Great Houses and the Church was concluded. The reason for the disagreement was the Dogmas of Submission, with which the Sabbats, who left the secret City, did not agree.
However, over time, the old slogans of a split began to be questioned. And so the brothers, tired of internecine wars, began to remember their common past. And even Commissioner Santiaga realizes that it is time to unite the warring clans under the leadership of one leader ... The same opinion is shared by Baron Bruja - Cardinal Sabbat. What will they do to achieve a common goal? What will they donate?
Cortez's team is sent on a secret and dangerous mission that could end a long-running feud.
He is a brave knight who wields magic. She is a sorceress from a race where only women can wield magic. And then, in a twist of fate, the two fall in love with each other in the Secret City. They are representatives of different civilizations, different types magical beings, and they shouldn't have developed feelings for each other.
For the first time in the Secret City series, Vadim Panov puts in the center of the plot love story. A feeling that can sweep away any obstacles, turn prejudices and enmity into dust ... Great love that has no right to exist ...
The brutal murder in one of the Moscow parks discouraged professionals from the MUR. It appeared that the perpetrator had supernatural powers. And it turned out to be true! Traces of the crime led to the Secret City - securely hidden among the modern metropolis, the abode of magicians and sorcerers, the descendants of the ancient rulers of the Earth ... And then it was even more interesting - the Red Caps riot, the bloody treasure hunt of Stepan Razin, the ambitions of a young witch and, of course, not without one of the most powerful human (and not only human) feelings - Fear! Everything is mixed up in the Secret City, the fate of which is again in the hands of human mercenaries - Artyom and Cortez!
Something strange is happening on the territory of the Secret City: golems have begun to disappear somewhere. And the Queen of the Green House suddenly decided to get married and have offspring. And at one Moscow construction site, for inexplicable reasons, the death rate has risen sharply. What can connect all these events? All roads lead to the last of the remaining Gallus Rebuses.
And the question that once split the indestructible Order will be raised again: “Was the Sleeping magician?”
The book "Web of Confrontation" by Vadim Panov is a collection of stories united by a common theme: the long-standing enmity between Commissar Santiaga and Yarga. Moreover, some of the stories are the work of the author's fans, who have put a lot of imagination and effort into supplementing and continuing the cycle of books about the Secret City.
The heart of the collection is the short story Web of Confrontation. It is built on the dialogue between Santiagi and Shinka, Yarg's henchman, who was captured. This "interview" reveals a lot of details about both the commissar's past and the fate of his worst enemy.
The name of the novel "Vertigo" perfectly reflects its essence, because the head will spin in a lot of the inhabitants of the Secret City.
A young successful girl named Dasha, despite a successful career, lives like Cinderella. But one day it turns out that she is a beautiful daikini fairy. The beauty finds herself in a new magical world full of unusual creatures and magic, the heroine's world is turned upside down...
The Red Caps have a brilliant new business plan. The restless guys decided to brew Red Fist whiskey. Barrels with it are already in the cellars of the Fort, which is of great interest to the drunkards of the city.
The secret services of the Great Houses are on the ears: a mysterious killer has opened the hunt for representatives of each of the Houses. And even the great Santiago is powerless against him...
Ten years have passed since Andrei Riznyk left the Secret City. He was sure that his fate would never again intersect with the fate of the Great Houses and their inhabitants, but Yarga's proposal turned everything upside down.
Knowing settlements. An ancient riddle of human sorcerers. It is Andrei who will have to resurrect them and challenge the Great Houses. Why does Yarga need this? He wants to shake the greatness of the Houses. But why take this risk to Andrey?
Power, love, hate.
What else is needed to start a war?
On one side of the scale is the royal crown, on the other is the life of loved ones, and the choice is like a blow of a sword: swift and sharp. There is no time ... But the outcome cannot be changed either by force or by prayer, because it is impossible to change what has already happened.
The bloody wedding of Queen Vseslava became the prologue to a series of upheavals that affected not only the Green House, but the entire Secret City. And again, the Great Houses cannot do without the help of a close-knit team of human mercenaries - Artyom, Cortez, Inga and Yana.
There was no test in the history of the Secret City harder than the second coming of the Yarga. The first prince of Navi has escaped from centuries of imprisonment and longs to regain his former greatness. He decided to revive the Dark Court empire on Earth. The Green House has already known the heavy hand of the first prince, the turn of the people has come, for whom Yarga has prepared a terrible, truly bloody night ...
And it must happen that at that very time a rumor spread around the South Fort that the great Fuhrer of the Red Caps was dying and he urgently needed a successor ... that is, a successor ...
In the next book of the Secret City cycle, the first prince of the great Navi will have to regain power. Yarga has more than enough strength, meanness, cunning and time. It cost him nothing to crush the Green House: having loyal allies, he quickly deprived his former owners of power. Now he is interested in the Order. And it's only a matter of time how quickly he realizes what he wants. This is how the cunning and vile prince acts - he deprives his enemies of allies. And now it's Santiaga's turn.
The prince's plans are about to be thwarted by the red menace looming over the Secret City. All because of who knows where the strongest magician came from. He will kill any Nava who gets in his way without hesitation. Who is he and where did he come from?
The book is intended for those who think that Sergei Vasilyevich Lukyanenko bakes his countless Dozora too slowly. Panov has no ideas of his own, and if you compare his cycle with a more eminent competitor, then "Dark City" finally slips into the world of bribed lyrics and adventures of various Thieves in Law, both in language and style. Yes, it contains the same intrigues, miracles, colorful characters, but the novels themselves completely lack individuality. As a result, the whole cycle merges into one giant soap opera like "Santa Barbara". For example, I once read five volumes in a row. Thanks to the most detailed Fantlab annotations, otherwise I would not have remembered which ones I mastered and what they are talking about. I call this type of literature “Yes, I kind of read it” (pronounce it with doubt).
Score: 4
I have read 12 books so far. I gave it a 6 for the first six relatively decent books, but then, the further into the forest, the less sense. It all started promisingly: a good idea about the Great Houses, an interesting and detailed description of magic, charismatic heroes, adventure, riddles, battles. Nice relaxing read. But over time, some things, like a snowball, accumulating and growing, overshadowed all the pluses that this series had, or could have had. Here are just a few of the cons that "finished" me:
1. The unnatural, strained stupidity of people, the fervor and stupidity of miracles. The further, the harder it is to believe that such code idiots could rule something. Almost every dialogue, every action of the representatives of these two Houses is contrary to logic and common sense. And after all this is worth the plots? A-ta-ta...
2. Endless repetitions and explanations. In each subsequent book, the author explains in some detail who the Great Houses are, where the Red Caps come from, what the Shases love, with whom and why the mercenaries are friends, etc. and so on. Which ultimately bloats the text nicely. Someone will say - “this is for those who started reading the cycle from the middle”, to which I would answer that “the reader from the middle” is an evil Pinocchio himself, and I’m tired of rereading about the Western Forests 100,500 times.
3. Secrets and mysteries of history. The author, as it were, lifts the veil by mentioning the Key of the Three Races, the heritage of the Assurs, some other worlds, other civilizations, mysterious ancient artifacts, but all in passing, and these mentions never reveal themselves. Interest is warmed up, books are read in the hope of getting answers to questions, but, alas, the author does not seem to have the mind to develop his own ideas.
4. Turns by 180 degrees in the behavior of the characters. Here we have hardened cynics who have been achieving their goal for several hundred years, sacrificing everything and everything, regardless of losses even among their closest ones, can suddenly shed a mean tear and shout “oh, sorry for the bird!” drop everything and actually commit suicide. Here, incredibly ancient beings who have gone through hellish torments, hardened in all circles of hell, suddenly start screaming “oh-oh, bo-bo!” from some simple wound inflicted by an ordinary sword. Here the enemies trust each other, and then they are surprised at the betrayals. Here one semi-random night together is a reason for love to the grave, and so on and so forth ...
5. Red caps. Jokes aside, but 12 books with the same conversations about whiskey and robberies is a bit too much. Entire chapters in which the Red Caps drank, scratched their turnips, waved their yatagan, fired from a shotgun, and then, on a tip from Petya, they went to steal something, naturally unsuccessfully. Every single time it's the same. In the end, my nerves gave out and I began to look through all this fuss diagonally, which reproached reading books by about a third.
In general, it seems that you are not reading a book, you are not living this world, you are not living the fate of the characters, but just watching a cartoon. Some kind of mixture of The Simpsons, Bleach anime and the True Blood series, where everything is epic and heroic, hypertrophied, implausible, flavored with complete stupidity and sometimes sex.
Score: 6
The idea of the "Secret City" was, though not new, but good - a parallel, magical Moscow, existing along with the real Moscow. However, Panov’s “parallel Moscow” turned out to be some kind of cardboard, tied to real Moscow only by external toponymic features (“Vernadsky Avenue”, “Arbat”, “spider’s booth”, etc.), and not by deep internal connections. If N. Gaiman’s parallel London “The Doorway”) can only correlate with real, historical London, V. Orlov’s magical Moscow (“Violist Danilov”, “Pharmacist”) correlates with real-life Moscow, then Panov’s “Secret City” can be without problems relocated to any major metropolitan area in the world. The history of "TG" is faceless, practically incompatible with the history and topography of "visible" Moscow. The heroes of TG are just as faceless, they are not psychologically spelled out, characters without biographies, without fate. Despite the fact that "TG" is called a mystical cycle, it does not contain the secret that the best authors of "crypto-city" works had. And one more thing: quite rightly Dick 111 wrote: "... you can start from any volume and stop at any place." The cycle of V. Panov leaves absolutely indifferent, despite the mass of author's inventions and riot of fantasy. I read and forgot.
Score: 5
Mastered six books. At first everything started well - interesting world, an entertaining story ... But then HE appeared.
Start over. The three great houses are the Dark Court, the Green House, and the Order. Clearly stands out, of course, the Dark Court. It is gothic, gloomy (even the name of the House symbolizes) and the very best. The other two are for extras. The Dark Court includes the best healers, the best merchants, vampires, and of course Navi.
Navi. Immortal unkillable ubermags. The very best. Almost nothing can kill them, they are not afraid of bullets, they are rich and beautiful and full of energy. Compared to them, Slavic Ludas and knights - miracles look faded. It is immediately clear who prevails in the Secret City. But even among the Navi, one character stands out.
Santiago. Clever, immortal, handsome, rich, equally virtuoso with cold weapons, hand-to-hand combat and magic, loving one woman whom he fell in love with a lot of years ago, the permanent commissar of the Dark Court, respected by all races living in this reflection of Moscow, he overshadows the whole course with his rays events described by the author. Is it worth adding that he also
Spoiler (plot reveal)
Prince of the Dark Court, or rather part of it
Already in the second book, it becomes clear that Santiago is the alter ego of the author. Santiago cannot be deceived - he knows everything three hundred steps ahead, and two analysts help him in this - comical characters who constantly swear at each other, but regularly communicate strategically important information to our Mary Sue.
The first book shattered my idea of such a highly publicized series. An interesting anti-hero, betrayed by his own nation (It's strange - the queen, who should take care of her people, throws out the Messiah, who is destined to elevate the people, and in the following books tries to do the work of this poor fellow with torment), turns out to be a virgin maniac, torturing girls for pleasure . All the charm of the innocently expelled savior of the house of Man collapses with the light hand of the author, who needed Absolute Evil as opposed to Absolute Good - Santiaga. Of course, the Absolute had calculated everything in advance and knowing that the Vivisector was in fact
Spoiler (plot reveal) (click on it to see)
Butler
Brilliantly won the fight.
The second and third books aggravated the situation. The commander of the Order, who fell in love with a werewolf, decides to commit a crime.
Spoiler (plot reveal) (click on it to see)
And Santiaga, knowing that the commander was framed in order to frame him, decides to enter the trap, kill the framed commander, himself fall under suspicion in order to expose the real villain - a worthy magician of Humans, who is able to bring humanity into the ranks of the Great Houses, and whose achievements are sold by the group human mercenaries for thirty pieces of silver, thereby selling their people
The fourth book is pretty good... because there isn't much Santiagi in it. At first.
Spoiler (plot reveal) (click on it to see)
Poor girl-chela, who owns the rarest gift of polymorphism, an evil and terrible blind officer of the landing Soviet Union, for some reason stubbornly called the Empire, makes you be cruel and kill in order to become great. What horrors. But our kindest Santiaga saves us again, cracking the plan of the evil old paratrooper at the root, and receiving this very girl as a gift.
The fifth and sixth books just finished me off. Great Navi suddenly began to weaken (Really?). And the valiant Santiaga again helps everyone out, pushing the foreheads of the other two Houses (which, by God, look like a bunch of kids - anyone can lead them by the nose without really straining. Then why are they Great?) and at the same time releasing the Ancient Evil out, in the form evil mutated humans who love hate.
At that moment, when Yana was kidnapped (this is in the last book I read), everything became clear to me.
Spoiler (plot reveal) (click on it to see)
She, too, will turn out to be a hidden witch, but will overcome her blood memory with love for Cortez - a very predictable move.
But, to my surprise, the sixth book at the end still gave me a surprise.
Let's skip the Navi uber-soldiers, who are not only unkillable, but also super-duper magicians (better than all the fairies of Ludov combined), super-duper fast (Sailors with their movement speed of 100 kilometers per hour rest - and the author himself convinced that there is no one faster than them!) and super-duper strong (the vigilantes of the same Lyudov nervously smoke on the sidelines). Let's also skip the scene where a hundred of these terminators destroy almost the entire army of Miracles in a few minutes. And let's move on to the pulp itself - try to guess to whom? Of course, to Santiago.
He stands out even against the background of these terminators in the way that a bodybuilder with experience would stand out among preschoolers. He goes to battle with the leaders of Hyperborea with his bare hands. And wins. Not one of course (there were a couple of his close associates there), but this does not change the essence. Great warriors, who in ancient times destroyed entire armies, were defeated by a group of Navi led by Radiant. But two Hyperborean witches remained, completing the most important ritual
Spoiler (plot reveal) (click on it to see)
Attention, I'm not kidding - Lenin's awakening from sleep
And here
Spoiler (plot reveal) (click on it to see)
It turns out that one witch is Yana, who overcame the gene memory, invested by her greatest in skill and strength magician only with love for Cortez, although the same Veronica could not do this, and the other, which Veronica is Anna, is the same polymorph, tame Santiaga's little animal, who miscalculated this plan and replaced the real Veronica, the Hyperborean sorceress, already full of strength, who could almost kill everyone with a glance, and for some reason stupidly fell into captivity in the all-reaching hands of the Radiant
And again, Santiaga is smart and well done, he beat everyone and everything - and left two Great Houses with a nose, and defeated the ancient race of Hyperboreans, and did not even allow awakening
Spoiler (plot reveal) (click on it to see)
Spoiler (plot reveal) (click on it to see)
The Devil is actually the Prince of the Dark Court, and the Prince of the Dark Court is Santiaga
I'm afraid my mind can't take it.
Rating: 1
Gentlemen and ladies, let's ask ourselves why everything seems so bad in such low genres as multi-volume opupei and inter-author cycles. To hell with lofty matters, where is at least "our" Forgotten Realms or Battle Mallet? And there are none. They are not needed. Then try to make something of your own, if you can profitably sell someone else's?
Let's look at the diagnosis on the example of a typical patient, our "World of Darkness for the Poor", our "Turkish star wars(this is when someone else's film is taken and cut/recut to look like something else).
So, another young and obviously not very talented author takes a foreign universe and begins to shred it with rusty garden shears to fit his own understanding and the low standards of a potential consumer. The idea is not new, they indulged in this even in the Middle Ages (and probably more than once), and in general there is nothing fatal in small borrowings. But our demiurge approached the task as casually as possible, he will tear off pieces from other people's creations with meat and sew them together with white threads.
So, how to give birth to a small-town "masterpiece". To begin with, let's reduce the scale of the original, from the whole world to one city, so as not to pee a bunch of nuances. “Tokyo is the center of the universe”, in this case Moscow. Next, we will remove all these incomprehensible names like some kind of Inconnu, let everything be as simple as possible for us - people, chud, dregs and in the same spirit. Well, then you can rummage through the subsections:
Bloodsuckers - so, they have some kind of clans here. We won't even change their names. They have some Camarilla and Sabbath organizations here. They obviously must be translated somehow, but the dictionary at that moment was far away.
Fluffies - everything is somehow complicated here, let's just take that werewolves are like that and not like that.
Magicians - some kind of Traditions, Conventions ... Oh, everything is complicated, let's take it in general for any separate cycle.
Ghosts - oh well ... What is it all about?
Fairies - umm, to take? Are the Red Caps modern day goblins? Let's make them gopniks.
That's it, let's add flat and cool characters, you can write dozens of volumes on this basis. In order for teenagers to buy more actively, we will add all sorts of piquancy and the departed USSR will regularly find fault. Netlenka is ready!
So we have someone else's instead of ours, only scanty and miserable. And not to say that this alien was originally strongly original. The same bloodsuckers at Ann Rice flooded bless you. But their authors did add new ideas and built something of their own on someone else's foundation. And we have a dull plagiarism even without changing the original names.
Therefore, for the time being, even in the field of such consumer goods, everything is bad. And it will be bad, as long as we take someone else's and try to pass it off as our own, without the slightest imagination or creativity.
Rating: 1
Do you still know the cartoon "Scooby Doo"?
There, in each series, a new monster appears, the heroes valiantly run away from him, and at the end it turns out that the monster is a villain in disguise.
"Secret City" works in the same way. I only managed to count as many as three templates in it.
1. There is one Person.
A new one appears in the Secret City actor, with unique abilities and pursuing its own goals. It could just be a very powerful human magician, a skilled mercenary, or the owner of a powerful artifact. Naturally, he attracts the attention of the Great Houses, who, without further ado, decide to eliminate him.
In the end, the person either perishes, crushed by their combined efforts, or leaves the Secret City. It is extremely rare that a representative of a different race acts as a Chela. However, this does not affect the ending.
Examples: "Wars are started by losers", "Commander of War", "Smell of Fear", "Vertigo".
2. The fourth power.
Another force enters the confrontation with the Great Houses. Tellingly, she had never been mentioned before in the books. Miracle-Ludo-Nava accept the challenge and together repel aggression.
At the end, the fourth force is either destroyed or banished. It is extremely rare that peace is offered on terms that are shameful for the fourth power.
Examples: "The Concubines of Hatred", "The Doll of Last Hope", "Rebus Galla".
3. Prodigy.
A new artifact of epic power is discovered, for which all interested representatives of the Great Houses begin to hunt. Sometimes an artifact already has a rightful owner, but this, of course, does not stop anyone.
In the end, the artifact is either lost or destroyed. There is one exception - the Black Book.
Examples: "Pulpit of Wanderers", "King's Cross".
Sometimes a novel combines two or even all three clichés.
For example, “In the circle of times”: a mercenary (there is one Chel) comes to a secret city to revive the Knowing Settlements (fourth power) and for this uses a powerful artifact that controls time (wunderwaffle).
Spoiler (plot reveal) (click on it to see)
in the end, the knowledgeable settlements remain a ghost village, the child prodigy is hidden where no one can get it, and the mercenary leaves far and for a long time. The template cracked, but held.
The disadvantage of this approach is obvious: all plot moves are foreseen on the fly. Reading the first chapter, it is easy to understand what will happen in the seventh (most novels in the cycle consist of only seven chapters). For a children's cartoon, this is still bearable (although I never liked Scooby-Doo). But in a long book cycle, it quickly becomes annoying.
I can't help but mention the Red Caps - local gopniks in jester bandanas. A couple of successful episodes with their participation in more than two dozen books side by side with a great many ridiculous and unfunny ones. And their stories are always a separate template, because any adventure of the Red Caps is, by definition, doomed to failure, and the author will select all the goodies they receive closer to the denouement of the story. Unfortunately, a depressing amount of time has been devoted to this unfriendly family.
But Santiago is much more annoying. The world has never known such ultra-mega-inhibitors. In most books, this schemer outplayed everyone long before the dealer dealt the cards. He is the best fighter, the most powerful magician and the most tireless lover. In the annual Secret City racing competition, the winner is the one who arrives second, since Santiaga is by default the first. Naturally, such an indestructible and all-conquering character very quickly begins to annoy. But, thank God, in the last novels Panov nerfed him to a more or less acceptable level.
In general, the level of books first rises rapidly, and then just as sharply falls. Recently, the cycle has completely moved to P.R.O.E.K.T., which caused a natural drop in interest. Reading it or not is a personal matter for everyone, although I doubt that there are many readers who are not familiar with the Secret City. For myself, I can say that this is a very strong urban fantasy, with a lot of pleasant moments and really stylish episodes, but not without many of the shortcomings inherent in big series. At the very least, it is worth getting acquainted with it, but at the same time remember that this is a very strong craft work. No more.
Score: 7
I love the Secret City very much, so there will be many letters and thoughts.
But I'll start, oddly enough, with the shortcomings and controversial features.
Firstly, the cycle is simply monstrously tightened up to complete unreadability recent books. As sad as it is to admit, it has turned into a cash cow for the author, which must be approached periodically, but, of course, there is no longer any creative moment in this - only a technical action.
Secondly, the TG is also written very unevenly. That is, instead of the usual rolling of quality along a hyperbole, a kind of “arrhythmia” is observed. After the first extremely successful novels - "Wars start by losers" and the dilogy "Commander of War" with the continuation, there are indistinct "All Shades of Black", and then immediately a peppy "Hyperborean" part. Several times the cycle was interrupted by collections of short stories, including amateur ones. Like almost all fanfiction, most of them are disgusting and terrible to the point of complete chthonicity, but there are a couple that are surprisingly good.
They are the strongest, they are the smartest, they are the most united, they always win, all the strongest/smartest/necessary insert non-navas prefer to work with them. Only one thing remains unclear - how the navy in the distant past
Spoiler (plot reveal) (click on it to see)
managed to lose stupid people
But history is silent about this (at least until I read it).
The main characters are mercenaries with a specific morality. They don't give a damn about anything and everyone, except for their own benefit, which is annoying at times. But here one can rightly object that this is the property of the characters, and not the author, and that this at the same time gives them the charisma of "cold-blooded professionals."
In addition, at times outright bandits or even sadists (!) act as heroes -
Spoiler (plot reveal) (click on it to see)
dear Anna, for example.
Extremely pleased with the phrase "a real man will not shoot his beloved woman in the head." We hope in the next parts to see a diagram of which parts of the body of a beloved woman a real horseman is not forbidden to shoot.
Fourthly, the heroes are practically invulnerable. Cortez and his comrades, despite being opposed by creatures many times their experience and skill, not to mention the usual physical characteristics, always get away with it and almost always win. In extreme cases, they get off with an unscheduled visit to the Erliysky monastery.
Santiaga sees 100+ moves ahead and does not tolerate defeat in principle. The most that especially outstanding enemies are capable of is to present the Commissar with a couple of tactical surprises, which he rejoices like a child.
No, of course, everyone has the right to express their political views, there, there is a whole sub-genre of "anti-communist hitting" and nothing, no one sticks a finger at them. But a spoon for dinner is good, and in TG anti-Soviet outbursts look like a saddle on a cow. Here I don’t even want to enter into polemics, because they don’t argue with ideological hatred.
Based on the listed shortcomings, we can conclude: TG is not a very good work from a purely literary point of view. And for the most part, this is true. If it were not for the pluses, which will be discussed below, TG would be just one of a huge host of passing books for 5-6 points. But there are other pluses as well.
First of all, it's the setting. No boring standard fantasy races. Of the widely known - only vampires borrowed from VTM, but we can endure them, slightly grimacing, especially since they are just one brick in a huge wall.
The universe of the Secret City is large, diverse and fresh. Panov constantly reveals new corners here and there, and for a very long time this allowed the cycle to maintain a fairly high bar of quality. The world of TG is interesting to explore, get acquainted with its history, glorious and terrible pages. The setting was conceived for five plus, implemented for a good, strong four.
Key characters are well written. Not all of them are pretty, many are very contrasting, but all of them are written well. Despite paragraph 3 of the shortcomings - the sympathy of the author of one particular faction, there are characters in other houses written with obvious approval.
For example,
Spoiler (plot reveal) (click on it to see)
Franz de Geer is an example of an excellent and very professionally crafted leader character. He is noble, but not stupid, resolute and strong. At the same time, he is able to make compromises if everyone benefits from this, and to complete the image, the author organically wove a personal tragedy into his story, which Franz did not reconcile with, but was able to drive it deep into “personal space” and prevent it from interfering in the main work - the leadership of the House of Chud.
Another great character is Baron Mecheslav. In general, in my opinion, he is close to the absolute ideal of a real man. Strong, determined, reliable as a rock, ambitious in his own way, but his ambition is not beyond his abilities. Mecheslav knows well what he can do and what he can't, and he doesn't go where he doesn't belong. A true example of calm strength. And his relationship with Queen Vseslava is a separate plus. They are written completely without snot and worries, so they look real. And when they have problems, you empathize with them.
Even the Fuhrer of the Red Caps clearly enjoys the favor of the author. For all the comicality of KSH, Panov periodically makes it clear to the reader that keeping all this freemen within the framework of at least relative decency is a difficult matter.
All these pluses, of course, are good, but, you say, one way or another they are in many places. What distinguishes "Tayy City" from many other books? Moreover, with such significant shortcomings, something very weighty should lie on the “other bowl”. And it still lies.
This is the atmosphere. Panov managed to capture the very essence of the genre and present it to the reader in the best possible way. What is the most important thing in urban fantasy? It's a secret under your nose. This is the feeling that real life always by your side. That as soon as you leave your boring office, you will find yourself in the midst of bright, dangerous and, most importantly, real events. Or maybe you don’t even have to leave the office, and a courier with a mysterious package will suddenly call from the checkpoint. Dashing, freshness and mystery - these are the components of the success of TG. It is for this that we love urban fantasy - for a fairy tale next to us. And Vadim Panov managed to bring this fairy tale right into our hands.
Score: 10
The funniest thing about the Secret City is that it doesn't even consist entirely of stamps. But just pieces of something else. Such a mosaic. You look into every piece - yeah, this is torn out of a Slavic fantasy with meat. This is from Europe. And this is generally from the Masquerade of the Vampires. Moreover, Panov, in order to drive each borrowed piece into place, does not even use a file, but a sledgehammer.
The funny thing is that it worked for the popularity of the cycle. Whatever piece the reader does not take, he immediately blurs into a satisfied smile. “Yeah, it already happened, you don’t need to get into anything and strain your brains.” Fantasy escapism, coupled with the convenience and clarity of our world, is generally a deadly combination. As for Panov...
With Lukyanenko, a cool magician or a higher vampire, for all his toughness, can live in a simple apartment in Khrushchev and go to work by subway. At Panov, feeding the Red Caps, everyone drives cool cars and lives in sheer glamour. So he has not just our world, but that part of it in which a simple man in the street wants to be. By the way, the dirt of gateways and sewers, the realm of wasps and Red Hats (“historically”, this is a kind of fairies like) - this is also a little-known territory for him and therefore also romance.
Score: 6
I started reading three books in the cycle, I couldn’t finish reading more than one ... I understand that literature is entertaining, I understand that common sense is not needed for such books, but at least there must be some kind of logic?! The Patrols, which set the teeth on edge, were the most unsuccessful, in my opinion, Lukyanenko's books, but they were logical and consistent. In Dozoroh, real Moscow (and not only Moscow) is connected with magical clear, understandable and meaningful causes and effects, as well as historical development. The issue of the confrontation between the helicopter and the dragon (it seems the twilight watch - Fafnir) is not resolved in favor of the latter, the impact is at the level of people and structures, the issue of financing problems is raised sharply, etc. And here - why Moscow? why COLD weapons, and fencing competitions (and not on rapiers, which in modern world quite understandable), but with swords (I myself was engaged in fencing) and I note that in the absence of armor, the rapier is no less effective than the banal two-handed. (I can give advice to learn to shoot) The history of the development of the Secret City - either you need to give clear (more or less) facts of its formation, separating it from the real history of Moscow, or no less clear facts, connecting it with real Moscow; there is also a variant of mean phrases like - “historically”, BUT with the actual presence of NAV, CHUD, etc. WE second-class people (HUMAN, if I'm not mistaken) should have at least somehow treated the fact that some idiots in the center of the Russian capital ring with armor at solemn parades and meetings, talk in all seriousness about magic, etc. , all the intelligence agencies of the world had to twitch trying to make inquiries, recruit, etc. And vice versa, the entire secret city (with the described scale, of course) should have tried to gain influence on all power and law enforcement agencies. With the presence of a described fragmentary history of the development of civilization, the described era simply could NOT exist. Rave! I’m generally silent about the heroes, first make the world ...
Score: 2
Secret City is good. Honestly, very good. After the "watches" it was necessary, as they say, to have courage bordering on recklessness in order to write a book about another Moscow that exists in parallel with us. But Panov succeeded. It seems that the author, after reading "Patrols", set out to write a book in which, unlike Lukyanenko's creation, there will be more sarcasm and a kind of game than seriousness. And Panov masterfully coped with the task. He masterfully balances between comedy and tragedy. This, in my opinion, is the main advantage and the reason for the popularity of the series. This recipe has been repeatedly tested by Western television: in almost any series there should be one or more characters on which the viewer will relax, rest, smile. And then he will painlessly swallow the serious thoughts and actions of the other characters. As recent examples, I will cite Downton Abbey and Dexter. In both series, through serious events, the grin of the authors shows through: do not strain, guys, after all, we are just kidding. It was this technique that Panov brought to perfection, masterfully "jumping" from the gloomy gothic of Santiaga or the Vampire clans to the rollicking Red Caps and back. Thanks to this, the morality of books does not strain, does not crush the reader.
And, of course, the lightness of the author's pen can be written down as an unconditional plus. Panov writes as if effortlessly - a rare gift that only a few have. Therefore, his books are read easily, without tension.
Panov created a deliberately grotesque, unreal world, while his characters behave quite adequately to the proposed circumstances, their images are consistent, not naive and not primitive, although with the portrayal of characters (with a few exceptions), Panov is still worse than, say, at Lukyanenko. But this is not catastrophic - Panov takes the variety of events, the kaleidoscopic nature of the paintings, the scale of the world.
In a word, if the Secret City did not exist, it would be worth inventing it!)))
Thanks to Vadim Panov for such a royal gift!
Score: 9
I was advised to read The Secret City by a friend whose taste I generally trust. After listening to him, I :glasses:on the advice of friends, I bought a Moskvich car:gigi: I bought the first six novels and read it in one fell swoop. Since then I have bought all of Panov's books and have never regretted it.
Pros. Fascinatingly. Lots of juicy characters. Good humor (there are very good hairpins addressed to well-known political and television figures, in general, judging by the cycle, Panov does not favor television). Resourceful. Throughout the cycle, the same technique is used - a mass of seemingly unrelated characters, events and storylines by the middle to the end of the novel, they are intertwined into one unthinkable tangle. And most importantly - DO NOT BAD. A very rare skill for the author of the cycle. Agree, it’s very disappointing to find that the author has exhausted his talent in the first (third, fifth) novel and slips us an “apple-flavored” drink instead of apple juice. Yes, the Panov cycle will not please you with philosophical reflections or a feast of Russian literary language in the spirit of Oldie, will not shock you with an unexpected scientific or social concept like the books of Asimov, Lem or Dick, and you will not laugh to tears like the stories of Eric Frank Russell or Kuttner, but he does not need to.
This is just a very good ENTERTAINMENT literature, written in simple but competent language. And it's not as easy as it seems - to write a fantasy-adventure-detective action movie and make it so that the reader runs along with the author along the plot without stumbling over heavy and often illiterate constructions.
Some cons. Some characters still give off a cardboard template (Hats, for example), sometimes (fortunately, rarely) self-repetitions. Separately, I want to say about the love lines periodically woven into the plot. This is clearly not Panov's strong point. They often give away cheap melodrama and balance somewhere between courtyard lyrics and Mexican passions. Between "he was a titular adviser, she is a general's daughter" and "and then she threw off her last clothes and also threw herself into the stormy sea, and this abyss swallowed her whole." In general, the cycle is characterized by some kind of adolescence, which is in relation to big guns, which is in relation to large, sorry, boobs.
2. For an attempt to create the Main National Idea - five plus. I read this part with trembling strings of my soul - it seems to me that we are now lacking the National Idea. I did not understand and did not approve why the promoter of the Idea had to be made Tatem. For what? And I never got the idea that Tati is bad. No matter how hard they tried to explain it to me.
3. I understand, I touched on future series - but I want the great house of Humans to finally appear. And I don’t understand when it seems that it’s already just about .... And the Guardian is found, and the Throne, but the invented obstacles, and stupid ones: The Guardian is not ready - is there another Guardian?
4. The part about Anna, in general, is out of the general series - it is mystical, it tickles the nerves, it is read impatiently, the denouement satisfies :) For me, in general, it is very important that the end satisfies! :)
5. And in general, very different parts, each plot is non-trivial, interesting. The secondary characters are sometimes much more interesting and livelier than the main ones.
For example Anna, Gleb, the priest of the forgotten Wasteland.
6. Santiago wasn't impressed at all. Oh, he is such an intriguer, he is such a clever one, so terrible and terrible! Yes, nothing like that! The tactic of non-intervention and waiting is his usual tactic. Although I agree, in a war, it is precisely such tactics that are needed, and they have a war every day. While the others fight, the Dark Court grows stronger.
7. And in general, the Houses seem so .... childish or something ... Their politics and intriguers will never spit on our politics and our schemers. To be honest.
8. Caps .... The story of the elections made me laugh ...
9. The philosophy of Kadaf is well thought out ... But somehow damp ...
10. An alternative to mages has been invented in the form of geomancers! I love interesting inventions, besides, at the present time, it seems to me that it is very difficult to come up with something new :) Only for this, plus a point :)
All in all, a great series!
But... Having revealed Strugatsky's "Powerless of this World" after the Secret City.... I would like to underestimate the cycle by at least 2 points. Because the gap between them is an abyss.
So, on earth, besides people, there are several more races, many of which outwardly even look a little like people, but thanks to magic they hide it. In addition, the world described by Panov is somewhat at odds with the real one (such as the Imperial past of Russia, etc.).
The GG of the cycle is a team of mercenaries performing various assignments and tasks for money, mainly for navs, although it also happens for other Great Houses. Thanks to their profession, they are constantly at the epicenter of events, more than once saving the inhabitants of the Secret City.
From the negative (for me personally) sides of the plot, one can single out the omniscience and omnipotence of the Navs, who almost always come out “dry from the water”, as soon as they were able to lose the war and lose power ???
I also wanted to dwell on the Red Hats - creatures that cannot think sensibly without alcohol, although they are not good at it with it. They constantly serve as the center of all misunderstandings, adding to the plot a special admixture of humor and a parody of the current society (the election of the Great Fuhrer alone is worth something).
Other races also have a certain ethnic component of real peoples, but we won’t talk about it so as not to stir up ethnic disputes.
In general, the cycle is quite entertaining, dynamic, with a certain amount of humor and will appeal primarily to lovers of long series (since, fortunately, the end of the novels is still visible).
Score: 10
secret city
Humanity is not the only intelligent race on Earth. And not the first. But now people who have forgotten about magic dominate the planet, and the descendants of ancient civilizations live in the Secret City, hidden from prying eyes in the heart of a huge metropolis.
And only a few of us manage to find out what is really happening on the Moscow streets...
(2019)
The Secret City is on the verge of great changes. The rebellious Yarga, the first prince of Navi, will stop at nothing to achieve his goal - the revival of the great empire of the Dark Court. For the sake of this goal, he is ready to do anything, sacrifice anyone, and chelas, vampires, people, miracles and even navas are just pawns on the chessboard of a cunning and ruthless player. […]
(2019)
In the Secret City and the whole magical world, the usual and very hectic life is in full swing: the mysterious master NO teaches you how to quickly and inexpensively repair a broken steam locomotive, terrible vampires appear in the Moscow metro, someone was lucky to touch the mystical secrets of St. Petersburg, and Inga Volkova and Yana Mannerheim have to go to a mysterious island in the middle Pacific Ocean, where, by order of the merciless Yarga, […]
(2018)
Returning to the pinnacle of power requires a lot of time and effort, but Yarga, the first prince of the great Navi, has plenty of both. With cunning and meanness, he crushed the Green House, in which his loyal supporters seized power, and now he turned his gaze to the Order, threatening to leave Santiago without allies. A magician of unprecedented power appears in the Secret City. […]
(2018)
There was no test in the history of the Secret City harder than the second coming of the Yarga. The first prince of Navi has escaped from centuries of imprisonment and longs to regain his former greatness. He decided to revive the Dark Court empire on Earth. The Green House has already known the heavy hand of the first prince, it is the turn of the people for whom Yarga has prepared a terrible, truly bloody night... And […]
(2017)
Power, love, hate. What else is needed to start a war? On one side of the scale is the royal crown, on the other is the life of loved ones, and the choice is like a sword strike: swift and sharp. There is no time ... But the outcome cannot be changed either by force or by prayer, because it is impossible to change what has already happened. The bloody wedding of Queen Vseslava became the prologue of a […]
(2014)
No rest in the Secret City! And where can he come from if Yarga, the first prince of Navi, has returned to the big game and is going to seize power over the entire Earth. Conspiracies and betrayals - this is the Yarga war, and those whom she considers loyal subjects are already tightening the noose around the neck of Queen Vseslava.
I am reading Vadim Panov's big cycle "Secret City". This is an urban fantasy in the genre of action-detectives. Today, there are already 17 novels written by Panov since 2001, and three collections, where various authors took part, developing the themes of The Secret City.
Each novel is independent, but sometimes there is a reference to the previous book. The plot involves both temporary and through characters.
Imagine that the history of the earth was not at all what we used to think. Before Homo sapiens (chelas) appeared, aliens from other worlds inhabited the Earth. All of them were powerful magicians, but did not differ in fertility. Perhaps because they lived a very long time. Magicians for witchcraft use a magical source. He is not unlimited. Therefore, by definition, there cannot be many magicians, and they failed to populate the Earth.
The Asuras were the first, they were swept away by the Navas, then the Navas fought with the kindred people of the Tats and defeated them, but the Navs were defeated by the people, and the people by miracles. But then the chelas dispersed everyone. Humans had the most powerful magicians, for example, the Hyperboreans. But after defeating the miracles, the chelas went the other way. They abandoned magic and bet on technological progress. The chelas pursued their magicians with the help of the Inquisition.
The defeated magicians left for the Secret City. It was built by the Asuras, who at one time were almost completely exterminated by the Navas. Tat's family also disappeared. As a result, Navas, people and miracles live in the Secret City - they form the Great Houses.
Each of the great houses ruled by the namesake family has vassal families.
To the great house of Nav belong the merchants Shas, who are very similar at the same time to the Assors and the Jews; doctors from the Earley family; Masan (vampires); Axis (inhabitants of the sewer who brought out huge rats).
Vassals of the house Man - showmen Ends, against which not a single woman can resist, despite the fact that they are bald plump little men; werewolves Moryans and militant Red Caps - rabble from the outskirts, and Chela (people) - witches, psychics, sorceresses, soothsayers using the source of energy from the House of Man.
Mariners are not aliens. They were brought out only in the 19th century.
The Red Hats are active in all novels. These are comic characters.
The vassals of the Great House of Chud are four-armed Hwana assassin warriors. They grow the golden root, a plant that can increase magical abilities. They are also hired as killers.
The source of energy at the House of Man is the Rain Well; miracles have a Carthaginian amulet, you hide your source. Humans also had sources - the Great and Small Thrones of Poseidon, but they are lost.
The Navas (Dark Court) are something like the Sith from Star Wars. Their prince - one to one Emperor - also always has his face covered with a hood. But he has a separate incarnation - an interesting man, whose name is Santiago. Santiago is very active, wears white clothes and reports to the prince about his affairs. In general, the prince of the Navs is such a schizo that he not only talks to himself, but also managed to split himself physically.
Nava is very difficult to kill. Their blood is black, bullets won't take them. They live the longest. Santiago is tens of thousands of years old. The Navas are strong in their analytical service. Their analysts are able to make accurate forecasts.
There is no separate novel about Naves, but Santiago acts in all books. Two novels are about the vassals of the Navs, the Masan vampires ("King's Cross" and "King of the Hill").
Among the people (Green House, House of the Crane), magicians are women, but male harrows control domains. The queen rules - a powerful witch. It is chosen by all people.
Judging by the names (Nezha, Vseslava, Miroslav, etc.), this is someone like the Slavs. Outwardly similar to humans.
The novels "Wars are started by losers", "Rebus Galla" are dedicated to people.
Miracles (Order) is a knightly order. German names. Ruled by the Grand Master. They even have a dragon. Outwardly, they also look like humans.
Most of the information about miracles is in the novels "Commander of War", "The Day of the Dragon".
Here is an excerpt from the novel, from which you can understand how it all looks: a reception at the House of People is described:
« Royal receptions are always a holiday. The ladies compete in the pomp of the toilets, the barons sip their wine with an air of importance and squint at the young fairies, to whom the strict rules of the sorceresses of the Green House still allow revealing outfits. Fairies at receptions are in the spotlight. Noble youth certainly hang around them - viscounts, governors and even noisy knights of the Great House of Chud. Loud laughter is heard from their companies, there are always enough toothy epigrams and ambiguous jokes in stock, and at the end of the day, young miracle lieutenants necessarily agree on duels with young human viscounts. To the right, near the malachite columns, people from the Dark Court usually group: sedate shases in long dark blue robes - swarthy and big-nosed lovers of good cognacs; sharp-tongued Erliytsy - born doctors and big gluttons; finally, the navas - tall, thin, studying with impenetrable black eyes the splendor alien to them. No one knew if you enjoy royal receptions, but they are always on time.».
Currently, the road by which the aliens came to Earth is closed. They cannot leave. All together, the Great Houses are afraid of humans and have an agreement with them, which was signed by the leaders of the church on the part of humans, namely, the monks from the Forgotten Desert. What are wizards afraid of? Say what you like, but there are 8 billion people. In addition, an Inquisitor may appear among them. He is not a magician, but he is able to accumulate the energy of people who believe in him and perform miracles beyond the control of magicians. Only the chelas have access to magic, which does not need a source - the magic of the harmony of the world. Such magicians are born extremely rarely, but nonhumans cannot cope with them. So, with the help of such a magician, chelas can travel to other worlds where the path is closed to non-humans ("Department of Wanderers").
If the chelas find out about the existence of the Secret City, the Great Houses are finished. But, of course, they can do a lot of harm before the end. Therefore, the pact is respected. Just in case, people have the Black Book, which is guarded by the Keeper. The book contains all the most powerful spells and arcana. Only a person can be a custodian. At home they would like to get the book, but they cannot.
Non-humans are forbidden to use magic among humans. If something suddenly spills out, the Recycling Service will save it.
Magicians have their own banks, their own hospitals, their own shops and casinos. They even have their own television and Internet company Tigradcom. Technical innovations they borrow from people. This is how Nava analysts use computers.
All nonhumans are actively engaged genetic research.
Chelas who exhibit magical abilities are sought after by people who enroll them in a magical school, and then they are allowed to practice magic such as divination, treatment among people. Some of them are very successful. For example, werewolves-moryans were brought out by the human witch Morgana.
Mercenaries also work for non-humans. They are not magicians, but they know about the Secret City.
Mercenaries Cortes, Artem, Yana, Inga are characters in many novels.
What is the highlight of the cycle? What do I like in Panov's novels? The fact that the Secret City is located in Moscow. Navas settled in the place where Moscow stands today. The fact that a city of humans has grown up around their Secret City does not bother them.
This is the secret base of the Nav House or the Dark Yard.
The Castle of Miracles on Vernadsky Avenue consists of three skyscrapers. 
The best doctors in the world from the Earli family treat here. It's called the Abode. If you get close, you will see a door. Early treat almost everyone and well, but very, very expensive. 
The most stupid family of non-humans, the Red Caps, also has its own office in Yuzhny Butovo. Surprisingly, in Yubutovo, the Red Hats are very quiet.
Favorite club of non-humans and mercenaries "Lizard" in Izmailovsky Park.
Sailors hunt in Elk Island. The residence of the queen is also located there. People divided Moscow into domains. The richest of them is the domain of Sokolniki and is run by the Queen's lover Miroslav.
Miracles divided Moscow into their administrative units. 
To give you an idea of the atmosphere of these novels, I will cite two excerpts from the novel Doll of Last Hope. Briefly, I will say that the pupae were made by Healers - these are human magicians who can heal. The chrysalis can cure any disease, but first it must kill and drink the blood of several members of the species it is to cure. Then she clings to the patient, gives him all her strength and disappears. Pupae are a forbidden artifact. They haven't been made for centuries. As a result of a complex intrigue, started by one woman Healer in order to take revenge on her ex-husband, dolls appeared in the Japanese secret clan Kitano, who had the goal of fighting non-humans. One of the dolls was stolen. Japanese Tori, a member of the clan, goes to Moscow.
« Brother Verbius Pharmacy
Moscow, Maly Kazenny lane,
September 8, Sunday, 10.52
Tori did not know where he needed to go, he was completely unfamiliar with the Secret City, but he was sure that he would easily find the required store. After all, the main thing is to know what you are looking for and be able to do it. And with that, and with another, the wakagashira had no problems. The Japanese left the Lexus at the Kursk railway station and went deep into the narrow Moscow streets, winding from the opposite side of the Garden Ring. He had no doubt that here, in the very center ancient city, you will definitely meet the right institution.
Leaning lightly on a simple bamboo cane, Tori slowly moved along the lanes, reading the signs of shops and shops with curiosity. “Food and liquor”, “Custom furniture”, “Gifts and souvenirs”… Wakagashira lingered at this sign, smiled and read the real text, written in large size right on the window: “Any artifacts, except for military ones. Selling and recharging. There is a warranty workshop. Behind transparent glass, a big-nosed salesman was bored surrounded by bizarre figurines. That's it, easy and simple.
The Japanese shook his head. He knew that he would see something like this, he was waiting for this, but, nevertheless, he was slightly confused. Magic artifacts (except for combat ones) can be bought just by entering this door. I wonder how long they guarantee? Tori slowly moved on. The teacher is right - the non-humans tightly captured this city, that's just ... that's just hatred for the big-nosed salesman wakagashira did not feel. His posture was too ordinary.
Café, Toys, Verbius Pharmacy… Tory stopped outside a small private pharmacy and read the real sign: “Classic tinctures. Drugs and herbs for all diseases. Erly drugs. Seems to be what you need. The Japanese resolutely opened the door.
- So how old do you say the baby is? - The owner, a gray-haired old man with quick black eyes, looked inquisitively at the visitor.
“Four years,” the woman replied. “I don’t know how he managed to catch a cold in such a heat.
- The usual thing, madam, the most common - laughed apothecary. - Four years ... - He rummaged through the boxes and laid out two paper bags on the counter. - Dilute the contents with hot cow's milk, give the child a drink and put him to bed. It will be as good as new in the morning.
"I don't know," the woman said, embarrassed. “I was thinking of buying something like Fervex.”
She looked around, but on the numerous shelves of the pharmacy there was not a single package of modern medicines, only powders in paper bags, ointments in jars, and bottles with multi-colored liquids. On the walls, behind the apothecary, were hung herbs that filled the room with a spicy and very pleasant smell.
“We don’t keep Ferveks,” the old man spread his hands. I only sell homemade medicines.
- That's it.
“Listen to what he says,” the old woman, who had been silently standing by the window, entered into the conversation. - Mr. Verbius has been running a pharmacy here for many years, and we have never been disappointed in his recipes.
- All my powders are based on natural herbs, - smiled the pharmacist. - No chemistry.
The woman looked hesitantly at the bags on the counter.
- Don't know…
- Let's agree so, - Verbius looked friendly at the customer. - Do you live nearby?
- Yes, my husband and I just moved to Lyalin Lane.
- That's wonderful. Take my powders and give them to the child. If they help, come in somehow and pay.
“Take it, my dear, and don’t hesitate,” the old woman nodded. - Believe me, you will never go to ordinary pharmacies again. Mr. Verbius, my ointment...
“I’ve been ready for a long time,” the old man put a small jar on the counter.
The pharmacist said goodbye to the women warmly and looked at Tori.
- How can I help?
- Not everyone believes that old recipes can be better than modern antibiotics, - the Japanese chuckled.
"It's hard for me to compete with television advertising," Verbius laughed. “Besides, my recipes are not suitable for industrial production.
- Too complex?
- Too good help.
Wakagashira was one hundred and one percent sure that he was talking to an inhuman, most likely an Erli, but again caught himself thinking that he was looking at the old man as if he were a person. Like an ordinary person. "Inhumans are cunning! he scolded himself. “Tell that to the old woman who has been coming to this pharmacy all her life.”
- So how can I help you?
"I want the blood of a snow monkey that was killed on the third full moon by decapitation," Tori answered softly. - Powdered unicorn tooth and two ounces of snowy owl ashes burned at dawn in the Last Arrow rite.
Verbius grunted and rubbed the bridge of his nose.
- Weird set. Ready for Blue Sky Balm?
- Vitamin cocktail according to grandfather's recipe. Helps with sciatica.
- Yes, you are a joker, dear. The apothecary tapped on the computer keyboard. - Are you a mercenary?
- Yes.
- How long have you been in the Secret City?
- Not good. - Tori thought and held out his right hand. - Ismail.
- Brother Verbius.
- Very nice.
“Damn! I didn't lie!" The grey-haired apothecary was indeed endearing. The same as the old fishmonger in the market in Tokyo, where little Tori ran in his time ...
- You are lucky, Ismail, I have everything you need. - Verbius went to the back room. - I will bring it now».
In addition to the Japanese, the Americans were drawn into the intrigue with the Chrysalis of last resort. FBI agents Sana Galli and Wolf Balder also come to Moscow. Gally is a fat black woman who thinks everyone is racist.
At that time, a fighting tournament was held in the Secret City, where both non-humans and golems performed - something like birobots. Secret City's worst family, the Red Caps, have lost their golem. They were ordered to find him immediately so as not to violate the secrecy regime. All that the Red Caps can do is to cause trouble and rob. But they get into trouble all the time. The Fuhrer rules them, and they obey the House of Man.
« Hearty lunch in a Russian restaurant topped with pancakes with caviar and a steamed decanter of vodka. Earflap cap with cockade of an imperial infantryman, bought from a talkative Arbat shopkeeper. They also purchased an Orenburg shawl, four matryoshka dolls and handicrafts from Khokhloma. After that, Sana considered the excursion program over, but Wolf suggested a little walk around the city, the crooked streets of which made an indelible impression on the American accustomed to straight streets. And the FBI, hung with packages, slowly wandered along the autumn lanes, inhaling the unique, slightly bitter aroma of the outgoing summer.
“I don’t understand what you can look at here,” Gally muttered, turning into another nook. - Not houses, but houses. And they are all so small, as if not real.
"It's the soul of the city," Balder answered softly. - The Kremlin, shops, avenues - the face. Travel postcard. The spirit of Moscow is hidden here.
- And why do you need it?
- Interesting.
"Psycho!" Sana shrugged her mighty shoulders and took another hamburger out of the bag. Despite a hearty lunch, she could not get past the McDonald's sign, familiar from childhood, and now she was walking around Moscow, rather munching on standard sandwiches.
- Wolf, isn't it time for us to return?
- It's not time.
- I'm bored.
- Enjoy while we're here.
- How?!
- An unfamiliar life.
Wolf, are you serious? - Gally even forgot to chew and, grimacing, swallowed a piece of sandwich whole.
"I am absolutely serious," Balder confirmed. - Think about it, Sana, just think about it: this city is older than our country. It was the capital hundreds of years before the Mayflower! How many secrets, how many mysteries can be kept by its stones!
- What other riddles! Gally chuckled, turning the Big Mac around. - Province! European garbage, and all the inhabitants are probably racists. Have you seen even one African-European policeman here? Wild place!!
- I am sure that we never learned a single Moscow secret. - Wolf did not hear the contemptuous remarks of his partner. - I have a feeling that we poked our foreheads into the gate, they gave us candy, and we, delighted, ran away. But in fact it was not a candy, but a kick in the ass.
For a couple of seconds, Gally, smeared with sauce, pondered the words of her partner, and then waved her hand:
- What secrets can there be, Wolf? This is not America!
- It's really not America.
Balder's voice remained even and calm. He was not at all surprised, as if he saw what he expected. But Sana, who had followed his gaze, could not help but let out an astonished cry.
- Oh my God!
A filthy green monster stared fearfully at Special Agent Gally from behind the branches of a thick bush.
- What is this? Sana breathed out.
"Someone's pet," Balder replied in an indifferent voice. - See the collar?
The monster half leaned out of the bushes, looked plaintively at the dumbfounded African-American woman, and tugged uncertainly at her bulky package.
- He's hungry!
Gally handed the half-eaten Big Mac to the green one and kept her eyes on the monster's actively working jaws.
Balder stroked the creature's bald head, it flinched but didn't move - there were still a lot of sandwiches in Sana's bag.
- What do we do?
- What can we do?
We must capture him!
Balder did not have time to answer.
- I found it!
- Not you, but me!
- Blah! Finally!
- I'll take my head off!
- Like, lucky!
- Someone, call the Fuhrer and say that we have found a golem. Let us not hang!
The green freak threw away the sandwich and rushed towards the Container with a squeal.
- Grammy!
A black square of a Mercedes appeared around the corner, and Sana and Wolf were surrounded by a dozen small, but very excited short men in leather pants and red bandanas.
- Hey, chelas, if you don't want to be known as jerks, keep quiet about what you saw. Agreed, blah?
"We are American citizens," Gally began uncertainly. - You have no right to detain us and cause us ...
Unfortunately, the speech of the brave African-American woman sounded on English language, and its meaning escaped the understanding of the savages. But the main thing came to them.
- Foreigners.
- Varangians, blah!
- The Bundes, - the educated Needle determined. “They are all blacks there.”
- The second, like, doesn't look like a black man, - the Container hugging the golem doubted.
- Reforged, bitch.
- It's good that these boobies turned out to be Poles, - decided Kopyto. They probably didn't understand what they saw. Hey, pasta, the world is friendship! Fershtein?
- La bamba bamba, el niño! - Igolka flaunted a complex phrase.
- Xi yu tumorrs! - summed up Kopyto. - Merry Christmas, freaks!
The Red Caps plunged into the jeep and took off abruptly, enveloping the FBI in a thick cloud of exhaust gases.
- What were they talking about? Sana whispered. - It's still four months before Christmas.
Wolf shook his head.
- I will learn Russian. Necessarily».
When you read The Secret City, it begins to seem as if all this is true, and miracles have settled in one house, and Red Caps in another. Moreover, they are robbing somewhere all the time, and mysterious murders are taking place somewhere. And what is remarkable: no one saw anything! Remember though the death of Berezovsky.
The novels have a strong intrigue. It's interesting to read them, but I don't like all of them. Firstly, Santiago wins in all intrigues. I think that Panov is suing him. Why does he love these dead so much (“nav” - the living dead in Russian folklore)? Why aren't the chelas leading?
The author's anti-Sovietism is also annoying. Guess who was the most terrible sorcerer-Hyperborean, the founder of the philosophy of hatred Kadaf, whose name was Azag-Toth (the novel "Concubines of Hatred")? It was Lenin! He lived until 1924 and only then died. And they did not bury him in the ground on purpose, so that he would not be reborn. The entrance to the Underworld is located in the Kremlin.
The Bolsheviks were influenced by the Navs in order to weaken the people. It was they who achieved the demolition of the Sukharev Tower, where the Keeper of the Black Book lived. Since then, the Guardian has been hiding here and there (Attack by the rules).
It's good that at least history is not too interested in Panov.
I don't like the bloodlust of the author either. Blood flows like a river. Terrible murders are committed, to which the author is completely tolerant. For example, the werewolf Anna, who conducts bloody orgies in the novel "All Shades of Black", in other novels (for example, "King's Cross") is already white and fluffy.
But in general, very entertaining. Until the author is exhausted. While he is interested in living and writing. As long as there is courage. The mood is conveyed to the reader.
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