Sports romance and urban fantasy: a review of spring book novelties

A good family library has books for dad, mom, and kids that match everyone’s interests. And regularly the bookshelves should be replenished with novelties. You can find the latest works from all publishers at the non/fictio spring intellectual literature fair, which runs from April 4 to 7 in Gostiny Dvor. We have chosen 10 new books for every member of the family: from “Chinese Physics” to “The Adventures of Neznayka”.

Santiago Posteguillo, “Rome is Me.”

Spanish writer, philologist, linguist Santiago Posteguillo has written a historical novel about the great ruler of Rome – Gaius Julius Caesar, who turned from a defender of the people into a dictator. The author was inspired by the case against the unscrupulous senator Dolabella, former governor of Macedonia, in which Caesar was the prosecutor. He faced a corrupt court, a powerful opponent, and the young man failed.

However, having lost, he won much more – he was recognized by the masses for the first time and started his way in the political arena. Postegillo got a real judicial thriller about Caesar in the best traditions of John Grisham, unfolding in the realities of ancient Rome.

Maria Semyonova, “Brothers. Book 3. Tomorrow’s Tsar. Volume 1.”

Maria Semyonova is one of the most important Russian authors in the fantasy genre. She stood at the origins of “Slavic fantasy”, her books have been published in multi-million copies. The cycle about Volkodav from the family of Gray Dogs acquired an army of fans, and its prequel “Brothers” became no less popular.

“Tomorrow’s King” is the long-awaited continuation of this prequel. The winter that has befallen the world has lasted for a very long time, the snowstorms are becoming fiercer, and the frosts are merciless. The Tsarevich passes the next tests, proving that he is worthy to rule his father’s city. And the incognito of the true heir to the throne, who has become a knight, is revealed. The voivode orders him to follow to Shegardai to finally clarify the order of succession to the throne.

Ekaterina Shumayeva, “Shards of Ice”

Ekaterina Shumaeva is a contemporary author of Young Adult literature who tackles topics of interest to teens and adults alike in her novels. Her new book in the sports romance genre is a cozy story about growing up, first love, and true friendship.

Timur and Kira grew up together. They were born on the same day, their moms are friends, and their apartments are located on the same landing. All their childhood they attended the same Ice Palace, where Kira practiced figure skating and Timur practiced hockey. They crossed paths so often in their lives that they managed to bore each other, but what happened at the graduation party changed everything.

Nikolai Nosov, “The Adventures of Neznayka and His Friends” (three-dimensional pictures)

Russia celebrates the Year of Nosov, because last November was the 115th anniversary of the birth of the famous children’s writer and storyteller, and this year – readers will celebrate the 70th anniversary of the first publication of the funny story about short people from the Flower City.

“The Adventures of Neznayka and his friends” – a classic of children’s literature, on which more than one generation of children grew up. It teaches kindness, mutual assistance, true friendship and the ability to get out of the most unpredictable situations with humor. The main character of Nosov’s books – brave, funny and charming Neznayka – became a friend to many children and gave a lot of positive minutes for a fascinating reading about his adventures.

Carlo Rovelli, “Anaximander and the Birth of Science”

In the new book of the Italian scientist-physicist, a specialist in the field of quantum gravity combines knowledge about the cosmos and philosophy. The author turns to the figure of the ancient Greek philosopher Anaximander, who three millennia ago laid the foundations of scientific thought.

The disciple of Thales argued that the Earth “floats” in the void, animals appeared in the process of evolution, storms and earthquakes are natural, not supernatural, and, most importantly, the world should be analyzed in terms of natural sciences, not metaphysics. In doing so, he laid the foundation for cosmology, physics, geography, meteorology, and biology. Carlo Rovelli ranks the philosopher alongside Newton, Galileo, and Einstein and argues that his insights have had a seminal influence on the history of science.

Yurat Musin, “Chinese Physics. Was Traditional Science Ahead of the West?”

Yurat Musin is a PhD candidate in physics and mathematics, a lecturer at the MAI, and the author of a number of textbooks and monographs. His new book is devoted to Chinese physics, how scientific thought developed in the West and the East.

In it, the scientist reflects on why in the history of science so many European physicists, but almost unknown Chinese, why China until the beginning of the New Age, without discovering physical laws, led in all technical areas and what role played the Chinese mentality in the analysis of quantum mechanics.

Valeria Antero, “Whispers of Our Souls.”

An urban fantasy about demons, angels, forbidden love, tangled love triangles, betrayal, friendship, revenge and forgiveness. The plot centers on 17-year-old Vicky, who has a unique gift. She can see among people eaters – the descendants of demons who feed on human souls, but outwardly do not differ from ordinary passers-by.

The girl dreams of becoming a hunter of them, joining a secret Order, whose purpose is to protect people. One day she goes hunting, skipping school, and faces the strongest opponent. But she is saved by a mysterious stranger who, as if by magic, appeared out of nowhere.

Gabriel Garcia Marquez, “See you in August.”

This book can be called a literary event, because it is the last novel of the great Colombian writer, first published in Russian at the same time as the whole world. His way to the reader was long and difficult, the state of Marquez’s health did not allow him to finish the story. Ten years later, his sons, having reread the text, decided to publicize the work of the classic.

Dizzying, joyful and sensual novel about hidden desires and passions, about a woman that every August comes to a resort island in the Caribbean Sea, was an unexpected gift for fans of the writer’s work. The plot unfolds against the background of fashionable hotels and beggar huts of local residents.

Tom Stoppard, “Leopoldstadt.”

“Leopoldstadt” is a 2019 play by British playwright Tom Stoppard, based on his personal story. Stoppard, who was raised by an English stepfather, was long unaware of his Jewish roots and the fact that his family perished in concentration camps.

At the center of the story is Hermann Mertz, an Austrian citizen and a successful businessman, the soul of a noisy, friendly and happy family, which fell on the share of many historical upheavals of the twentieth century. With the heroes of this story readers will have to pass the First and Second World Wars, Anschluss, the Holocaust and bitter sobering postwar years.

Sergei Kozlov, “How the Lion and the Turtle sang a song. Soyuzmultfilm.”

Legendary publishing house “Malysh”, one of the oldest on the book market, this year celebrates 67 years. It published famous writers who today make up the golden fund of children’s literature. Recently, the publishing house acquired from the film studio “Soyuzmultfilm” rights to the images of the heroes loved by millions and plans to publish books on the most popular works of the studio as part of the series “Golden Collection of Soyuzmultfilm”.

The new series started just with the book “How the Lion cub and the Turtle sang a song” by Sergey Kozlov’s script. It includes the tale of how the funny Lion cub saw the Big Turtle, heard its song and could not pass by, and, of course, drawings from the cartoon.