Sunday 28 February 2010

Sacred Book of the Werewolf by Victor Pelevin, 100 word review



Russian literary star Pelevin’s fifth novel concerns a kind of kitsune, a fox spirit thousands of years old, who works as a high class prostitute in contemporary Russia (but only ‘hypnotises’ her clients into thinking they’re getting their money’s worth). A series of careless mistakes leads her to encounter her charismatic counterpart, a werewolf/high-ranking military officer, and they immediately engage in energetic half-human, half-beast sex and equally passionate philosophical debate. This ain’t no Twilight-grade anaemic fantasy - much of the book is engagingly bizarre socio-political riffing, topped with spiritualism, occultism and satire. It’s funny too.

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