Saturday, June 5, 2010

Android Karenina Review

Leo Tolstoy the acclaimed author of War and Peach and Ben Winters co-author of Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters team up to bring you Android Karenina.

I was asked to review this book by Quirk Classics and I am pleased and excited to do this. I happen to LOVE Anna Karenina and Leo Tolstoy so I was more than excited to try my hand with this book. My favorite line in the original is the first line of the book - "Happy families are all alike, unhappy families are each unhappy in their own way." I've also seen it used with "dysfunctional families" which I like better. I grabbed that quote from the free version I downloaded to my Amazon Kindle for PC. Android Karenina changes it just a little, and here's a taste of what is to come as well. "Functioning robots are all alike; every malfunctioning robot malfunctions in its own way."


Every bit of this story is tweaked with robots in place of servants. Each person has their own Class III robot which is also called a "beloved companion" as they shadow their humans in every part of their lives. There is also some action included via the UnConSciya - which is a group of rogue scientists that are against the ministry and the plans they have for technology.


Within all that we still have the story of Anna Karenina. There really are 3 or really 4 stories within this book. We have Stepan (Stiva) Oblonsky and his wife, Dolly; Levin, Stiva's friend, who is in love with Kitty, sister to Dolly; Anna Karenina, sister to Stiva and Vlonsky who was wooing Kitty and broke her heart to chase Anna. Anna is married to Alexei Karenin but also falls in love with Vlonsky. There are good times, bad times and all of it so real to the human condition.


If you have read Anna Karenina, you may enjoy this book. But I recommend reading it as it's own story and not comparing it to the original. I found it distracting when I kept trying to remember the original happenings. If you love science fiction, you will LOVE this book. It's really well researched and written to include robots and space travel. Enough of the orignal story is there that really it will be pleasing to almost anyone who reads it.


Now as an added bonus to all of my readers if you follow the link below you merely mention where you read the review and give some information and you will be entered in to win one of 25 prize packs which include the following prizes:



  • Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls by Steve Hockensmith


  • How to Survive a Horror Movie by Seth Grahame-Smith


  • Dracula's Heir: An Interactive Mystery by Sam Stall


  • Extreme Encounters by Greg Emmanuel


  • How to Tell if Your Boyfriend is The Antichrist by Patricia Carlin


  • An Android Karenina Poster


  • And MORE!!!

Merely click here to visit Quirk Classics and tell them where you read this review.


I was not paid for this review, I was sent an early copy to read and to review.

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