''The Diamond Chariot'' (russian: Алмазная Колесница, the Russian term for the "
Diamond Vehicle" (''kongōjō'') school of
Tantric Buddhism
Vajrayāna ( sa, वज्रयान, "thunderbolt vehicle", "diamond vehicle", or "indestructible vehicle"), along with Mantrayāna, Guhyamantrayāna, Tantrayāna, Secret Mantra, Tantric Buddhism, and Esoteric Buddhism, are names referring t ...
) is a historical mystery novel by internationally acclaimed
Russian detective story writer
Boris Akunin, published originally in 2003. It is the tenth novel in Akunin's
Erast Fandorin
Erast Petrovich Fandorin (russian: Эраст Петрович Фандорин) is a fictional 19th-century Russian detective and the hero of a series of Russian historical detective novels by Boris Akunin.
The first Fandorin novel (''The Winte ...
series of
historical detective novels. As with all of the other Fandorin novels, ''The Diamond Chariot'' was hugely successful in Russia, selling out its first printing of 200,000 copies in a week.
A champion for the bourgeoisie: reinventing virtue and citizenship in Boris Akunin's novels , National Interest, The , Find Articles at BNET.com
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''The Diamond Chariot'' is available in English since September 2011 from Orion Books, translated by Andrew Bromfield
Andrew Bromfield is a British editor and translator of Russian works. He is a founding editor of the Russian literature journal ''Glas'', and has translated into English works by Boris Akunin, Vladimir Voinovich, Irina Denezhkina, Victor Pelevin, ...
.
Overview
The novel consists of two volumes. In the first one, Dragonfly-Catcher—set in Russia during the Russo-Japanese War in 1905, Fandorin Fandorin is a fictitious Russian surname in the novels of Boris Akunin. Series protagonists include:
* Erast Fandorin
Erast Petrovich Fandorin (russian: Эраст Петрович Фандорин) is a fictional 19th-century Russian detective a ...
is charged with protecting the Trans-Siberian Railway from Japanese sabotage. In the second volume, ''Between the Lines''—set in Japan in 1878 and 1879, the story of Fandorin's arrival and life in Yokohama is told, including the encounter with his servant
A domestic worker or domestic servant is a person who works within the scope of a residence. The term "domestic service" applies to the equivalent occupational category. In traditional English contexts, such a person was said to be "in service ...
Masa and finding a Ninjutsu teacher.
The first volume is structured as a haiku, with each chapter corresponding to a syllable, while in the second part, a haiku is placed at the end of each chapter.
Adaptation
* In 2012, the author, Boris Akunin has announced in his own blog that the book will be adapted into TV series, that will be produced by Central Partnership. Sergey Ursulyak is set to direct the series.
References
External links
Etext
in Russian, of ''The Diamond Chariot''
Review
{{DEFAULTSORT:Diamond Vehicle, The
2003 novels
Novels by Boris Akunin
Novels set in Russia
Fiction set in 1905
Novels set in Japan
Fiction set in 1878
Fiction set in 1879
21st-century Russian novels
Russian historical novels
Russian detective novels
Japan in non-Japanese culture