Original title Алмазная Колесница Series Erast Fandorin Publication date 2003 Originally published 2003 Page count 720 Country Russia | Language Russian Publisher Zakharov Pages 720 Genre Historical mystery Preceded by He Lover of Death | |
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The Diamond Chariot (Russian: Алмазная Колесница, the Russian term for the "Diamond Vehicle" (kongōjō) school of Tantric Buddhism) 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 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.
Contents
The Diamond Chariot is available in English since September 2011 from Orion Books, translated by Andrew Bromfield.
Overview
The novel consists of two volumes. In the first one, Dragonfly-Catcher—set in Russia during the Russo-Japanese War in 1905, Fandorin 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 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.