Finist – the clear falcon

This is an oral tale. It was never written down in letters. In the times described here, letters had not yet been invented. A small girl named Mar’ya traveled the entire land and reached the sky in search of her... beloved — his name was Finist, and he was not a human. No one believed she would find him, but everyone helped. In those times, everyone helped each other — otherwise, it was impossible to survive. In those times, ancient snakes, mavkas, kikimoras, shishigis, anchutkas, leshys, and werewolves lived alongside humans. Three men loved Mar’ya, without any hope of reciprocity. One protected her, another brought her to the edge of the earth, and the third carried her to the sky. Because of one small girl, the whole world shifted and almost came off its axis. Nothing but love can move the world. Many plot lines, an astonishingly crafted language from each of the three Ivans-narrators, and you turn the pages, waiting for everything to intertwine… Probably, I would like to create a soundtrack for such a book. Natalia O'Shea, founder and soloist of the band Melnitsa A complex yet beautifully arranged fairy tale, an archetypal fantasy that turns the laws of the genre inside out. The multi-layered work with Slavic mythology here is not limited to retelling Afanasyev, Dal, Propp, and Frazer — but opens up abysses where the spirit, later identified as Russian, was born and survived. Shamil Idiatullin, writer A novel about the power of love, a novel-incantation, “Finist” captivates with its unique rhythm. There, buffoons beat drums, compose jests, and argue about the kolovrat, there, warriors bring offerings, there, women twist faceless dolls and wipe the iron staff off into dust… There is the source of today, Rubanov managed to find it, that’s why “Finist” resonates in the heart. A very strong, beautiful, and unexpected novel. Natalia Lomykina, literary critic