Vladimir Sorokin has created a horrifying and all-too-plausible Russia of the near future in which an all-powerful king uses a cadre of enforcers, the oprichnina, combined with technology to rule and crush dissent. The combination of Middle Ages religiousity, killing squads, and surveillance is a potent one for keeping the population in check. The day of the oprichnik may not have arrived, but this 2006 novel, translated into English in 2011 and set in 2024, appears to have judged the timing about right.
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