Boris Akunin Books In Order

Publication Order of Erast Fandorin Mysteries Books

Publication Order of Sister Pelagia Mysteries Books

Publication Order of Standalone Plays

Boris Akunin is a Russian writer, whose name is now well-known all over the world due to his undeniable talent. His books have been translated into dozens of languages, and a lot of his novels have already been filmed. His real name is George Chkhartishvili and he uses two more pseudonyms – Anna Borisova and Anatoliy Brusnikin, however, Boris Akunin is his most famous one.

1. The Early Years of Boris Akunin

George, or Boris, was born in 1956 in the Jewish family of his father, who was an artillery officer, and his mother, who had dedicated almost her entire life to the study and teaching of the Russian language and literature.

Despite the fact that his native city was a small Caucasian town of Zestafoni, already in 1958, when Boris was only two years old, his family moved to Moscow. There, he attended a high school, which was characterized by an in-depth study of the English language and after graduation he began to study the history at the philology department of Moscow State University.

Japanese and Asian influences are easily distinguishable in almost all the works of Boris Akunin. After graduating he received a diploma of Japanologist, and the future writer began working as an English-Japanese translator. At that time, he had been involved in the translation of a whole lot of books of such famous writers as Masahiko Shimada, Yukio Mishima, Shohei Ooka, Yasushi Inoue, Kenji Maruyama and many others. In addition, Boris had a hand in the creation of Russian-language adaptations of novels by Malcolm Bradbury and Peter Ustinov.

During this period, Boris Akunin studied the style of other authors, as well as nurtured his own plans to create literary works. In 1994 he was appointed a chief editor of “Foreign Literature” publishing house and began working on a twenty volume edition of “Anthology of Japanese Literature.” In addition, with the support of well-known George Soros Foundation he started working on a large-scale project of “Pushkin Library”.

In 2005 he was awarded an honorary diploma of the Japanese Foreign Ministry for his contribution to the development of Russian-Japanese relations. The reason for the award was the 150th anniversary of the establishment of bilateral relations between Japan and Russia. On April 29, 2009 he became a Knight of the Order of the Rising Sun of the fourth degree. The ceremony took place on May 20th at the Japanese Embassy in Moscow.

The author keeps his current personal life under tight wraps and not much is known, but his first wife was a lady from Japan. Her name, as well as an indication of her activity is unknown as of yet. The couple had spent about four years together. Currently, B. Akunin is happily married to a woman named Erica Ernestovna – she works as a proofreader and translator. They have no children.

2. The Works of Boris Akunin

In 1998, for the first time he begins to write his own novel. Later these works get published under the pseudonym B. Akunin. It is worth noting that the transcript of the “B” as “Boris” occurs much later, when the writer starts to give interviews and his popularity quickly grows. On the other hand, the surname “Akunin” means “a scoundrel.” This fact can be found in Akunin’s novel “The Diamond Chariot”, spelled out by one of the characters.

However, his first novel “The Writer and the Suicide,” which was already completed in 1997, was published only two years later and under his real name of George Chkhartishvili. His first novel published under the pseudonym “Boris Akunin” was an acclaimed best-seller “Azazel”. This success has allowed the writer to leave his old job and devote himself entirely to the literary work. As a result, the following years had seen the release of three new books by Boris Akunin – “Turkish Gambit,” “Leviathan,” and “The Death of Achilles.” The unifying element of all these works was the personality of the protagonist – Erast Fandorin, who would later become one of the author’s regular characters, moving from one book to another.

In the year 2000 Akunin introduces two new series of novels – “The Adventures of Master” and “Provincial Detective,” in which a nun named Pelagia becomes the central character. In the subsequent years of the author’s career he tries to find new genres and mix new features in his works, which are clearly distinguishable as a series of “new detective” stories.

3. Erast Fandoring – Boris Akunin’s Most Famous Character

Erast Fandorin is a detective hero, who embodies the ideal of the aristocracy of the 19th century – he is noble, well-educated, loyal, and, of course, very charismatic. His impeccable manners make him very successful among the ladies, and he is extraordinarily lucky in gambling.

In his books Akunin allows his characters to influence historical events in an unexpected turnover of events. Novels involving Erast Fandorin require a young detective to deal with the mysterious “Moebius”. This name appears as a reference to some secondary characters, but sometimes this is just the name and the sign of the company, for example, an insurance office. Whoever stands as the “Mobius” they’re always influencing the events behind the scenes, which makes it one of the most intriguing elements in Akunin’s novels.

In the first and most popular novel about Erast Fandorin – Azazel – he is introduced as only a twenty year old, but lucky, fearless, noble and attractive young man. Young Fandorin works as a clerk in the police department, but in the line of his duty he is faced with a confusing affair. A case involving a strange suicide of the heir to a large fortune needs to be investigated. It leads Fandorin to some major underground organization, which is involved with some very influential people.

In “Turkish Gambit”, the second most famous novel by Boris Akunin, Russian Empire takes part in the Russian-Turkish war. A young girl from St. Petersburg is sent into a war zone. It starts as a cheerful adventure travel, but then, due to a series of unfortunate events, the lady finds herself alone in a roadside inn. There she meets a young man – Erast Fandorin. They continue their path together from there on and meet some dangerous people on their way home.

Both Azazel and Turkish Gambit have been filmed and proved to be extremely successful productions on their own. Three more films have been made from the novels of Boris Akunin, the last of which titled “The Spy,” was released in 2012.