Solongo: The Mystery of the Lost Expedition

Eugeny Rudashevsky’s new book begins like a quest-room problem, and then manages to turn into a chase novel, a detective story, a tale of pioneers and traitors, and a parable about curiosity as a great driving force. As the heroes have no idea how far they’ll go, so too do the readers—how the plot will lead them into such distances. Ten people set off on a long journey, each with their own goal: Sergei Nikolayevich—for an exciting article; Marina Viktorovna—for their missing father; their 14-year-old son Artyom—for the first real adventure that Grandpa would certainly approve of. But what are they going for, what do Professor Tyurin and the Nagiyev brothers want, their stern father Fyodor Kuzmich, and especially the silent giant Jambul with his daughter Solongo? A person’s soul sometimes holds no fewer riddles than distant mountains—Artyom understands it right away. The rest he’ll have to ponder for a long time.

Viktor Kayumovich Korchagin had disappeared before: he would go on yet another expedition to places where no one had been for a century—while his family waited for him for weeks and months. Now he’s been missing for more than a year—too long even by the standards of old Korchagin. And his little house is full of strange clues: you can find me by following such-and-such a trail—not only me, but also something extremely valuable… “Gold!”—some will be delighted. “Something more important than gold,”—others will think.