Fantasy is a fairy tale for adults who again want to feel like children. And humorous fantasy is a story for those who especially lack joy and kindness in everyday life.
Andrei Belyanin, author of the book “Aargh in the Elven”, is just a great specialist in writing funny, interesting and a bit sad tales.
about the author
Andrei Olegovich Belyanin was born in Astrakhan, which is famous for its multicultural population. You can easily guess the author’s love for his native city if you read the novel “Taste of the Vampire”. The future writer was born on January 24, 1967. Father is a simple worker, mother is an employee of a medical institution.
After eight years, Andrei Belyanin entered the Astrakhan Art College. Vlasova. In the fourth year I became interested in writing poetry. He served two years in the border troops on the border with Turkey.
In 1994, Belyanin was admitted to the Union of Writers of Russia - at that time he had three authorial poetry collections and fairy tales, "Red and Striped," as well as the Order of Porcelain Knights.
In 1995, he began to collaborate with the ARMADA publishing house. He worked as a teacher at the school, headed the local branch of the Writers' Union and the literary studio. Has the rank of esaul. He lived in Moscow and St. Petersburg, but at the moment the main place of residence is the city of Astrakhan.
Andrei Belyanin is a laureate and nominee of many literary prizes. The most significant of them:
- “RosCon” - science fiction of the year, 2013, laureate;
- "Star Bridge" - a fan-do master, 1st place, 2000, laureate;
- Aelita Prize - 2017, laureate.
For the first part of the “Aargkh” trilogy, Andrei Belyanin (“Aargkh in the Elven” - the second book) was nominated in 2007 from the magazine “Fantasy World” in the sections “Best Russian Fantasy” and “Book of the Year”. In the first nomination, Maria Semenova passed him with the work “Where the Forest Does Not Grow.” According to the second - Yuri Burnosov with the book "There are no monsters."
The best books of Andrei Belyanin
"Aargh in the Elf" is not the best work of the writer. Readers love his early works more. The greatest number of fans in the trilogy “Sword without a name” (1997-1998) - these books consistently fall into the list of the best domestic fantasy. In addition to this cycle, according to regular readers and critics, it is especially worth highlighting the following works of Andrei Belyanin:
- Dilogy “My wife is a witch” (1990-2001) - the poetry gift of the writer is especially evident in these works.
- “The Secret Investigation of Tsar Gorokh” (1999-2017) - 10 books saturated with Belyanin’s signature humor. A hilarious detective about the hard life of a police officer in fairytale Russia. It is believed that the last two books of the series were not as good as the previous ones.
- “Professional Werewolf” (2002-2007), co-authored with Galina Chernaya. Two brilliant employees of the detective agency, one of which has a chic tail, take custody of a student bitten by a werewolf. After the main tetralogy, many stories were written.
- “Taste of the Vampire” (2003) is a novel about vampires living in the city of Astrakhan and their difficult, sometimes murderous, relationship.
- “Jack is the Crazy King” (1996-1999) - the first part of the trilogy was a kind of debut of the writer as a successful author of the publishing house “ARMADA”.
The book “Aargkh in Elfyatnik” was not included in this list, as well as many other very worthy works of the author. The last book released by Andrei Belyanin is the fourth novel of the Border of the cycle entitled The Honor of the White Wolf (2018).
Trilogy "Aargkh"
"Aargh in the Elven" is the second part of the Aargh trilogy. Here is the complete list of books in this series:
- "Aargkh" (2007) - a mixture of humorous and heroic fantasy with a half-man-half-troll as the main character.
- "Aargh in the Elf" (2009) - the second part of the epoch-making campaign of the team of heroes.
- “Aarg on the Throne” (2010) - the final part.
Book One - Aargkh
In the first novel, the reader is introduced to the half-human half-troll, that is, the arkh. He is also called the Kid. Outwardly, he is a pile of muscles, and most intelligent creatures see in him only a dumb guard who can be hired for his needs. But the Kid is more likely an intellectual, preferring to read a book in his spare time, and in the presence of the employer to keep quiet and occasionally menacingly growl.
The kid is hired by Earl Ashley, who was sent to carry out the "important and secret elven mission." Further, other heroes join the team, and adventures await them on the way to the goal.
In fact, this is another novel in the favorite genre of Andrei Belyanin - an ironic fantasy detective story. Only instead of fairy-tale Russia, as in The Secret Investigation ..., motifs of classical European fantasy are mercilessly exploited here, and as characters there are gnomes, elves, trolls and other recognizable creatures.
"Aargh in the Elf"
The plot of the first book is further developed. A half-troll nicknamed Kid still travels with a team of friends, fighting off numerous enemies. In addition, the aargkh unexpectedly becomes a mentor for a flock of elven children.
Belyanin did not forget about the love line that began in the first part: the Kid is still hoping for a relationship with the most ugly mercenary.
“Aargkh in Elfyatnik” is such a humorous fantasy western, with gatherings in zucchini, scuffle, and other characteristic features. And this differs from the first book of the trilogy, in which the detective line prevailed.
"Aarg on the throne"
In the final part, the half-troll decides to restore justice and goes to an audience with the king. He is still accompanied by faithful comrades and an army of enemies. But in the end, everything will end more than well.
If you express an opinion on the whole trilogy as a whole, then it has many parallels with other well-known literary works. So, common features with Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson are clearly traced, only here Kid and Earl Ashley act as a detective duet. The aargkh itself is most similar to the character of the famous cartoon - Shrek. The books have common features with The Lord of the Rings, as well as the Simon Green series The Dark Side, in so far as the ugly mercenary is concerned.
Plus Review
Andrei Belyanin’s book “The Arch in the Elven” is difficult to evaluate in isolation from the entire series. So let's try to give a general assessment, especially since all three parts are written at the same level and have approximately the same rating.
In general, the author once again turned out a solid novel. Perhaps not the best, but the reader will not be disappointed either. The plot of the books is fascinating, the characters, although typical, but interesting, and a pinch of philosophical reasoning only added depth to the text.
“Aarg in the Elven” is a good book, very suitable to unwind a bit, laugh, and get a little outdone for the heroes.
Why fans of Andrei Belyanin were disappointed
Some fans doubted whether Andrei Belyanin was really the author of Aargha in the Elven. In principle, there is no such successful writer who, sooner or later, is not beginning to be accused of using black literature.
But here the author is clearly innocent of all charges. This book has all the characteristic tricks that the writer uses: his corporate humor and syllable, so that critics say that there are no doubts about authorship.
And yet, some admirers of Belyanin's work were disappointed. Books, as can be understood from the reviews, did not have enough gloss, some more elaboration. It's not that the books are so terrible or bad, it's just that Andrei Belyanin, as the flagship of Russian fantasy, expected an impeccable masterpiece. Then he wrote the usual good book.
To read or not to read?
To read or not to read “Aargha in the Elven”? Andrei Belyanin is a recognized writer who has no bad works. All of his individual novels and series are quite readable - they are interesting, kind, with intricate humor and funny characters.
As for "Aargha in the Elf," this book, like the entire series, was underestimated. This is a very multi-layered thing - it in itself is a parody of the entire fantasy genre, and all characters and situations are a collective parody of famous literary and cartoon characters. The only truly grounded claim to the author is the secondary nature of the plot. But in everything else, Andrei Belyanin, as always, is at his best and wrote another very good, kind, funny and a little sad tale. So it is definitely worth reading, at least in order to make up your own opinion about the cycle.