The Diamond Chariot

infobox Book |
name = The Diamond Chariot
title_orig = Алмазная Колесница
translator =
author = Boris Akunin
country = Russia
language = Russian
series = Erast Fandorin
genre = Historical, Mystery, Novel
publisher = Zakharov
release_date = 2003
pages = 720
isbn = ISBN 5-8159-0388-4
preceded_by = The Lover of Death
followed_by = Jade Rosary Beads

"The Diamond Chariot" (Russian: Алмазная Колесница, the Russian term for the "Diamond Vehicle" ("kongōjō") school of Tantric Buddhism) is a historical mystery novel by internationally acclaimed Russian detective story writer Boris Akunin, published originally in 2003. It is the tenth novel in Akunin's Erast Fandorin series of detective novels. As with all of the other Fandorin novels, "The Diamond Chariot" was hugely successful in Russia, selling out its first printing of 200,000 copies in a week. [ [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2751/is_75/ai_n6076395 A champion for the bourgeoisie: reinventing virtue and citizenship in Boris Akunin's novels | National Interest, The | Find Articles at BNET.com ] ]

"The Diamond Chariot" is not yet available in English. If translations continue to come out at the current rate of one per year (the fourth and fifth novels in the Fandorin series appeared in January 2006 and 2007, and the sixth, "The State Counsellor", is scheduled for 2008), "The Diamond Chariot" will be published in English in 2012.

The novel consists of two volumes. In the first one, set in Russia during the Russo-Japanese War in 1905, Fandorin is charged with protecting the Trans-Siberian Railway from Japanese sabotage.In the second volume, set in Japan in 1878 and 1879, the story of Fandorin's arrival and life in Yokohama is told, including the encounter with his servant Masa and finding a Ninjutsu teacher.

The first volume is structured as a haiku, with each chapter corresponding to a syllable, while in the second part, a haiku is placed at the end of each chapter.

References and external links

* [http://www.lib.ru/RUSS_DETEKTIW/BAKUNIN/kolesnica.txt Etext] , in Russian, of "The Diamond Chariot"
* [http://eli.thegreenplace.net/2004/10/13/book-review-diamond-chariot-by-boris-akunin/ Review]