Oprichnik

Vladimir Sorokin

In near-future Moscow, where autocracy has returned with a vengeance, Andrei Danilovich Komiaga—an elite member of the Oprichnina—moves through his assigned rituals of power, obedience, and fear. Framed by a recurring dream of a dazzling white stallion that seems to hold life, destiny, and good fortune, the novel unfolds as a single day that exposes how ideology, violence, and bureaucracy fuse into everyday life. With razor-edged satire and unsettling precision, the story follows Komiaga as he navigates loyalty tests and moral compromises, revealing the machinery behind “order” and the human cost of compliance. Sorokin’s distinctive, provocative style turns dystopian spectacle into a chilling meditation on control, fate, and the performance of authority.