The Tsar Love and Techno is a collection of short stories where characters’ lives are intersected. The first story, “The Leopard,” involves a man called Roman Markin, whose job is censorship artiste. Markin works for the Communist Party. Markin has been tasked to airbrush Stalin’s photos and deletes those belonging to rivals. Vaska, Markin’s brother, has been deemed an enemy because he has refuted any attempt to lure him from leaving his religion. However, Markin betrays him, and, eventually, Vaska passes away. The second story, “Granddaughters,” involves Galina, a successful dancer who eventually becomes Miss Siberia. Galina is entangled in a love triangle involving Kolya, his true love, and a wealthy Russian Oligarch, who marries her.
“The Grozny Tourist Bureau” is also a short story in this book whose main character is Ruslan. Ruslan meets and befriends Nadya, an artist restorer, whose dissertation revolved around Markin’s work. Ruslan’s tourist project falls short of expectations, and his boss gives him one more chance to conduct a tour of Galina and her husband. “The Tsar of Love and Techno,” with which this book is named, is another interesting story involving Vera. Vera causes the death of her mother and her daughter. Generally, the collection of these short stories features characters who are interconnected.
Betrayal and death take center stage of central themes of this book. Roman Markin, the censor artist, betrays his blood brother, who is deemed an enemy of the Communism state. Vera also sets her mother up with authorities, who later kill her. The book’s juxtaposition of whimsy and tragedy shows the consequences of politics and war.
