The Auction
Author
Stunning literary debut
Brokeback Mountain meet Total Recall in this riveting debut that asserts the emergence a strong new literary voice in Russia’s young writers' scene. The Auction introduces a disturbing dystopian world, where souls have become a demanded trade item, with a poignant gay love story in its core.
Due to the legal bans of homosexual propaganda in Russia today, the published edition has been heavily censored by turning the complex gay relationship into a strong male bond. What we present to the international audiences is the original uncensored version.
In a world divided between the prospering City and the destitute Quarters the pursuit of eternal life has evolved into a booming industry.
At the centre of this world lies the City itself – affluent yet restrictive, safe and sterile to the point where swearing is a punishable offence. The City is encircled by a wall, beyond which sprawl the gritty and impoverished Quarters – free, wild and full of violence. Beyond Quarters are the Outskirts, with conditions so dire that people are forced to raise children for slaughter – upon reaching the age of 20, they are required to sell their soul.
These very souls are the City's foremost object of prestige-driven consumption, the primary substance of abuse, and the ultimate status game. A technology invented by the enigmatic scientist N. allows to transplant a soul from donor to recipient, where the recipient rejuvenates – while the donor dies. Yet once you embark on soul transplants, you enter a slippery slope, needing ever more transplants, each soul costing a fortune. And then there are side effects...
At the heart of it all stands the Auction House, selecting, selling, and transplanting souls – a focal point of the novel's intrigue revolving around main characters, each with an agenda and a quest of their own.
Varlam, an intellectual prodigy, plucked from the grim alleys of the Quarters and groomed by N. to helm the Soul Bank, is calling the shots. Learning of the identity of the next recipient he sees an opportunity to exact revenge on Adrian, the new King of the Quarters, responsible for his mother’s death. With a cold resolve, he plots to use the person closest to Adrian as a soul donor.
Adrian, born and raised in the inner circle of the King of the Quarters, has only recently seized the power. Outwardly a ruthless thug determined to claim a soul to solidify his rule, he is still just a damaged kid capable of deep feelings, carefully preserving a secret that shapes his every ambition and action, to protect his best friend and the love of his life.
Together with Dante, his advisor and a former City dweller with a personal score to settle with N., they plot to destroy the Auction House, hoping to dismantle N.’s monstrous empire.
Lisa, once a brilliant pianist from a wealthy City family, now lives in the shadow of her shattered dreams. Haunted by the death of her older sister, Lisa’s once-promising future was derailed by grief, leaving her with scars both visible and hidden. Fiercely idealistic and unwaveringly determined, she harbours a deep-seated contempt for the soul industry that dominates the City – a loathing that extends to Varlam, whom she blames for her sister’s tragic end.
As their intertwined quests for vengeance unfold, Varlam, Adrian, Dante and Lisa must confront the moral cost of their actions. In a world where the line between life and death is blurred, they grapple with whether revenge is worth losing their humanity.
In Never Let Me Go Ishiguro tells a story about the lives of donors raised for organ transplants. In The Auction, it's like we're reading the second part of the story: this time, about those who benefit from such donation. And it seems they aren't having it easy either.
– Yana Vanger, writer
Dozens of characters, seemingly unrelated at first, gradually intertwine in a complex web, revealing connections and relationships that ultimately form a cohesive picture. This is a true cosmos of characters, and creating such a tapestry is a formidable challenge, even for seasoned writers. Yet, Yana Moskalenko excels in this task in her debut novel. Her world is compelling, her characters linger in your mind, and – most importantly – love ultimately triumphs in the end."
– Marina Stepnova, writer
"The standout feature of Yana Moskalenko's novel The Auction is its scale and originality. Beneath the fantastic plot lies a rich tapestry of philosophical questions – concerning the ethical boundaries of new technologies, the capabilities of artificial intelligence, and its ongoing competition with the human mind. Yet, perhaps even more profoundly, the novel explores the limits of humanity itself, probing where the human experience truly ends and begins.
Exploring such complex issues can be daunting, yet Moskalenko skilfully sidesteps any pitfalls. The result is a captivating and compelling narrative that resonates on both aesthetic and substantive levels."
– Maya Kucherskaya, writer
In The Auction, a wealth of fresh, authentic passion and energy pulses through the narrative. Despite its minor imperfections, this vibrant flame propels us over the narrative’s bumps and twists; we are genuinely invested in uncovering the motives behind the avengers' quests for vengeance, the heartache of the hapless lover, and how they might extricate themselves from the labyrinthine predicament of their own making. We yearn for their happiness, and when it eludes some of them, we feel their anguish.
Within The Auction lies a complex and expansive story that, crucially, converges with a graceful precision. Only in hindsight do we recognize the absence of romantic air that surrounds it. This novel brims with an extraordinary vitality, setting it apart from the many others – pristine yet anaemic – that populate the landscape of contemporary Russian literature.
– Galina Yuzefovich, literary critic
Book details
AST
Novel, 2024
444 pp
Rights sold
All rights available
Literary awards
Coming soon