Red Corner

What if Russia had turned westward instead of east? One woman's defiance could change the fate of a nation. Red Corner is a gripping alternate history set in the fractured, war-torn lands of medieval Rus. The year is 1470, and the powerful Grand Duchy of Muscovy threatens to dominate the region. But in the north, the fiercely independent city-state of Novgorod refuses to bow. Marta Boretskaya, Novgorod's formidable mayor, has just achieved the impossible—defeating Muscovite forces in battle. Yet Ivan III, Grand Prince of Moscow, will not forgive the insult. Facing annihilation, Marta turns to the West, forging a desperate alliance with the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. A political marriage to Prince Olelkovich may be Novgorod's last hope to resist the rising tide of Eastern imperialism. Meanwhile, Ivan III schemes to marry Sophia Paleologos, niece of the last Byzantine emperor, to position Muscovy as the heir to Rome—and the shield of Christendom against the Ottoman advance. Murder, betrayal, political intrigue, and forbidden love unfold in this richly imagined reworking of Russian history—where every choice could change the future of Europe. Perfect for fans of Robert Harris, Guy Gavriel Kay, and alternate history epics, Red Corner explores the road not taken in the making of Russia.