Having successfully negotiated with the famous Russian artist Leonid Stroganov to obtain the reprint rights to Wise Men II for Wizard Academy (Wise-ard Academy,) Ambassador Hackett-Jones will now begin a series of 6 book reviews to help us understand the Russian mindset. – Indiana Beagle

Starting at the top, and bearing in mind a visit to St Petersburg… EPISODE 1

I would recommend skipping Dostoevsky’s Brothers Karamazov, and instead focusing on Crime & Punishment. It is one of the great Petersburg novels, the locations are all real and still exist, and we will almost certainly include some of them in a tour of the city. And it’s fantastically gruesome, both in its actions, and in its psychology. The Big D did of course write tonnes of other Petersburg novels – The Idiot being one which has a renowned café named after it, and well worth a read, but if time is tight, then C&P is your book.