FOREWORD

Vladimir Vladimirovich Puting, without question, ranks as one of the greatest speculative fiction authors of our generation. From the bustling bookshops in London to the global Thames online store, one can’t scroll or stroll for too long without coming across a work by Vlad Puting (best known to his legions of fans as the ‘P-Man’ or ‘VVP’). Given the remarkable events of his life, his status as international bestseller was never assured, but well deserved.

How did a former Rus Imperial soldier escape from what was once known as the Rus Empire and make his mark? First here in the United Kingdom of Great Britain, Iceland, and Ireland, and then the wider world. By what means can one man turn the speculative fiction scene upside down and build hordes of fans from not only the Rus émigré communities, but Old Blighty’s very own proletarian class? To attempt to understand Vlad’s fame and prowess, we must look to his past (See Afterword – Ed).  

Vlad was born in 1952 in the occupied city of St. Petersburg. Germanic colonists from the Holy Roman Empire clashed with the ethnic Rus, Poles, and Ukrainians who inhabited these ancestral lands. Pogroms broke out frequently. After one such event, Vlad and his family relocated to Moscow. There, they sought the succour and protection of the ailing Tzar Peter III. Like so many others, they found nothing but misery.

At the age of eighteen, Vlad was conscripted into the Rus Imperial Army to fight in its never-ending succession of wars. In his diary, Vlad wrote of hoping for an assignment in the east (with naïve optimism, he writes) to fight against the forces of the Empire of Nippon, ravaging their way through China and Mongolia. Instead, due to his fluency in German, young Vlad was sent west and participated in the various border clashes between the Holy Roman Empire, the Red Rus dissidents, and Polish partisans. Twice, Vlad received wounds in combat. For his bravery and competence, he was dispatched to officer school.

Upon receiving his commission, Vlad served for another brief period in the former Polish territories before transferring to the secret police. It was here, he wrote later, he came into his own, and the seeds of mistrust at the faltering regime rooted. Witnessing firsthand the level of repression the state levelled against its people in a bid to prop up the dying Romanov dynasty, he began to question his previously undying loyalty to the state.

Vlad worked his way up the ranks, eventually reaching Lieutenant-Colonel and, in this capacity, fought in the Battle of Moscow. For two long weeks, the last remnants of the Rus Imperial forces battled the Nipponese invaders from seizing their capital. Through sheer force of will, they won a narrow victory. Decorated for his personal bravery, Vlad was transferred to the security force of the Mad Tzar himself. Here, marked the spectacular downfall of such a capable military officer.

Critics of Vladimir Vladimirovich Puting point to the rumours of his inappropriate relationship with the then eighteen-year-old Tzarina Antoinette Romanov. His supporters argue thousands of men and officers suffered exile in the purge following the Battle of Moscow, in yet more evidence of Tzar Peter’s withering mental health. Vlad himself refuses to talk of those dark days. Regardless of the reason, in 2001, Vlad relocated first to the French Republic and then to his new adopted home in the United Kingdom of Great Britain, Iceland, and Ireland.

Such a remarkable journey could have ended, and how worse off would the world have been without the ‘P-Man’s’ stories? To support his family, Vlad worked a variety of jobs, although he attained true solace in his writing. Using the little spare time he had, he poured his energies into what grew into his Rus folklore inspired Baba Yaga Rising series of young adult fantasy novels.

Try as he may, Vlad was unable to land a traditional publishing deal. He languished in anonymity for years until the advent of self-publishing arrived. Finally, Vlad had an outlet for the universe inside him bursting to escape. In 2012, he self-published his first Baba Yaga Rising novel, followed in quick succession by three more books in the series, alongside two novellas.

Despite the level of fanaticism of a hardcore group of fans, Vlad didn’t achieve any breakthrough moment beyond the (then) insulated world of fantasy fandom. His attendance at cons drew attention, more so for his outlandish and sometimes bizarre stunts (who doesn’t recall him riding bare-chested on a horse at BristolCon, much to Mark Lawrence’s chagrin?). Likewise, he expressed his opinions openly and had a reputation for violently attacking those who dissented with him on numerous occasions (getting into a fistfight with Irish author Damien Larkin at Octocon being a particularly low point).

Angry, Vlad poured his frustrations into something new. He landed an agent and signed a deal with a small press that prodded Vlad to step outside the box with his writing style. It took something quite different to put Vladimir Vladimirovich Puting on everyone’s radar and, it’s safe to say, the literary world has never been quite the same.

The launch of Motherland Climax: The Viktor Petrov Chronicles placed Vlad Puting in the spotlight overnight. Part alternative history, spy thriller, science fiction novel, and political discourse, Motherland Climax lit a fire in the collective imagination that critics still debate. The vision of an orderly, unified, and even militarily significant Rus state stands in stark contrast to the variety of ethno-states that replaced the old Rus Empire. Almost overnight, tens of thousands clamoured for a copy, even beyond the Rus emigres living here, in the Holy Roman Empire, the French Republic, the Iberian Union, and the Confederate States of America. The global working classes flocked to the idea of a neo-Bolshevik revolutionary republic capable of overturning the monarchies (if one can be forgiven for indulging in fruitless fantasies).

The main character of the series, Viktor Petrov, has been the subject of intense discourse. Cruel, chauvinistic, and ruthless on one hand. Loyal to millions of people and the dream of a strong and united Rus state on the other. Someone intent on fostering a stable world with the neo-Bolshevik Republic of the Rus as the guarantor of planetary peace. Many draw comparisons to the ‘Jans Bunt’ character so wildly popular in the Holy Roman Empire in the forties. It’s true, both are secret agents, devoted to their respective states, and quite willing to do what it takes to safeguard their country’s interests. But here, the comparison ends.

Where Jans Bunt remains the forever stoic agent in service to the emperor, Viktor Petrov sees it as his unflinching duty to seize power for himself and draw a fragmented Rus Empire back together. He alone has been chosen by history, God, Destiny, and Providence alike to guide his newly crafted neo-Bolshevik Republic of the Rus onto the world stage. In Viktor Petrov’s thoughts and actions lie the keys to building a new world.

Another comparison, and certainly a source of inspiration, can be noted in the writings of Corsican author Napolean Bonaparte. Puting’s an avid fan of The Ottoman Dream, telling the story of a young French general invading Egypt at the turn of the nineteenth century and establishing an empire. While Bonaparte writes of epic battles with dragons and magic, Puting utilises the latest technology, momentous war machines of the Phoenix Project, and threats of nuclear annihilation.

In Vlad’s vision, Rus rises from the ashes of the old world and transforms itself into something remarkable. People from every stratum of society band together under the leadership of one godlike man. Together, they build the neo-Bolshevik Republic of the Rus into a technological powerhouse unlike anything seen before. One where Rus is economically, politically, and militarily feared and respected as the single greatest power in the new human epoch.

To say such things aloud does sound fanciful in this day and age. Especially as we need only stick on the news to see pictures of the latest genocide, famine, or atrocity in the lands of the once-proud Rus Empire. But it’s a testament to the power of speculative fiction that it can lift us from what we know and transport us to another place and time.

Countless people around the world rejoice at his best-selling series and imagine a world quite different from our own, an indication of the power of Vladimir Vladimirovich Puting’s heightened imagination. I’m honoured to write this introduction on the fifth anniversary of Motherland Climax for my good friend Vlad. Like many others, I look forward to seeing what he comes up with next.

If you’re reading this for the first time, I envy you. Dive headfirst into the Motherland and thank Vlad later!

–       Hamish Skellington, best-selling author of the Confederacy Burning series.

(London, February 2022)

 
Praise for Vlad Puting’s works:

“The rad mad-lad Vlad’s not just a fad!”

 – Tripp Ainsworth, author of Smokepit Fairytales

“Vlad Puting’s writing is so powerful that if he wasn’t a writer, he’d probably take over the world.”

– Chelsea Burke, author of Second City

“Sauve, sophisticated, daring; a homoerotic masterpiece.”

– Lee C Conley, author of A Ritual of Bone

“Horseback or otherwise, taking a ride with Vlad will bring you to your happy place.”

 – Tam DeRudder Jackson, author of Talisman

“Vlad’s novels have more twists than a Kremlin conspiracy and more subterfuge than a Holy Roman thriller.”

– Michele Packard, author of Aesop

“Vlad put in the work and now he’s reaping what he sowed.”

– Craig Kelly, author of The Phoenix

“He may have a glass jaw, but he spins a good yarn.”

– Damien Larkin, author of Big Red

CHAPTER 1: A HARDENED MAN RE-ENTERS

The chilled Moscow air cut deep into Viktor Petrov’s lungs. After three years of exile on the Tzar’s command, he had returned to the loving bosom of Mother Rus. One way or another, he would never leave again. Either he lived out his days as a true patriot for the Motherland or his bones would rest within her sacred grove. The warriors of the neo-Bolshevik movement refused anything short of total victory...


Motherland Climax by Vlad Puting is out Tuesday 1st July available exclusively on Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/Motherland-Climax-Vlad-Puting-Alternative-ebook/dp/B0F5QKSZBJ/

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Motherland-Climax-Vlad-Puting-Alternative-ebook/dp/B0F5QKSZBJ/