Reviewed by Ruffina Oserio for Readers' Favorite

Eric Bush’s The Meaning of Androsia is an epic odyssey that follows Ilya Erynovich Koskayin, also known throughout his two-thousand-year-old life by thirty different names. He wakes up in a train station with no memory, yet his instinct brings back skills and knowledge that can only be acquired through experience. The story is set in a 41st-century world that is still struggling to recover from the “Great Dying” of the 21st century. As Ilya seeks someone to help him recover his identity, he crosses paths with Katerinya, a young writer willing to help him. Together, they navigate a landscape filled with a lethal Yersinia pestis outbreak, a bacterium passed from rats to fleas to humans, and political intrigue. As Ilya struggles to reconcile his forgotten past, which includes secret lives as the novelist Krayevsky and the composer Jespersen, he becomes a target of guerrilla commander Kuznetsov, the religious machinations of Sokolov and Osipov, and the mysterious Prince Tarasov. What happens when tragedy strikes?

This novel is unlike your typical fast-paced thriller or science fiction that thrives on action. The pacing is measured, and the author focuses more on philosophical thoughts and character development than on building pulsating action. The Meaning of Androsia cleverly captures Ilya’s unique worldview. Eric Bush’s storytelling is atmospheric, accomplished with minimal dialogue and terrific descriptions that focus on exploring the emotions and psyches of the characters. A character like Ilya, an immortal who has forgotten his past, caught my attention instantly, and I wanted to see how his journey to recovering his memory and embracing his identity unfolds. The author uses this premise to inject suspense into the story. The worldbuilding is exceptional, brimming with tension and a clash of forces, from the agenda to capture and preserve human knowledge to a unique kind of virus and religious fanatics.