Josh Weil

Russian billionaire Boris Bazarov places space mirrors in orbit to catch the light of the sun at all hours, creating perpetual daytime under a sea of glass in Petroplavilsk and the surrounding rural communities, near the giant inland Lake Onega. Twins Yarik and Dima find themselves working side-by-side, trying to get ahead. Their paths diverge as Yarik is married with children and is promoted by Bazarov while Dima wishes for a simpler life as a Russian peasant. The grand scheme here is a portrayal of new Russia, and the inherent struggle between: new and old, agrarian and industrial, communism and capitalism, society and individual, but I thought it fell flat. Good writing, but just too much. 2.5 stars.… (more)

I saw what would become the lead story in this collection One Story a couple of years ago and fell in love, and have been waiting for this to come out. And I'm still in love with it—"No Flies, No Folly" is gorgeous and haunting—and I think a bunch of others were very strong as well. Weill's range is impressive, from the dawn of the 20th century to a speculative story set in the nearish future, each one loosely structured around the theme of light. And while I didn't think every one was a mad hit like the first, it was a good collection and definitely worth reading.… (more)

This is if nothing else a beautiful story, it almost seems as if the fantastic past/future-esque setting detracts from the real issues and feelings brought up. Twin brothers in an indeterminate Russian past both end up working on a futuristic greenhouse project requiring projecting sunlight reflected from space via giant mirrors. One brother embraces this future and the other utterly rejects it. I had to resort to Google to look up The Caspian Sea Monster - ekranoplan - and was surprised to find that was historical.… (more)

read the full review at: http://digitalmanticore.com/?p=244

The Great Glass Sea follows the lives of twin brothers Yaroslav (Yarik) and Dmitry (Dima) Zhuvov—not their entire lives, of course. That would be dull. Rather, Weil zooms in on what separates Yarik and Dima, what pushes their lives onto opposing trajectories.

There are hints of Yarik and Dima’s separation from the beginning of the story, from their childhood, but it was not until I neared the end that I realized that the seeds of their separation were sown so early on.

Most of the story focuses on Yarik and Dima as adults. The boys’ town, located in the north eastern reaches of Russia, the parts that get so little winter sun, is home to a mad engineering project: the Oranzheria (“greenhouse” in Russian). The Consortium is building a gigantic series of mirrors to reflect light into the city. The project invigorates the people of Petroplavilsk. Men work 12-hour days erecting the mirrors, working their way across the Petroplavilsk and the outlying area. Yarik and Dima used to work on the same crew, but that changed after they were found doing nothing all day while on the clock by the Consortium’s CEO. Afterward, the brothers are put on separate shifts. They only see each other on holidays and at the bus stop during the shift change each day.

This separation sets off a series of events that propel the brothers Zhuvov into separate orbits. Yarik becomes a “friend” of the CEO and the front man for the Consortium’s advertisements in Petroplavilsk. Because Yarik has a wife and two young children, he sees the importance of moving up and embracing the culture of work. Dima, in contrast, quits work not long after their separation. Dima decides he feels no need to work. He roams the city, falls in with various anti-Oranzheria groups and, for the most part, loses the will do to anything other than save up for a day when he can be together with Yarik.… (more)