1636: The Kremlin Games cover

1636: The Kremlin Games

Assiti Shards • Book 13

3.94 ABR Score (1.6K ratings)
★ 3.99 Goodreads (1.3K) ★ 4.56 Audible (337)
13h 9m Released 2012 Sci-Fi

Why Listen to This Audiobook?

A working-class West Virginian accidentally becomes Russia's modernization project — and George Guidall makes the culture clash feel both absurd and genuinely dangerous.

  • Great if you want: alternate history with political intrigue and an unlikely hero
  • Listening experience: cerebral and methodical — rewards patience over binge-listening
  • Narration: Guidall's measured gravitas suits the imperial Russian setting perfectly
  • Skip if: you're new to the series — book 13 assumes deep familiarity

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About This Audiobook

Set in 1636 in Flint and co-authors' alternate-history Europe, The Kremlin Games follows Bernie Zeppi, a Grantville resident without much direction, who is recruited by a Russian emissary to bring American know-how to a Moscow still operating under serfdom and imperial intrigue. The novel explores the friction between modernity and entrenched power as Bernie discovers both purpose and peril in Mother Russia, navigating palace politics that are far more dangerous than he anticipated.

George Guidall has narrated dozens of entries in this sprawling series and brings a storyteller's authority to the dense historical texture. His warm, grounded voice anchors the worldbuilding without slowing the pace, and his ability to make the ensemble cast of Granthvillians and seventeenth-century Russians immediately distinguishable is a genuine asset across the audiobook's thirteen-hour runtime.