Ilget is the story of a frail foundling who loses his twin brother, then by the will of mysterious supernatural forces goes from being a thrall under his adoptive father to the leader of a whole tribe. He finds himself enslaved once more when the Mongols invade the banks of his native Yenisei River, but ultimately comes to realize a truth: the greatest of blessings is to live without fear.

A Krasnoyarsk newspaper wrote of the novel, "The author works with myth like a skilled craftsman sculpting a dugout canoe from a cedar trunk: with powerful, deliberate movements he hollows out the wooden interior and decorates the structure that emerges with coarse writing in praise of nameless spirits. When you board this boat, first your curiosity will be sparked; then things might turn uncomfortable; and you begin to understand that you will either perish or make it to the far shore." Even more ethnographic and exotic than Grigorenko''s first novel Mebet, Ilget is imbued with magical realism, based on Siberian folklore and mythology.

Mebet concerns a man of the taiga, a hunter, in a moving narrative that blends ethnographic detail, indigenous mythology, and the snowy landscapes of the Arctic. The protagonist is a Nenets, a member of one of the peoples who call far northern Russia home. Dubbed "The Gods' Favorite" for his seeming imperviousness to harm or grief, Mebet earns the envy and derision of his fellow tribesmen. He lives that carefree and blessed life until his old age, when one day a supernatural messenger arrives to lead him to where the realms of the living and the dead meet. Now the God's Favorite must confront the price to be paid for his elevated position, and a series of dread trials that lie in store.

Called a dark and terrifying fantasy and the Nenets Lord of the Rings by Russian writer and journalist Sergey Kuznetsov, Grigorenko's Mebet is a powerful story about humanity, personal fate, and responsibility. Leading Russian literary critic Galina Yuzefovich welcomed Mebet as a true epic for the Nenets, a book that is profound, thrilling and vibrant. Whether the book will earn that lofty place within Nenets culture remains to be seen, but the very publication of the book marks a watershed event.

Ilget is the story of a frail foundling who loses his twin brother, then by the will of mysterious supernatural forces goes from being a thrall under his adoptive father to the leader of a whole tribe. He finds himself enslaved once more when the Mongols invade the banks of his native Yenisei River, but ultimately comes to realize a truth: the greatest of blessings is to live without fear.

A Krasnoyarsk newspaper wrote of the novel, "The author works with myth like a skilled craftsman sculpting a dugout canoe from a cedar trunk: with powerful, deliberate movements he hollows out the wooden interior and decorates the structure that emerges with coarse writing in praise of nameless spirits. When you board this boat, first your curiosity will be sparked; then things might turn uncomfortable; and you begin to understand that you will either perish or make it to the far shore." Even more ethnographic and exotic than Grigorenko''s first novel Mebet, Ilget is imbued with magical realism, based on Siberian folklore and mythology.

Mebet concerns a man of the taiga, a hunter, in a moving narrative that blends ethnographic detail, indigenous mythology, and the snowy landscapes of the Arctic. The protagonist is a Nenets, a member of one of the peoples who call far northern Russia home. Dubbed "The Gods' Favorite" for his seeming imperviousness to harm or grief, Mebet earns the envy and derision of his fellow tribesmen. He lives that carefree and blessed life until his old age, when one day a supernatural messenger arrives to lead him to where the realms of the living and the dead meet. Now the God's Favorite must confront the price to be paid for his elevated position, and a series of dread trials that lie in store.

Called a dark and terrifying fantasy and the Nenets Lord of the Rings by Russian writer and journalist Sergey Kuznetsov, Grigorenko's Mebet is a powerful story about humanity, personal fate, and responsibility. Leading Russian literary critic Galina Yuzefovich welcomed Mebet as a true epic for the Nenets, a book that is profound, thrilling and vibrant. Whether the book will earn that lofty place within Nenets culture remains to be seen, but the very publication of the book marks a watershed event.