THE SLEEPING LAND

A wry, unpredictable tale of an archaeological expedition to Siberia.

It’s 1994, and a trio of Canadian graduate students and their advisor travel to Siberia on a research expedition. Just a few years after the collapse of the Soviet Union, there’s a stark contrast between Russia’s rapid societal changes and the archaeologists’ much longer timescale. Alexander spends time on all three of the students, but it’s Valerie Howe who occupies the spotlight longest, for understandable dramatic reasons: “She had seventy dollars in her bank account and her apartment lease would expire two weeks after the end of the dig. She was lying to everybody about her progress on her thesis.” The bitter Mark Auchmill—who spends a lot of time reading a biography of Stalin—and family man Kit Lai round out the trio, while professor George Auberon is a bit more mysterious. Alexander memorably teases out the contradictions in these characters and the ways in which they ricochet off of one another. The narration includes a few sharp asides about the work they’re engaged in: “You could say anything was the most important in human history as long as you said ‘arguably’ first. The boys loved it.” As the archaeologists explore a cave and discover a historically significant artifact, the comedy of manners gives way to a paranoid-thriller vibe. The central characters worry about losing control of the site, and the presence of a few other people of unclear allegiance adds more tension to the proceedings. Things get stranger from there, and the climax involves a few very big risks. The grand ideas at work in this book make for an intriguing read, but the dry wit with which Alexander tells the story is the real reward.

One part academic satire, one part archaeological thriller.