Tom Bullough

konstantin

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Konstantin

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A convincing account, lyrical yet exact, of the making of a scientist. Konstantin Tsiolkovsky may not be a household name, but the author has set him squarely before us as a living, thinking, ingenious human being

Wonderful...Historical fiction that wears history lightly

Alluring...wonderfully eloquent...Bullough's enchanting novel transports

Bullough's writing is moving and expressive...fantastic descriptive flashes and moving insights into a world that is suddenly silent

Bullough's close observations...bring science to life

I can't think of a more beautiful and gripping book I have read for ages. I couldn't put it down

Kate Williams, author of 'The Pleasures of Men'

Tom Bullough has burst from his chrysalis with Konstantin. The novel is startlingly original and betrays with quiet assurance, a deep literary power beneath. I cannot praise it highly enough, simply for the pleasure it gave me, and the pleasure came from a skilfully crafted story, and masterful handling of character and atmosphere

Bullough calls this a 'futurist folk tale' and he's bang on the money. It's clever, ambitious and oddly haunting

Refreshing and inspiring...it is a little gem and I loved it

It is 1867 and winter in Ryazan, a city on the banks of the Oka River in Central Russia. Konstantin is ten years old. His days are full of dreams of flight - to Moscow, even to the silent stars. But then, one day, he catches cold in the freezing woods near his home and his own world becomes silent. Left deaf by scarlet fever, his outlook is desperate. Only his fascination with a newly mechanised age and his astonishing visions of humanity's future seem to offer him any sort of hope. 
 
Konstantin, Tom Bullough's brilliant, inspirational novel, tells the extraordinary story, based on a real-life character, of the first man to reveal how travel into space might be possible. It is a story of man, nature, and the limitless power of the imagination.

Tom Bullough's Konstantin is a mesmerising novel about how the imagination can inspire the individual to greatness. 
 
1867, Ryazan, a Russian city in winter. Ten-year-old Konstantin, deafened by scarlet fever, dreams of flight - escaping to Moscow, fleeing to the silent stars. And his daring visions, pregnant with humanity's future, will take him further than anyone could believe. 
 
Moving from wolf-infested forests to the brothels of Moscow, from village life to the wondrous Age of Steam, from appalling tragedy to the discovery of a great love, Konstantin tells the beguiling story of a man who imagined the unimaginable: turning the dream of space travel into a reality. 
 
As vivid and evocative as Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall and David Mitchell's The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet, Konstantin is a story of man, nature, and the limitless power of the imagination. 
 
Praise for Konstantin: 
 
'Convincing, lyrical. Bullough has set Konstantin squarely before us as a living, thinking, ingenious human being' John Banville 
 
'Konstantin is that rare creature, the practical dreamer, a hero at the dawn of modernity. Beautifully written . . . a real achievement' Andrew Miller, author of Pure 
 
'Enchanting, wonderfully eloquent. A very alluring read' Time Out 
 
Tom Bullough was born in 1975 and is the author of two previous novels. He lives in Breconshire, in mid-Wales, with his wife and young son.

Tom Bullough was born in 1975 and is the author of two previous novels. He lives in Breconshire, in mid-Wales, with his wife and young son.

Konstantin

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A convincing account, lyrical yet exact, of the making of a scientist. Konstantin Tsiolkovsky may not be a household name, but the author has set him squarely before us as a living, thinking, ingenious human being

Wonderful...Historical fiction that wears history lightly

Alluring...wonderfully eloquent...Bullough's enchanting novel transports

Tangy...undeniably entertaining

Bullough's writing is moving and expressive...fantastic descriptive flashes and moving insights into a world that is suddenly silent

Bullough's close observations...bring science to life

I can't think of a more beautiful and gripping book I have read for ages. I couldn't put it down

Bullough calls this a 'futurist folk tale' and he's bang on the money. It's clever, ambitious and oddly haunting

A charming novel, sensitively told

About Tom Bullough

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