Good suggestion! Didn’t realize he had a prequel so thank you for that. I’ve read a bit further and with the help of the included list of characters I’m able to start understanding now. The switching between nicknames, first names, and surnames for the same character threw me off a lot but it’s coming together now. Definitely reading the prequel next, should’ve started with that.

Understanding the way the old Tsarist and then the Bolshevik govt works also helped a ton. Spent a few days reading about that and the power struggles start to make more sense now.

Thank you!