The Wizard of the Kremlin
The Wizard of the Kremlin by Giuliano da Empoli is one of 2026's most credible books, appearing on 1 of the year's most respected lists, including McKinsey & Company, for a Consensus Score of 12 out of 100.
Appears on these lists
Our take
AI-draftedDa Empoli's novel imagines a lightly fictionalized version of Vladislav Surkov — the reality-TV producer turned architect of Putin-era political theater — narrating his own rise to a curious foreign visitor, and the book's central provocation is how plausible it makes cynicism sound as a coherent worldview rather than mere villainy. Reception has split sharply between admirers and detractors who find the prose flat.
In the press
“His understanding of what transpires in the Kremlin is, for this reader, plausible, interesting, and often profound.”
The Wall Street Journal“The book is not just poorly constructed, filled with two-dimensional characters, tin-eared dialogue and inauthentic settings.”
The Spectator
How the Consensus Score is calculated
Our Consensus Score is our own transparent editorial metric — not a user rating. It weighs each list by the credibility of its source, how recent the listing is, and any award status. Here is the full breakdown.
| Source | Authority | Recency | Award | Contribution |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| McKinsey & Company | 0.80 | 0.70 | 1.00× | 0.56 |
| Weighted sum → Score | 0.56 → 12 | |||
Similar consensus books
Because they appear on some of the same lists.
Frequently asked
What lists is The Wizard of the Kremlin on?
The Wizard of the Kremlin appears on 1 list in our 2026 corpus, including McKinsey & Company.
What is its Consensus Score?
The Wizard of the Kremlin has a Consensus Score of 12 out of 100, our transparent editorial measure of how many credible lists agree on it.