Russian publisher Eksmo alters Joe Hill’s ‘King Sorrow,’ removing a reference to Putin and replacing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine with ‘war in Europe’
Several passages in the Russian translation of American author Joe Hill’s novel “King Sorrow” were rewritten to avoid censorship problems, changing the author’s meaning. Nikolai Karayev, who runs the speculative fiction Telegram channel Zvezdnye Mayaki Kapitana Norta, drew attention to the changes by sharing several passages from the original alongside their Russian translations.
The Russian publisher Eksmo modified Joe Hill's novel "King Sorrow" by altering a reference to Russia's involvement in Ukraine and replacing it with "war in Europe." The changes were made to avoid censorship issues. Nikolai Karayev, who shared the original and translated passages on Telegram, brought attention to the modifications.
The Russian edition, translated by Dmitry Starkov and published by Fanzon, part of the Eksmo group, was released in August 2026. For instance, a character's claim about Russians farming trolls in Siberia was changed to mention Ukrainians breeding trolls like pigs. Furthermore, footage of the war in Ukraine depicting a strike on a Mariupol maternity ward was altered to depict a strike in Donetsk.
Instead of "Russia invaded Ukraine," the translation states "that night war broke out in Europe." Eksmo CEO Yevgeny Kapyev promised to investigate the matter and criticized the author, questioning the portrayal of Russians as villains in popular culture.
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