Penguin Lost continues straight after the cliffhanger ending of Death and the Penguin, continuing Victor Zolotaryov’s adventures in post-Soviet Ukraine in the early 2010s (nearly two decades before the current president, Zelensky, was elected with his anti-corruption pledges). Misha the Penguin is indeed lost for most of the story so it focuses on Victor’s morally passive experiences of the corrupt broken society of Ukraine and neighbouring Russia, including war-torn Chechnya. Like the first book, it is an absurdist, satirical fable that meanders along as Victor resumes his search for Misha. Originally called “Snail’s Law”, it depicts a world where those with wealth and power enjoy shell-like protection but others risk being squashed like a slug unless they can find a way to protect themselves.