Alexandria, VA

New book combines mythology, medieval history, baking-inspired satire, and cultural storytelling in an unconventional exploration of Kyivan Rus

Author Todorov has announced Bread and Blood: The Bakers of Kyivan Rus, a satirical exploration of Slavic folklore, mythology, medieval history, and cultural resilience told through an intentionally absurd world of bakers, bread princes, flour gods, and culinary empires.

Jacketed in blue and yellow, the book uses baking and corporate parody as a storytelling device to introduce readers to figures, legends, and historical personalities associated with Kyivan Rus and the wider Slavic tradition.

The idea for the book began while Todorov was working on material inspired by Norse mythology. According to the author, his time serving in Kyiv as part of the U.S. Embassy’s Defense Attaché Office also influenced his decision to explore Ukrainian and Slavic history through humor.

“The posting definitely helped in the decision,” Todorov said. “I developed a close connection and affinity to the country and people of Ukraine.”

Rather than approaching the subject as a conventional academic history, Bread and Blood: The Bakers of Kyivan Rus uses satire to make mythology and medieval history more approachable to general readers.

“Using humor is the best way to confront violence and war,” Todorov said. “Readers did not need another dry academic treatment of Slavic myth. I wanted to create something they would actually finish.”

Slavic Folklore Through an Unconventional Lens

The book reimagines well-known figures from Slavic folklore through the language of bakeries, corporations, startups, supply chains, and culinary competition.

Baba Yaga becomes an off-grid pioneer operating a mobile bakery from her legendary chicken-legged hut. Koschei the Deathless is recast as the immortal executive behind a fictional “Big Bread” empire, while Vasilisa appears as an ambitious culinary apprentice navigating an exaggerated medieval marketplace.

Other sections reinterpret Marya Morevna, Ivan Tsarevich, Solovei the Robber, and figures from the Slavic pantheon, including Perun, Veles, Mokosh, Svarog, Dazhbog, Stribog, Svetovid, and Triglav.

The book also introduces the “Bogatyr Bakers,” satirical versions of legendary heroic figures including Svyatogor, Mikula Selyanovich, Volkh Vseslavyevich, Ilya Muromets, Dobrynya Nikitich, and Alyosha Popovich.

Historical rulers associated with Kyivan Rus—including Rurik, Olga of Kyiv, Volodymyr the Great, and Yaroslav the Wise—are similarly reimagined as executives overseeing an elaborate fictional baking economy.

Beneath the parody, the book explores themes of cultural continuity, mythology, trade, political power, resilience, and the connections between the medieval societies of Eastern Europe, Scandinavia, and Byzantium.

History Beneath the Humor

Todorov describes the book as both comedy and an attempt to introduce readers to a body of mythology that is less familiar to many English-language audiences than Norse or Greek traditions.

The book presents the author’s interpretation of Kyivan Rus as an important medieval political and cultural center whose history was shaped by Slavic communities, Scandinavian traders and settlers, Byzantine influence, and extensive regional connections.

“Even though it is presented in a humorous form through baking, it demonstrates the resilience of the Ukrainian people through their history,” Todorov said.

Historical and political interpretations contained in the book represent the author’s perspective and are presented through a satirical literary framework rather than as an academic or scholarly reference work.

From Flour Gods to Bread Princes

Among the book’s major sections are:

• The Flour Gods of Kyivan Rus, which reimagines the Slavic pantheon as a dysfunctional corporate baking conglomerate.
• The Bogatyr Bakers: The Elders, featuring legendary heroic figures recast as larger-than-life founders of a medieval culinary economy.
• The Bogatyr Bakers: The Defenders, following Ilya Muromets, Dobrynya Nikitich, and Alyosha Popovich through exaggerated baking conflicts.
• The Bread Princes of Kyivan Rus, which transforms major historical rulers into fictional executives overseeing the development of a sprawling baking society.
• The Unyielding Crumb, a satirical reflection on later periods of Ukrainian history and cultural survival.

The resulting combination is deliberately unconventional: part mythology retelling, part historical parody, and part culinary satire.

A Broader Slavic Series

Bread and Blood: The Bakers of Kyivan Rus is intended as part of a broader series exploring different areas of the Slavic world.

A second volume, Bread and Blood: The Balkan Ovens, is currently in final edits, according to the author. A third volume is in early development.

Together, the planned books draw inspiration from different Slavic cultural and folkloric traditions while maintaining the same baking-centered satirical approach.

Slavic Folklore Through an Unconventional Lens

The book reimagines well-known figures from Slavic folklore through the language of bakeries, corporations, startups, supply chains, and culinary competition, while drawing on recognizable characteristics from the traditional stories and historical figures that inspired them.

Baba Yaga, one of the most recognizable figures in Slavic folklore, traditionally appears as an unpredictable witch or supernatural woman who lives deep in the forest in a magical hut often depicted as standing on chicken legs. Depending on the tale, she may threaten, test, mislead, or unexpectedly assist those who encounter her. In Bread and Blood, Todorov transforms that mysterious independence into culinary satire, portraying Baba Yaga as an off-grid pioneer operating a mobile bakery from her legendary wandering hut and tending volatile sourdough cultures beyond the reach of conventional authority.

Ilya Muromets, one of the best-known heroes of the traditional Kyiv cycle of epic songs known as byliny, represents the heroic side of the book. Traditionally depicted as a powerful bogatyr who defends the realm and confronts formidable enemies, Ilya becomes the book’s heavy-hitting defender of the independent crumb. Todorov recasts his legendary strength through exaggerated feats of kneading, baking, and culinary combat while retaining the broader image of Ilya as a protector facing threats to the world around him.

Rurik, or Riuryk, is presented through the book’s corporate parody as a Scandinavian regulatory consultant arriving to impose order on a chaotic culinary marketplace. According to the medieval Primary Chronicle tradition, Rurik was a Varangian chieftain invited to rule in the north in the ninth century and became the ancestral figure associated with the Rurikid dynasty that later ruled Kyivan Rus. Todorov turns that dynastic origin story into a satire about administration, regulation, and the consolidation of an unruly baking economy.

Yaroslav the Wise, who ruled Kyiv during one of Kyivan Rus’s most important periods of political and cultural development, becomes the book’s “Chief Legal Officer of the Lamination.” Historically associated with the development of Ruska Pravda, the legal tradition of Rus, as well as the growth of education, religious institutions, architecture, and dynastic relationships with European royal houses, Yaroslav is reimagined as an executive attempting to bring legal order, infrastructure, and international reach to the fictional Kyivan baking enterprise.

Other sections reinterpret Marya Morevna, Ivan Tsarevich, Solovei the Robber, and figures from the Slavic pantheon, including Perun, Veles, Mokosh, Svarog, Dazhbog, Stribog, Svetovid, and Triglav.

The book also introduces additional “Bogatyr Bakers,” satirical versions of legendary heroic figures including Svyatogor, Mikula Selyanovich, Volkh Vseslavyevich, Dobrynya Nikitich, and Alyosha Popovich.

Historical rulers associated with Kyivan Rus—including Olga of Kyiv and Volodymyr the Great—are similarly reimagined as executives overseeing an elaborate fictional baking economy.

Varangians and the Dnipro Trade Route

The historical backdrop also incorporates the Varangians, Scandinavian traders and warriors who traveled through Eastern Europe along the medieval route commonly described as the route “from the Varangians to the Greeks.” The network of waterways and portages connected Scandinavia with the Black Sea and Byzantine Empire, with the Dnipro River forming a major part of the southern route through the lands of Kyivan Rus.

Varangian groups became involved in the commercial and political development of Rus, serving at different times as traders, warriors, military retainers, and mercenaries. Medieval chronicles describe Varangian-led forces moving along the Dnipro and becoming closely connected with the emerging princely dynasties. Varangian fighters also served rulers of Rus during struggles against both external opponents and internal rivals, although their political and military role diminished as the state developed its own established ruling and military structures.

In Bread and Blood, that mixture of Scandinavian movement, trade, warfare, and cultural interaction provides another layer for Todorov’s satire, placing the fictional baking empires within the same network of rivers, commercial routes, competing rulers, and shifting alliances that shaped the medieval world surrounding Kyiv.

Beneath the parody, the book explores themes of cultural continuity, mythology, trade, political power, resilience, and the connections between the medieval societies of Eastern Europe, Scandinavia, and Byzantium.

About the Author

Todorov is an author whose work combines history, mythology, satire, and cultural storytelling. According to the author, his experience serving in Kyiv as part of the U.S. Embassy’s Defense Attaché Office contributed to his interest in Ukrainian history, Slavic folklore, and the cultural connections surrounding Kyivan Rus.

His Bread and Blood series uses culinary parody and modern corporate language to reinterpret mythological, folkloric, and historical figures for contemporary readers.

Verification Disclaimer

Historical interpretations, biographical details, military or diplomatic service references, and cultural claims in this release are based on information supplied by or on behalf of the author and should be supported by authoritative records where available. The book is a satirical literary work and should not be treated as an academic or scholarly history.

References to historical nations, governments, institutions, and cultural figures do not imply endorsement of the book or its interpretations.

Media Contact Details
Evgueniy Todorov
Email: Send Email
Website: genetodorovreads.com

PHILADELPHIA, PA

The company is taking its bill-by-results model nationwide, up against the consulting firms and point-solution vendors that have run up the bill on American taxpayers for decades

 FSH Technologies, which builds software for cities, school districts and state agencies to replace outdated, slow-moving government IT systems, today announced $25 million in total funding. That includes a $20 million Series A led by Lachy Groom, an early backer of Figma, Notion, Ramp and Lattice, with Acrew Capital co-leading and Operator Partners, Contrary, Cooley and several angels also participating. The round follows an earlier $5 million seed led by Contrary with Acrew Capital, General Catalyst, Scribble Ventures and Basis Set Ventures joining.

“Bill-by-the-hour is why consulting can never lead to government efficiency,” said Lilly Chen, founder and CEO of FSH. “We built the opposite model. We only grow when a city or school district loves our solution and expands the scope, so the incentive is to build something that works, not to stretch out the invoice.”

Chen previously worked as an AI/ML engineer at Meta before advising on Philadelphia’s mayoral transition team, where she saw firsthand how city procurement decisions get made, and who they fail. Before that, she spent time as a Buddhist monk and professional video game player. The company’s name comes from a saying she carried out of that period: be the pond, not the fish — look at the whole picture, not one problem in isolation.

FSH’s model is already replacing the two kinds of vendors that dominate the $160 billion state and local government IT market: consulting firms that bill by the hour, where a slow project is more profitable than a fast one, and point-solution vendors that get bought up by private equity and coast on renewal fees. Pittsburgh Public Schools moved to FSH after a security vulnerability in its previous vendor exposed student data. Buffalo made a similar switch after years on a system that had simply stopped keeping up. When a Philadelphia tax law change left thousands of small businesses suddenly owing a new city tax, FSH stood up a support program in a single month that reached more than 1,000 businesses in 13 languages, most filing for the first time.

“GovTech is a notoriously difficult space because people think bureaucracy is a grind. Lilly and the FSH team obsessively enjoy solving what everyone else thinks is boring. It takes that level of intense optimism to change something that’s always been broken,” said Lachy Groom.

FSH has grown revenue inside more than 30% of its existing accounts, for a 1,340% increase across that group. After activating its expansion strategy in the second quarter of 2026, the company’s own annual recurring revenue grew sevenfold. FSH projects reaching $450 million in annual recurring revenue by 2028. The company is now taking the model nationwide, expanding from its current base in Buffalo, Denver, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh with a goal of operating in all 50 states within the year, adding categories including EMS and police scheduling, transit management and case management along the way.

Lilly Chen is joined by COO Jason Chen, who spent six years as a Partner at Contrary after starting his career at PwC, and CTO Rodda John, who led Ramp’s 20-person engineering team behind billpay.com before co-founding Moab, an ERP startup for equipment rental companies.

The new funding will go toward product development, sales growth, and hiring, taking FSH’s team from 11 to more than 45, primarily in engineering, design and client strategy. FSH’s long-term goal is to make government software work, by default.

About FSH Technologies

FSH Technologies builds software for governments and school districts nationwide, replacing hourly-billed consulting firms and point-solution vendors with a single platform that only grows when the software actually works. FSH currently serves Buffalo, Denver, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, among other locations, with plans to expand to all 50 states.

Media Contact Details
Outlier Partners | Lauren Wallack-Estes
FSH Technologies
Email: Send Email

LOS ANGELES, Calif.

Agency outlines an AEO-focused public relations strategy built around recurring third-party visibility as consumers and business buyers increasingly use AI assistants for research

 S99 PR, a public relations and authority-building agency specializing in guaranteed media placements and AI discoverability, has announced an expanded focus on Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) through its Signal Press framework as artificial intelligence platforms become a growing part of how consumers and business buyers research companies, products and professionals.

Platforms including ChatGPT, Claude and Perplexity are increasingly being used to answer questions that historically might have begun with a traditional search engine. Instead of presenting users only with ranked links, AI systems can synthesize information from multiple sources and provide direct responses that may include specific brands, companies or professionals.

S99 PR said the shift has created a new challenge for organizations accustomed to focusing primarily on traditional search engine optimization.

“We started hearing the same question on sales calls, and it came from people who had never asked us anything technical before,” said Jake Vince, co-founder of S99 PR. “A founder would say, ‘I asked ChatGPT about my own company and it either said nothing or it said something wrong.’ That question went from rare to constant in about six months.”

The agency’s AEO strategy is focused on helping companies build a broader and more consistent public information footprint through third-party publications, press coverage, company positioning and recurring communications.

Research Highlights Changing Patterns in AI Search

Recent industry research suggests that traditional search rankings and AI-generated recommendations do not always follow the same signals.

An analysis involving approximately 75,000 brands found that off-site brand signals, including branded web mentions and visibility across third-party platforms, showed stronger relationships with AI visibility than traditional backlink metrics alone.

Separately, research examining millions of links cited by major AI systems reported that approximately 84% of citations came from earned media sources, while paid or advertorial material represented approximately 0.3% of the citations analyzed.

S99 PR said the findings reinforce the importance of distinguishing between what a company says about itself and information that appears through independent or third-party sources.

“Companies have spent years optimizing the assets they directly control,” Vince said. “But AI systems also look across a much broader information environment. A company’s own website remains important, but third-party references can provide additional context about who a company is and how it is described publicly.”

Research into third-party distribution has also found differences in AI citation behavior depending on where content appears.

An earlier controlled study comparing identical content on owned websites and third-party news distribution reported citation rates increasing from approximately 8% to 34%, representing a 325% increase in that pilot dataset. A later, broader study examining more brands and prompts reported a 239% median increase in AI citations following earned-media distribution.

These findings do not mean every article, press release or third-party placement will generate the same result. Citation behavior differs across AI platforms, topics, sources and individual queries.

AI-Referred Traffic Shows Different User Behavior

The shift is not limited to visibility.

Industry research has also suggested that visitors arriving through AI-generated recommendations can behave differently from traditional organic-search visitors.

Semrush research has estimated that AI-referred visitors converted at approximately 4.4 times the rate of traditional organic-search visitors within the dataset studied.

In April 2026, G2 reported that 51% of surveyed B2B software buyers said they begin product research with an AI chatbot more often than with Google.

S99 PR said these trends are encouraging companies to consider AI visibility alongside traditional search visibility, media relations and brand reputation.

Google Rankings Do Not Fully Predict AI Visibility

Traditional SEO remains an important part of digital marketing, but research indicates that strong Google rankings do not necessarily guarantee equivalent visibility in AI-generated answers.

One controlled study examining Google positions and ChatGPT recommendations reported a correlation of 0.034 within its tested dataset, indicating very little relationship between the two ranking environments in that particular analysis.

S99 PR said the difference reflects the contrasting ways traditional search engines and generative AI platforms present information.

Traditional search primarily ranks and organizes pages. Generative AI systems may instead synthesize information from multiple sources when creating an answer.

As a result, S99 PR’s AEO work focuses on building consistent public references across multiple sources rather than treating a company’s own website as the only source of authority.

“Get real publications to write about you. Do it consistently. Say the same thing about who you are every time,” Vince said. “That was good advice before AI search became part of the conversation, and it remains relevant as companies think about how their public information is interpreted across new platforms.”

Signal Press Framework Focuses on Consistency

S99 PR developed its Signal Press framework around the idea that brand visibility should be built continuously rather than treated as a single campaign.

The framework combines recurring editorial placements, wire-distributed press releases and supporting article coverage intended to create a more consistent public information footprint over time.

Rather than relying on a single media placement, the approach focuses on maintaining continuity across company announcements, founder profiles, executive positioning, business developments and other public-facing content.

“A single article can remain valuable for years to a human reader,” Vince said. “But AI search adds another reason for companies to think about consistency. The objective is to create a clear and current body of information that both people and technology systems can encounter when researching a company.”

S99 PR does not represent that recurring coverage guarantees inclusion in ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Google AI products or any other artificial intelligence platform. AI visibility depends on the individual platform, query, available sources and other factors outside the agency’s control.

Third-Party Coverage and Guaranteed Media Placements

S99 PR provides guaranteed media-placement services alongside broader public relations and authority-building programs.

The agency said its placement standards focus on recognized publications, identifiable attribution, visible publication information and professionally formatted editorial content.

S99 PR also distinguishes its guaranteed placement services from conventional earned media. Research findings concerning earned editorial coverage should not be interpreted as proof that every paid, sponsored or guaranteed placement will generate the same AI citation behavior.

Instead, the agency’s strategy is based on building a broader mix of credible public information around companies and individuals while maintaining consistency in how key facts, credentials and business developments are communicated.

Supporting Founders, Executives and Professional Brands

S99 PR’s media and AEO programs serve clients including:

• Startup founders and co-founders
• CEOs and other executives
• Technology and AI professionals
• Medical professionals
• Real estate professionals
• Financial professionals
• Entertainment figures
• Consumer-brand founders
• Public figures

The agency also operates a dedicated immigration-related press practice supporting O-1 and EB-1A extraordinary ability visa applicants in coordination with immigration attorneys.

Across these areas, S99 PR said the goal is to help clients develop a more complete public record through company announcements, media coverage, executive positioning and other third-party references.

Building Authority Across Search and AI Platforms

S99 PR’s broader services include guaranteed media placements, press-release distribution, Google Knowledge Panel development, contributor-profile programs and authority-building campaigns.

The agency’s strategy is based on the view that public relations increasingly affects several areas simultaneously: traditional search visibility, AI discoverability and the way prospective customers, investors, partners and other audiences evaluate credibility.

“Public relations is no longer only about getting your name into an article,” Vince said. “Companies now need to think about the full information environment around their brand—what appears in search, what third-party publications say and what AI platforms may encounter when they try to understand who that company is.”

S99 PR said it plans to continue developing its AEO and Signal Press programs as research into AI citation patterns, answer engines and generative search continues to evolve.

More information about S99 PR’s guaranteed media placements, AEO programs and authority-building campaigns is available at www.s99pr.com.

About S99 PR

S99 PR is a public relations and authority-building agency specializing in guaranteed media placements, digital credibility, Google Knowledge Panels and authority-building campaigns for founders, executives and brands.

The company works with clients across technology, artificial intelligence, healthcare, entertainment, finance, real estate and consumer-brand sectors and also maintains a dedicated practice supporting press strategies for O-1 and EB-1A extraordinary ability visa applicants.

Website: www.s99pr.com

Research and Results Disclosure

Statistics referenced in this release are based on third-party industry studies involving specific datasets, platforms and research methodologies. Findings should not be interpreted as universal performance guarantees for every company, publication or AI platform.

AI-generated recommendations and citations can vary based on user prompts, model versions, retrieval methods, source availability and other factors. S99 PR does not control or guarantee how ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Google or other AI/search platforms rank, cite, summarize or recommend individual brands.

Guaranteed media placement refers to S99 PR’s publication service and should not automatically be equated with independently earned editorial coverage. Individual publications may apply their own editorial, disclosure and content standards.

Media Contact Details
Jake Vince
S99 PR
Email: Send Email
Phone: +1 (323) 214-3019
Website: s99pr.com