************************ BAROMETER **********************************
REVIEWS BY S. BEREZHNY:
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Sergey Kazmenko. SIGN OF THE DRAGON: Novels and stories./ SPb: JSC
"LiterA", private enterprise "Interpressservice", 1993. - 448 p., ill.
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This book was supposed to be published in 1992. She came out then-
only in the summer of 1994. And the works included in this collection were written by
the dignity was much earlier...
Four stories. Two stories.
...There are countries on the globe that are doomed. Sent
international missions there are trying to fight epidemics, taking pains
stop civil strife, at least save the children - because people
the century cannot do otherwise. And over all this sword of Damocles hangs the pro-
doom. It is possible to save only a tiny part of those who could
would live - live if two (three, four...) decades ago those
those who made fateful decisions then thought about the future. For these
decades, the country was pompously plundered (or stealthily
van), people are accustomed to automatically (or consciously) follow
another “general line”, but the future simply did not exist. And
those who come to save the country are greeted with machine gun fire
- greeted by those who came to save...
The action of the story "Up to the Fourteenth Generation" takes place
in suchzombie country. This is not the state, this is its stinking corpse,
gangrenous naked meat. And corpses need to be buried, otherwise it’s bad
xo will have to live. And across the broken borders there are columns of tan-
kovs, armored personnel carriers, ambulances, vans with canned food...
This is not a war. This is a funeral procession...
This is the sun rising hopelessly over the poisoned land,
the sun, on whose mournful face is inscribed: “The goal justifies
means."
...The authorities do not apply the concepts of “truth” and “false”. The government is pro-
one hundred operates with information - just as it operates with war.
scams and taxes. A tool cannot be approached with the yardstick of “ethical
- not ethical." Is the ax ethical - the same in the hands of Tolstoy -
whose father is Sergius and in the hands of Rodion Raskolnikov?
Monopoly on information is the only tool that
must be prohibited, rejected and cursed. This weapon is effective
It’s even worse than an atomic bomb. Whoever owns this mono-
polya, its very existence leads to disaster.
“The Puppet Master” is the name of one of the stories
collection. A grandiose space empire has a monopoly on
connection between thousands of planets. On each of the planets there is one
to the Communication Station, which is served by one Communications Officer, a person,
trained to handle information in the interests of the state. "Po-
Master of the Puppets" is a story about how one of the Officers
took onoperate information for completely different purposes...This
a story about a man who became the arbiter of destinies, a demiurge, about
a man in whose hands truth and lies, people and planets were sintered
into dry and cold lumps - lifeless, like content data
lead salts in rock. This is a story about a man who
took on the task of creating history and created it to the end.
And in this collection there is a magnificent story “The Sign of Draco-
na" - philosophical non-heroic fantasy. Moreover, "non-heroic"
fundamentally. The city, which is predicted to die soon, may be
saved - if at least one of its inhabitants takes upon itself the burden of it
salvation. Find one, and he will be given the strength to resist Dra-
kon. What is needed is not even a hero - we need a person capable of action,
who can change his whole life... But there are no such people in the city.
Official and beggar, merchant and soldier, scientist and executioner, blacksmith and mayor -
dozens of lives unable to escape from the self-created self-
passing ruts - each of his own - even in the face of death...
On the title of this book there is a portrait of Sergei Kazmenko. Same
the very photograph that hung in February of ninety-one
the foyer of the Cinematographers' House of Creativity in Repino, when there is a
was another Interpresscon. Only that picture crossed the tra-
urn tape...
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Boris STERN. Tales of the Serpent Gorynych./ Art.A. Bondarenko.- Kiro-
Vograd: ONUL, 1993 (Domestic science fiction). - ISBN - 320 pp.,
ill.; 35 t.e.; TP; 84x108/32.
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We've waited!!!
Finally there were people who thought of releasing Boris's collection
Stern in normal binding. All (two) previous ones are his author's
books were published in paperbacks and lasted for a long time (unlike
from the stories of Boris Gedalievich) clearly did not claim. And so -
third run.
The collection consisted of two cycles (“Tales of the Serpent Gorynych” and “Prik-
The Dreaming of Bel Amor") and a separate masterpiece "The Mad King".
For obvious reasons, the cycle about Bel Amor did not include the story
"Inspection-2", the other four things ("Whose planet?", "Inspection",
"Saving a Man" and "Who's There?") have already appeared in Stern's collections
- as, indeed, “The Mad King”. If my memory serves me right,
Stern made cosmetic corrections in most of the texts - not
drastic, but noticeable. It didn't hurt the stories.
"Tales of the Serpent Gorynych" includes the famous and very beloved
by the masses (including me) "Gorynych", as well as five things, in
books that have never appeared before. It is on this top five that it stands
stop in more detail.
"Kashchei the Immortal - the poet of demons." A wonderful story-parable about
how the officially recognized mediocre poet Kashchei behind his talent
walked. The story is written in a noticeably heavier style thansimilar
Regarding the approach to the topic “Gorynych” - it’s a pity, of course, but what can you do:
other times, other texts. In "Gorynych" (1976) there is even chernukha
smelled of bird cherry, but in “Kashchei” (1990) the outhouse smells of absolute
That's all. Perhaps Stern's pessimism will continue to increase.
in proportion to the exchange rate of the Ukrainian karbovanets - I personally mo-
I'll just regret it.
"Ivan the Fool, or the Last of the KGB (from historical tales
Gorynych's Snake)" refers, in my opinion, to stories that are very
interesting to read and absolutely uninteresting to re-read. In the story
a lot of connections to the realities of the penultimate (August) Russian-
of the coup, due to purely fan and near-fantastic circumstances
(who does not know will not understand) and the remorse of famous historical
figures (such as Yakov Bronstein). Everything is written in Stern's language
brilliant, read right through - and nothing more. Chic shape
at a content close to absolute zero. Of course, such
things also need to be published - at least so that the author has a
As a result, there was no desire to write something like that...
And here is “Requiem for Salieri (From the musical opuses of Zmey Goryny-
cha)" made me very happy. Gorgeous, thin and very precise
satire on the new generation of art administrators who replaced
in the leadership chairs of socialist realist monsters. As it is written!
What colors! What the hell kind of music!.. And a fly in the ointment
infinale: putsch again, tanks, shooting, removal of bodies. For what? God knows.
Didn’t Stern find a more worthy way to round off the differences?
Well-planned plot?
Miniature "Snake Island, or the Fleet will not let you down!" - one more
one example of Stern's topical humor. Target him on
this time the passion of the navies of all black-black countries served
sea basin (and also the United States) to occupy strategic boundaries
of the former USSR. In my opinion, it’s too small for Stern. Although, again,
read right through and with great pleasure.
The story "Fog in the landing boot (from lyrical fairy tales
I just didn’t like Gorynych’s Snake. Exhausted and uninterested
but... And, unlike other things, completely without raisins.
To be honest, I am quite concerned about the course that the
Stern: more and more emphasis on the text itself, less and less attention
content. For now, what takes him away is that he actually has the text,
as a rule, above all praise, but how long will Boris Gedalie-
Is it enough to sculpt beautiful but empty pots? Won't you get tired of it?
in a year or two? Let's remember: something similar happened to Alec.
Sandrom Siletsky - at first there were empty verbal tricks,
volume and the evil banality in the “Worthy Urban Description” for the content
she left, and then?.. Then there was silence.
Look, Boris Gedalievich! You have never followed anyone else's paths
- don’t step on this one inadvertently...----------------------------------------------------------------
Yuliy BURKIN. "Butterfly and Basilisk." / Preface A. Kubatieva;
Hood. S. Alekseev. - Almaty: Express book, 1994 (B-magazine
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