************************** Reflections **********************************
Alexey ZAKHAROV
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Concert of demons: Sat. / Comp. L. Kozinets. - M.: "Young Guard",
[1993].
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The collection was announced as "the first to reflect the tradition of "terribly
th "story in the classics of the 18th-19th centuries and modern fiction."
After carefully reading the book, you come, unfortunately, to...
water, which is obviously a Russian horror story, both born and
became extinct in the 19th century. Works by V. Odoevsky, A. Pogorelsky and
M. Zagoskina - book decorations. Everything else is alas and ah (maybe
be, with the exception of S. Loginov's story "Monstrum Magnum", dis-
D. Truskinovskaya's tale "I want to be with you"), is perceived as
makeweight.
The main problem for authors of our time is what to do with
horrors. After all, they need to be taken from somewhere and put somewhere. As a result,
This is followed by either a tedious three-page explanation with an abundance of
different terms, after which it turns out that this is, of course, a foreign
netyan (E. Burlachenko, "Night of the Mutants"), or active shooting with
subsequent awareness of the fact that the enemy had come from parallel
of the new world (S. Ivanov, “One Way Road”), or something else
in the same spirit.
Because of this confusion there is one more problem - not scary, wellat least
you burst. Even the warning on the title page (“For people with weak
It’s not recommended to read if you’re nervous”) doesn’t help. Suppose
all people turn into vampires (A. Bachilo, “The Awakening of the Vurda-
varnishes") - that’s how they all turn. Once there were people, they will become vampires. Ab-
I'm not at all frightened by the story of the theft of the Hamelin flute by rats.
the rat catcher and writing a collective letter to people - “You don’t
touch!" (A. Biryuk, “Treasure”). Even the stylization of horror to resemble the East
does not save (A. Polyakov, “Glass Ball”).
You read the book and you will feel sad. It was good for the ancestors. Few
because they ate, slept, and drank to their heart’s content, so they were even better scared. Obi-
bottom...
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Soviet science fiction of the 1980s. Book 2 / Comp. O.Larionova.-
M.: "Friendship of Peoples", 1994.- 622 pp.: ill.- (B-ka of fiction. In 24
v. v. 8 book 2)
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The Library of Fiction has been published for almost a decade. Basic
The main purpose of the publication was obviously an attempt to highlight the development of fandom.
tastics for several centuries (it should be noted that the composition
The authorities approached this issue quite broadly). In particular,
on Soviet (Russian) science fiction, volumes were published with works
Denias of the 19th century, several collections of fiction of the 20th century, as well as
volumes by individual authors (Efremov and others)
Science fiction of the eighties is presented intwo collections.
The first one came out quite a long time ago and was mainly dedicated to the authors
worked closely with the publishing house "Young Guard"
(Medvedev, Shcherbakov, etc.), the second one came out recently, and about it
us and the conversation will begin.
The works included in the anthology perfectly show the way
development of Soviet SF during this period. Some of them are about a bright future -
common humanity - these are the stories of S. Drugal "Basilisk", G. Gurevich
"Talent on demand." The future is wonderful. Evil is eliminated, if
There are inconsistencies, then this is the result of exceptionally bad upbringing.
The story of A. Shcherbakov invades the wonderful world with a sharp note of alarm
"Shift" (by the way, the only work of domestic fantasy)
tiki, awarded as the best SF book of the year in Europe). Gru-
the generous and kind Shefner with the story “Paradise on Explosives.” Perhaps
someone will laugh after reading it - well, that’s their right.
The stories included in the collection were published many times, but
really, they deserve it. And an inimitably funny story
B. Stern "Whose planet?", and full of faith in man "Art
zhnik" by V. Rybakov, and the hard satirical "Wallet" by M. Weller.
The path from boundless faith in a good future to gradual
noticing how different the real world is from the created fantasy
tami ideal appears before us. What's next? In the yard
withered...----------------------------------------------------------------
Kir Bulychev. Death on the Floor Below: A Novel. Tale.- M.: “Hope-
Zhda-1", 1994.- 448 p.
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The collection was published in the "Russian Detective" series and includes
a new novel “Sleep, Beauty” and a long-published story,
which gave the collection its title.
The author admits in the preface that the reason for publication is such
works of different ideas in one collection there was a desire
show how the surroundings of a written text can change in a few years
works in one genre.
"Death on the Floor Below" is a fairly ordinary catastrophic novel.
rofa. The action takes place in a small town, where, due to bad
wastewater treatment plants release toxic substances and cause death
several thousand city residents. Perhaps everything would have gone unnoticed -
important for the center (the city and plant administrations are doing everything
measures for this), but, to the misfortune of local authorities, in the city it turns out
visiting journalist. He is horrified by what he sees and decides
to expose all the abuses in the CPSU Central Committee, which is where it strives, despite
to the opposition of the city authorities.
"Sleep, Beauty" will impress primarily
lovers of intellectual detective stories (something in the spirit of Agatha Chris-
ti). Nowadays, most crime novels sold on
book market, refers rather totraditions of the "tough" detective,
so there is already some variety. The action develops slowly -
Lividly, there are very few corpses these days. The novel is part of the
riya "River Chronos" (however, it was written as a completely independent
work, and those who have not read the previous novels in the series - "The River
Chronos" and "Reserve for Academicians" - this novel will be read without
difficulties). It’s very nice that the author does not attack with terrifying
regularity to some social group, which is so fashionable
now in the detective genre (such as: undead communists, horror
real racketeers, underground millionaires, etc.).
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Dave WOLVERTON. On the way to heaven: a novel. / Per. from English A.Gruz-
Berg.- M.: A. Korzhenevsky; Smolensk: Rusich, 1995.- 624 p.- (Co-
bloodshed of combat fiction and adventure).
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The author of the novel, Dave Wolverton, is practically unknown to our
to the reader. But his first publication in Russia was the novel “On the Way to
paradise", really deserves attention. The novel represents
reworking of the story, which in 1986 received first prize in
"Writers of the Future" competition.
“On the Way to Heaven” will be perfectly understood by residents of the former USSR.
The novel fits perfectly into post-Soviet reality.
ness.
The main character of the novel is the doctor Angelo, who, after meeting witha mysterious girl finds herself drawn into a series of strange events -
tiy. He kills a man who was chasing a girl and is forced to quit
medical practice and, as a result of these events, becomes a mercenary
com on planet Baker. The world surrounding the hero is ours with you -
where trends that are already emerging today have developed.
A state that genetically reprograms its citizens to
better management of them, extremely aggravated in all inhabitants
of this world, the concept of territory, one’s place in their unkind world, -
as if compensation for what they lost. As a result, we achieved
relations between nations that have gone to extremes (the problem of misunderstanding -
the main one in the novel). Everyone protects his own world, establishes in it
their own orders and laws, but life, alas, is impossible to live without
leaving his cage...
The novel is multi-faceted and can be read at different levels -
those who want to find adventures in a book will find them; the one whom
are more interested in problems of moral, ethical or philosophical
plan, undoubtedly, will also not throw the book aside. So - chi-
It's a very good and smart book.
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David BRIN. Star Tide: A Novel / Translated from English. A. Gruzberg.
- M.: Alexandria; Smolensk: Rusich, 1995.- 560 pp.- (Treasury
combat fantasy and adventure)
----------------------------------------------------------------The novel received wide recognition in the West, winning both
top awards: Hugo and Nebula. Now our reader can
enjoy this work (though there is a certain
complaints about the translation - after reading, no impression is created
regarding the integrity of the text).
"Star Tide" is a novel about responsibility to those whom
you led the way. The galaxy is vast and populated, but the races that have received
Those who have access to the stars earlier than others have the right when discovered
intelligent beings using artificial methods to raise their level
intelligence, for which they must serve for a long time
to their patrons. However, such powerful races now also had
cartridges - etc. The cartridge has the right to change its clients -
as he wants. Earthlings are the only intelligent race All-
Lennoy, who has no patron. They themselves went into space and met
there are ships from foreign stars. However, they are cartridges for non-
how many terrestrial species of animals have been “civilized” by them. These are, for example,
the heroes of the novel are neo-dolphins and an intelligent chimpanzee. People are trying
build relationships with your clients as equals, but this entails
comes with a lot of responsibility. Other cartridges have problems
no - the relationship between them and their clients is built at the art level
May hazing, that is, “first you, then you.” Everything is beautiful
but...
The problem is that earthlings are trying to develop their innerreserves of their clients. The easiest way is to force them to adopt the image
thinking of the owners, but in this case you will simply get duplicates of people,
Moreover, the duplicates are obviously unsuccessful due to physical and intellectual
lectual inconsistency. Clients themselves feel incomplete
value, which leads to tragedies. What to do: adjust the iron-
hand (like everyone else) or go the hard way of educating equal se-
b...
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Valery OKULOV
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Boris IVANOV, Yuri SHCHERBATYKH. Case of smuggling: Stories,
stories - Kharkov: TM "Second Pancake", 1994.- 328 pp. - (series "Be-
nefis", 3). - 999 copies.
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The third book in the series is so different from the first two
(containing part of the series "The Abyss of Hungry Eyes" by G. L. Oldie), which
arouses interest from the first pages. At least the designation of the
the propriety of stories written jointly by Voronezh authors,
- "sci-fi"! Indeed, in recent years, among domestic
Former authors, the term “sci-fi” has become clearly impractical
den, and even into the good old abbreviation “NF” a new one was put in
contents: "New Science Fiction"...
And here are new authors, but with the good old “sci-fi”
Kim" detective.
I must confess - to me"initially" interesting to read the story
(not novels or stories) by previously unknown authors. Without going into
Going into the reasons for this, I hasten to immediately state that after reading
news "Strawberry Fields Forever" and "A Case of Smuggling", dis-
telling about the adventures of Federal Investigator 4th (and then
and 5th) category, Kaya Sandi, in the vastness of the Galaxy, in anticipation
I wasn't disappointed.
There are no special innovations in the plot: the action takes place
after the collapse of the Empire of the Thirty-Three Worlds, after the times of the Galactic
Czech Troubles and the Age of Wars... Involved in the "entourage": cruiser
United Federation Space Fleet, secret investigation
at the Fern-21 active observation station, experiments on modi-
fication of human behavior with the help of psychotronic viruses (in the first
stories); forced participation of the Federal Investigator, finding
on vacation, in search of a Faberge Easter egg and a unique
th work of “Alien Art” from Meletta-5, his struggle with the ver-
the night-living Mafia (now Galactic!), one of the "godfathers"
fathers" of which is the Great Kiriloff (descendant of a member of the Politburo-
ro - that’s a patriotic innovation!), ending, of course,
brilliant victory for the Investigator! (this is in the second story).
But the action (especially in “The Case of Smuggling”) develops
Well, it’s quite difficult to predict its turns, science (“fantastic-
Sky") appears: for example - the Fifth PlanetMeletta system,
which, having avoided the Collapse, with other world constants got
from the previous one to our Universe...
The stories are read with interest.
Like the following story by B. Ivanov “Report” - tril-
ler about the fight against monsters ("wild hybrids of lizards and crustaceans -
nogo"), hidden in every person, released by the "Word
Authorities" - transformative information...
An attempt by scientists from the “Research Center for Mental Activity”
information" read the old story of dear Dr. Jekyll and me-
sharp Mr. Hyde "in the language of systems analysis" lead to tears
obvious results... But what will happen if he gets complete freedom
"dear doctor"?..
One of the heroes is right: “I don’t want to become either a god or a devil.”
Tom! I want to remain human!" (Or rather it would be: “I want to BECOME
person...)
The “report” turned out great.
Yu. Shcherbatykh's story "Flesh of My Flesh" - about adventures on
"a terrible planet called Cerberus" on which the caves "are filled
thousands of skeletons" attracted me somehow less...
And why are those fed human flesh by their creep servants?
pami skeleton quivers (creatures of unknown nature) turn into
I still don’t understand exactly the “black knights”...
But maybe the story is not about that at all, but about a romantic
the love of a rogue star trader and the daughter of a local leader, ordered
ending with a “happy ending”?!----------------------------------------------------------------
Yuri SHCHERBATYKH. Historical games: Novel. - Voronezh: Logost
Trust, 1994. - 275 p. - ("New names of Russia"). - 1000 copies.
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I don't like reading novels! There are very few among them that
captures your attention from the first pages and “holds” you until the last
lines... "Historical games", unfortunately, are also from the majority.
First read about the adventures of Interpol special agent Walter
Holldak in "Ancient Rome" (with the "embedded" memory of a shell-shocked
legionnaire Marcus Pictor Quintus) and “medieval Germany” (as
Fritz cured of demonic possession) is quite interesting. And
you can even rack your brains with the hero about the “secret of travel”
viya in time"!
But by the middle of the book, “interest” decreases - in the transformation
Mark in "senior representative of the district Cheka Nikolai Smelkov"
there is already (not by the will of the author) something parodic.
Unfortunately, the main idea of the novel cannot withstand criticism,
after all, pretending to be “serious” - carried out on de-
ngi of the CPSU and the CPC (the notorious "gold of the party") "Project Vesta" -
aiming to change the course of history to create a stable
communist society.
Apparently, guided by the slogan “Fiction should
be fantastic!", the author of the novel and shows how to research
vaniaoptimal paths to the goal on the Vesta asteroid
hermetic "domes" were built, corresponding to various
periods of human history", and to manage the process of "re-
recreating" this very story, the giant computer "Hero" was created
dot"...
Gentlemen, is it really possible to find such faithful Bolsheviks?
(but at the same time mixing with the drug mafia), so that they their money
were they allowed to go to "utopia"? This is absolutely "unscientific fiction"
it turns out...
The last third of the novel is an ordinary "adventure", despite
quotes from "Mein Kampf", descriptions of Delgado's experiments and chain nuclei -
no reaction... The main thing here is the salvation of the beloved, not counting the bo-
fight against the tyranny of the Politburo of the asteroid! Ending, naturally-
literally (but as a result of chance) the complete victory of the right (ca-
nutritional) forces. Apotheosis: purchase of a house in the Schwarz mountains
Wald in exchange for a unique crystal that was grabbed by the way
artificial ruby "Oberon-IV"!
And yet, even if the novel was not a success for the author in all respects, this book,
and stories written in collaboration with B. Ivanov provide the basis
believe that the application for a “new name for Russia” has been made.
At the same time, it’s such a loud name to call a series of books published in
Voronezh, I would not dare
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