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Aelita

Aelita

Author: Alexei Tolstoy

Written in the immediate aftermath of the Russian Revolution, this is one of the classics of Soviet science fiction. A pair of human adventurers arrive on Mars and discover an advanced civilisation, but one in which there is an immense difference between the ruling class and the workers, who are forced to live underground near their machines. To further complicate matters, the planet is facing an environmental catastrophe, and drastic action is needed if the Martians are to survive. One of the humans ends up leading a revolt of the workers, while the other falls in love with Aelita, the princess of Mars.   Tolstoy effectively takes the familiar elements of planetary romances like A Princess of Mars (see above), and twists them in a new way to turn it into a dramatization of communist ideology. It just demonstrates how flexible a stage Mars can be.

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