Worlds Apart

Author: Alexander Levitsky

Fantasy and science fiction have at least as long and honourable tradition in Russian fiction as they do throughout Western Europe (and longer than they do in America), and this survey of Russian f&sf indicates how integral the fantastic is to Russian literature. After all, there are stories here by Pushkin, Turgenev, Gogol, Dostoevsky, Bulgakov, Lermontov and many others who count as giants of world literature. The older pieces are quaint by modern standards, and there are no stories by living writers which means that the resurgence of Russian science fiction since the fall of the Soviet Union isn't represented, but as an introduction to an often surprising form of science fiction this selection is excellent.Why it's on the listTo be honest, the critical paraphernalia around each of the stories tends to be lumbering and clumsy, but read it for the stories alone and you'll want to know much much more about a branch of sf we've barely been aware of in the West.