Reaching for the Moon from Behind the Iron Curtain

I recently read Volume 5 of Keisuke Makino’s Japanese light novel series, Irina: The Vampire Cosmonaut. As I’ve mentioned in earlier posts, I discovered this series through the anime, which adapted volumes 1 and 2. Those first two volumes told the story of Irina Luminesk, a vampire who was captured to be a test subject for the Zirnitran space program. In this world, the Zirnitran Union closely parallels the Soviet Union. Cosmonaut Lev Leps, who strongly resembles the real life Yuri Gagarin, ...