Город наверху

by Kir Bulychev, Кир Булычев

Замечательного писателя и человека Игоря Всеволодовича Можейко (1934–2003) мы знаем, в первую очередь, как Кира Булычева, автора рассказов об Алисе Селезневой. Всего же опубликованных произведений Булычева насчитывается несколько сотен – многие из них входят в серии (автор часто возвращался к любимым персонажам), но достаточное количество очень интересных книг нельзя отнести ни к одной из них. Это повести "Журавль в руках", "Похищение чародея", "Поминальник XX века", "Чужая память" и многие другие. Наиболее известные циклы рассказов: "Великий Гусляр", "Доктор Павлыш", "Институт экспертизы", "Театр теней", "Река Хронос", "Галактическая полиция" и др.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Fantasy, Russia, Science Fiction Fantasy

258 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1983

About the author

Kir Bulychev was a pen name of Igor Vsevolodovich Mozheiko, a Soviet Russian science fiction writer, critic, translator and historian of Lithuanian ancestry. His magnum opus is a children's science fiction series Alisa Selezneva, although most of his books are adult-oriented. His books were adapted for film, TV, and animation over 20 times – more than any other Russian science fiction author – and Bulychev himself wrote scripts for early adaptations.
He began to write SF in 1965. He has translated numerous American SF stories into Russian.
Winner of the ESFS Awards in 1984 as the "Best Short Story Writer".
Winner of the Aelita award in 1997.

Other names:
Russian - Кир Булычев
Russian real name (non-fiction books) - Игорь Можейко
Bulgarian - Кир Буличов
Polish - Kir Bułyczow
Hungarian - Kir Bulicsov
Estonian - Kir Bulõtšov
Spanish - Kir Bulichov
Slovak - Kirill Bulyčov
Finnish - Kirill Bulytšev
Lithuanian - Kirilas Bulyčiovas
German - Kirill Bulytschow
Czech - Kir Bulyčov
Chinese - 季尔·布雷乔夫

Reviews

[Andrew Orange · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perhaps, the author's best book.

[Gremrien · Rating 2 out of 5]

I feel that I missed something not having read even the key Кир Булычёв’s books. Well, I probably have read some books about Алиса Селезнёва when I was a child (although I do not remember it clearly, honestly), and I tried a couple of “historical science fiction” stories later (about which I had a good impression then, but again, do not remember much now). I suppose it is wrong to consider Кир Булычёв “the author of books about Алиса Селезнёва,” as he was mostly a writer for adults/young adults, and his bibliography is quite versatile. He could probably be much better known as a sci-fi writer in the USSR, but his fame was seriously dwarfed by brothers Стругацкие, who outweighed him by their signature depth of “social philosophy.”

So I decided to try a couple of his sci-fi books to see whether I am missing something important )).

This book, though, was not the best choice. The concept is interesting — it’s some post-apocalyptic situation where the remains of civilization tried to survive on the remnants of the dead world after a nuclear war. Nothing especially new, of course, but we still crave such stories again and again. The beginning, where the world is introduced to us, is good: intriguing, well-engaging, very “visual.” I liked some original inventions of the author and the whole careful but not lazy pace of the story. The ending is also good: a real dramatic action thriller that would look very cool in a movie. However, the body of the story is typical Soviet bullshit: propagandistic, boring, and unimaginative, which makes all this worthless. It’s a pity that the author was so constrained ideologically. He definitely could have written the same story from a much more plausible and complex point of view.

[Piotr Szpakowski · Rating 5 out of 5]

Świetna książka, wyraźnie widać, że była inspiracją dla serii "Metro 2033". Polecem!

[Tomasz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Książka ze zmarnowanym potencjałem. Doskonały, ciężki klimat, intrygująca historia, przewrotna symbolika, a rozwinięcie i zakończenie kompletnie nijakie i bez pomysłu. Szkoda.