Science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

and

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...

have been part of mainstream

Russian literature Russian literature refers to the literature of Russia and its émigrés and to Russian language, Russian-language literature. The roots of Russian literature can be traced to the Middle Ages, when epics and chronicles in Old East Slavic were c ...

since the 18th century. Russian fantasy developed from the centuries-old traditions of

Slavic mythology Slavic mythology or Slavic religion is the religious beliefs, myths, and ritual practices of the Slavs before Christianisation, which occurred at various stages between the 8th and the 13th century. The South Slavs, who likely settled in the B ...

and

folklore Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, ranging ...

. Russian science fiction emerged in the mid-19th century and rose to its

golden age The term Golden Age comes from Greek mythology, particularly the ''Works and Days'' of Hesiod, and is part of the description of temporal decline of the state of peoples through five Ages of Man, Ages, Gold being the first and the one during ...

during the Soviet era, both in cinema and literature, with writers like the

Strugatsky brothers The brothers Arkady Natanovich Strugatsky (russian: Аркадий Натанович Стругацкий; 28 August 1925 – 12 October 1991) and Boris Natanovich Strugatsky ( ru , Борис Натанович Стругацкий; 14 A ...

Kir Bulychov Kir Bulychev (russian: Кир Булычёв ir Bulychyov 18 October 1934 – 5 September 2003) is a pen name of Igor Vsevolodovich Mozheiko (И́горь Все́володович Може́йко), a USSR, Soviet Russian science fiction wri ...

, and

Mikhail Bulgakov Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov ( rus, links=no, Михаил Афанасьевич Булгаков, p=mʲɪxɐˈil ɐfɐˈnasʲjɪvʲɪtɕ bʊlˈɡakəf; – 10 March 1940) was a Soviet writer, medical doctor, and playwright active in the fir ...

, among others. Soviet filmmakers, such as

Andrei Tarkovsky Andrei Arsenyevich Tarkovsky ( rus, Андрей Арсеньевич Тарковский, p=ɐnˈdrʲej ɐrˈsʲenʲjɪvʲɪtɕ tɐrˈkofskʲɪj; 4 April 1932 – 29 December 1986) was a Russian filmmaker. Widely considered one of the greates ...

, also produced many science fiction and fantasy films. With the fall of the

Iron Curtain The Iron Curtain was the political boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War II in 1945 until the end of the Cold War in 1991. The term symbolizes the efforts by the Soviet Union (USSR) to block itself and its s ...

, modern Russia experienced a renaissance of fantasy. Outside modern Russian borders, there are a significant number of Russophone writers and filmmakers from Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan, who have made a notable contribution to the genres.

Terminology

In the Russian language, fantasy, science fiction, horror and all other related genres are considered a part of a larger

umbrella term In linguistics, semantics, general semantics, and ontologies, hyponymy () is a semantic relation between a hyponym denoting a subtype and a hypernym or hyperonym (sometimes called umbrella term or blanket term) denoting a supertype. In other wor ...

, фантастика (''fantastika''), roughly equivalent to "

speculative fiction Speculative fiction is a term that has been used with a variety of (sometimes contradictory) meanings. The broadest interpretation is as a category of fiction encompassing genres with elements that do not exist in reality, recorded history, na ...

", and are less divided than in the West. The Russian term for science fiction is научная фантастика (''nauchnaya fantastika''), which can be literally translated as "scientific fantasy" or "scientific speculative fiction". Since there was very little adult-oriented fantasy fiction in Soviet times, Russians did not use a specific term for this genre until

Perestroika ''Perestroika'' (; russian: links=no, перестройка, p=pʲɪrʲɪˈstrojkə, a=ru-perestroika.ogg) was a political movement for reform within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) during the late 1980s widely associated wit ...

. Although the Russian language has a literal translation for 'fantasy', фантазия (''fantaziya''), the word refers to a dream or imagination, not literary genre. Today, Russian publishers and literary critics use direct English transcription, фэнтези (''fentezi'').

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

and

supernatural fiction Supernatural fiction or supernaturalist fiction is a genre of speculative fiction that exploits or is centered on supernatural themes, often contradicting naturalist assumptions of the real world. Description In its broadest definition, supe ...

are often referred to as мистика (''mistika'', Russian for

mysticism Mysticism is popularly known as becoming one with God or the Absolute, but may refer to any kind of ecstasy or altered state of consciousness which is given a religious or spiritual meaning. It may also refer to the attainment of insight in u ...

Imperial period

18th and early 19th centuries

While science fiction did not emerge in Russia as a coherent genre until the early 20th century, many of its aspects, such as utopia or imaginary voyage, are found in earlier Russian works. Fedor Dmitriev-Mamonov's anti-clerical ''A Philosopher Nobleman. The Allegory'' (Дворянин-философ. Аллегория, 1769) is considered prototypical to science fiction. It is a

voltaire François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778) was a French Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment writer, historian, and philosopher. Known by his ''Pen name, nom de plume'' M. de Voltaire (; also ; ), he was famous for his wit, and his ...

an ''conte philosophique'' influenced by ''

Micromégas ''Le Micromégas'' is a 1752 novella by the French philosopher and satirist Voltaire. Along with his story "Plato's Dream", it is an early example in the literary genre of science fiction and has its place in the development of the history of li ...

''.

Utopia A utopia ( ) typically describes an imaginary community or society that possesses highly desirable or nearly perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book ''Utopia (book), Utopia'', describing a fictional ...

was a major genre of early Russian speculative fiction. The first utopia in Russian was a short story by Alexander Sumarokov, "A Dream of Happy Society" (1759). Two early

utopia A utopia ( ) typically describes an imaginary community or society that possesses highly desirable or nearly perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book ''Utopia (book), Utopia'', describing a fictional ...

s in form of imaginary voyage are Vasily Levshin's ''Newest Voyage'' (1784, also the first Russian "flight" to the Moon) and Mikhail Shcherbatov's ''Journey to the Land of Ophir''. Pseudo-historical

heroic romance Heroic romances refers to a distinguished class of imaginative literature that flourished in the 17th century, principally in France. Characteristics Today, heroic romances are more often grouped into the larger Romance (heroic literature), romanc ...

s in classical settings (modeled on Fenelon's ''Telemaque'') by Fyodor Emin,

Mikhail Kheraskov Mikhail Matveyevich Kheraskov (russian: Михаи́л Матве́евич Хера́сков; – ) was Russian poet and playwright. A leading figure of the Russian Enlightenment, Kheraskov was regarded as the most important Russian poet by C ...

, Pavel Lvov and Pyotr Zakharyin were also utopian. ''Ancient Night of the Universe'' (1807), an epic poem by

Semyon Bobrov Semyon Sergeyevich Bobrov (1763/1765, Yaroslavl - 22 March (3 April) 1810, Saint Petersburg) — was a Russian poet and civil servant. Life Bobrov's father was a church minister. At the age of nine Bobrov entered a religious seminary at Moscow. ...

, is the first work of Russian Cosmism. Some of

Faddei Bulgarin Thaddeus Venediktovich Bulgarin (russian: Фаддей Венедиктович Булгарин; Polish Jan Tadeusz Krzysztof Bułharyn, – ), was a Russian writer, journalist and publisher of Polish ancestry. In addition to his newspaper ...

's tales are set in the future, others exploited themes of

hollow earth The Hollow Earth is a concept proposing that the planet Earth is entirely hollow or contains a substantial interior space. Notably suggested by Edmond Halley in the late 17th century, the notion was disproven, first tentatively by Pierre Bougue ...

and space flight, as did Osip Senkovsky's ''Fantastic Voyages of Baron Brambeus''. Authors of Gothic stories included

Aleksandr Bestuzhev Alexander Alexandrovich Bestuzhev ( rus, Алекса́ндр Алекса́ндрович Бесту́жев, p=bʲɪˈstuʐɨf, a=Ru-Alyeksandr Alyeksandrovich Byestuzhyev.oga; (), was a Russian writer and Decembrist. After the Decembrist rev ...

with his German ''couleur locale'',

Sergey Lyubetsky Sergey may refer to: * Sergey (name), a Russian given name (including a list of people with the name) * Sergey, Switzerland, a municipality in Switzerland * Sergey (wasp), ''Sergey'' (wasp), a genus in subfamily Doryctinae {{Disambiguation ...

, Vladimir Olin, Alexey K. Tolstoy, Elizaveta Kologrivova and

Mikhail Lermontov Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov (; russian: Михаи́л Ю́рьевич Ле́рмонтов, p=mʲɪxɐˈil ˈjurʲjɪvʲɪtɕ ˈlʲɛrməntəf; – ) was a Russian Romantic writer, poet and painter, sometimes called "the poet of the Caucas ...

("Stoss"). By the mid-19th century imaginary voyages to space had become popular

chapbook A chapbook is a small publication of up to about 40 pages, sometimes bound with a saddle stitch. In early modern Europe a chapbook was a type of printed street literature. Produced cheaply, chapbooks were commonly small, paper-covered bookle ...

s, such as ''Voyage to the Sun and Planet Mercury and All the Visible and Invisible Worlds'' (1832) by Dmitry Sigov, ''Correspondence of a Moonman with an Earthman'' (1842) by Pyotr Mashkov, ''Voyage to the Moon in a Wonderful Machine'' (1844) by Semyon Dyachkov and ''Voyage in the Sun'' (1846) by Demokrit Terpinovich. Popular literature used fantastic motifs like demons ( Rafail Zotov's ''Qin-Kiu-Tong''), invisibility (Ivan Shteven's ''Magic Spectacles'') and shrinking men ( Vasily Alferyev's ''Picture''). Hoffmann's fantastic tales influenced east European writers including Ukrainian writer

Nikolay Gogol Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol; uk, link=no, Мико́ла Васи́льович Го́голь, translit=Mykola Vasyliovych Hohol; (russian: Яновский; uk, Яновський, translit=Yanovskyi) ( – ) was a Russian novelist, ...

, Russian writers

Antony Pogorelsky Antony Pogorelsky ( Russian: Анто́ний Погоре́льский) is a pen name of Alexey Alexeyevich Perovsky (Russian Алексе́й Алексе́евич Перо́вский), (1787–) a Russian prose writer. He was a natural son ...

, Nikolay Melgunov, Vladimir Karlgof,

Nikolai Polevoy Nikolai Alekseevich Polevoy ( rus, Никола́й Алексе́евич Полево́й, r=Nikoláy Alekséevich Polevóy, ― ) was a controversial Russia, Russian editor, writer, translator, and historian; his brother was the critic and jou ...

, Aleksey Tomofeev,

Konstantin Aksakov Konstantin Sergeyevich Aksakov (russian: Константи́н Серге́евич Акса́ков) (10 April 1817 – 19 December 1860) was a Russian critic and writer, one of the earliest and most notable Slavophiles. He wrote plays, social ...

and Vasily Ushakov. Supernatural folk tales were stylized by

Orest Somov Orest Mikhailovich Somov (Russian and uk, Орест Михайлович Сомов, romanized Ukrainian standard: ''Orest Mykhailovych Somov/Somiv'') ( – ) was a Russian romantic writer of Ukrainian origin. He studied at Kharkiv Univers ...

, Vladimir Olin,

Mikhail Zagoskin Mikhail Nikolayevich Zagoskin (russian: Михаил Николаевич Загоскин; July 25, 1789 – July 5, 1852) was a Russian writer of social comedies and historical novels. Zagoskin was born in the village of Ramzay in Penza Oblast. ...

and Nikolay Bilevich. Vladimir Odoevsky, a romantic writer influenced by Hoffmann, wrote on his vision of the future and scientific progress as well as many

tales.

Alexander Veltman Alexander Fomich Veltman (russian: Алекса́ндр Фоми́ч Ве́льтман) ( — ) was one of the most successful Russian prose writers of the 1830s and 1840s, "popular for various modes of Romantic fiction — historical, Gothic ...

, along with his folk romances ('' Koschei the Immortal'', 1833) and hoffmanesque satiric tales (''New Yemelya or, Metamorphoses'', 1845), in 1836 published ''The forebears of Kalimeros: Alexander, son of Philip of Macedon'', the first Russian novel to feature

time travel Time travel is the concept of movement between certain points in time, analogous to movement between different points in space by an object or a person, typically with the use of a hypothetical device known as a time machine. Time travel is a w ...

. In the book, the main character rides to ancient Greece on a hippogriff to meet

Aristotle Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of phil ...

and

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, wikt:Ἀλέξανδρος, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Maced ...

. In ''Year 3448'' (1833), a

Heliodor Beryl ( ) is a mineral composed of beryllium aluminium silicate with the chemical formula Be3Al2Si6O18. Well-known varieties of beryl include emerald and aquamarine. Naturally occurring, hexagonal crystals of beryl can be up to several met ...

ic love romance set in the future, a traveler visits an imaginary country Bosphorania and sees social and technological advances of the 35th century. File:Портрет Гоголя.jpg,

Nikolai Gogol Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol; uk, link=no, Мико́ла Васи́льович Го́голь, translit=Mykola Vasyliovych Hohol; (russian: Яновский; uk, Яновський, translit=Yanovskyi) ( – ) was a Russian novelist, ...

File:Kiprensky Pushkin.jpg,

Alexander Pushkin Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin (; rus, links=no, Александр Сергеевич ПушкинIn pre-Revolutionary script, his name was written ., r=Aleksandr Sergeyevich Pushkin, p=ɐlʲɪkˈsandr sʲɪrˈɡʲe(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ ˈpuʂkʲɪn, ...

File:Aleksey K Tolstoy.jpg, Alexey K. Tolstoy File:Odoevsky vladimir.jpg, Vladimir Odoevsky File:Bulgarin Faddei.jpg,

Late 19th - early 20th century

Second half of the 19th century saw the rise of

realism Realism, Realistic, or Realists may refer to: In the arts *Realism (arts), the general attempt to depict subjects truthfully in different forms of the arts Arts movements related to realism include: *Classical Realism *Literary realism, a move ...

. However, fantasies with a scientific rationale by Nikolai Akhsharumov and Nikolai Vagner stand out during this period, as well as Ivan Turgenev's "mysterious tales" and

Vera Zhelikhovsky Vera Zhelikhovsky (russian: Ве́ра Петро́вна Желихо́вская, uk, Віра Желіховська Петрівна; April 29, 1835 – May 17, 1896), sometimes transliterated as Vera Jelihovsky, was a Russian writer, mostly ...

's occult fiction. Mikhail Mikhailov's story "Beyond History" (published in 1869), a pre- Darwinian fantasy on the descent of man, is an early example of

prehistoric fiction Prehistoric fiction is a literary genre in which the story is set in the period of time prior to the existence of written record, known as prehistory. As a fictional genre, the realistic description of the subject varies, without necessarily a c ...

. Fictional accounts of prehistoric men were written by anthropologists and popular science writers ("Prehistoric Man", 1890, by Wilhelm Bitner, ''The First Artist'', 1907, by Dmitry Pakhomov, ''Tale of a Mammoth and an Ice-Man'', 1909, by Pyotr Dravert, ''Dragon's Victims'', 1910, by

Vladimir Bogoraz Vladimir Germanovich Bogoraz (russian: Влади́мир Ге́рманович Богора́з), who was born Natan Mendelevich Bogoraz (russian: Ната́н Ме́нделевич Богора́з) and used the literary pseudonym N. A. Tan ( ...

). Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin's satires use a fantastic and grotesque element (''The History of a Town'' and prose fables). The plot of ''Animal Mutiny'' (published 1917) by historian Nikolay Kostomarov is similar to that of

Orwell Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950), better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English novelist, essayist, journalist, and critic. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to totalitari ...

's ''

Animal Farm ''Animal Farm'' is a beast fable, in the form of satirical allegorical novella, by George Orwell, first published in England on 17 August 1945. It tells the story of a group of farm animals who rebel against their human farmer, hoping to crea ...

''. Some of

Fyodor Dostoevsky Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky (, ; rus, Фёдор Михайлович Достоевский, Fyódor Mikháylovich Dostoyévskiy, p=ˈfʲɵdər mʲɪˈxajləvʲɪdʑ dəstɐˈjefskʲɪj, a=ru-Dostoevsky.ogg, links=yes; 11 November 18219 ...

's short works also use fantasy: ''

The Dream of a Ridiculous Man "The Dream of a Ridiculous Man" (russian: Сон смешного человека, ''Son smeshnovo cheloveka'') is a short story by Fyodor Dostoevsky. It chronicles the experiences of a man who decides that there is nothing of any value in the wo ...

'' (about the corruption of the

n society on another planet), a

doppelgänger A doppelgänger (), a compound noun formed by combining the two nouns (double) and (walker or goer) (), doppelgaenger or doppelganger is a biologically unrelated look-alike, or a double, of a living person. In fiction and mythology, a doppelg ...

novella '' The Double: A Petersburg Poem'', mesmeric ''The Landlady'', and a comic

horror Horror may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Genres *Horror fiction, a genre of fiction ** Japanese horror, Japanese horror fiction **Korean horror, Korean horror fiction * Horror film, a film genre *Horror comics, comic books focusing o ...

story ''

Bobok "Bobok" (russian: Бобок, ''Bobok'') is a short story by Fyodor Dostoevsky that first appeared in 1873 in his self-published ''Diary of a Writer''. The story consists largely of a dialogue between recently deceased occupants of graves in a cem ...

''. Dostoevsky's magazine ''Vremya'' was first to publish Russian translations of

Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is wide ...

's stories in 1861. Alexander Kondratyev's prose included mythological novel ''Satyress'' (1907) and collection of mythological stories ''White Goat'' (1908), both based on

Greek myths A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the origin and nature of the world, the lives and activities of de ...

. ''Journeys and Adventures of Nicodemus the Elder'' (1917) by

Aleksey Skaldin Alexey, Alexei, Alexie, Aleksei, or Aleksey (russian: Алексе́й ; bg, Алексей ) is a Russian and Bulgarian male first name deriving from the Greek ''Aléxios'' (), meaning "Defender", and thus of the same origin as the Latin Ale ...

is a

Gnostic Gnosticism (from grc, γνωστικός, gnōstikós, , 'having knowledge') is a collection of religious ideas and systems which coalesced in the late 1st century AD among Jewish and early Christian sects. These various groups emphasized pe ...

fantasy.

Utopias

Nikolai Chernyshevsky's influential ''

What Is to Be Done? ''What Is to Be Done? Burning Questions of Our Movement'' is a political pamphlet written by Russian revolutionary Vladimir Lenin (credited as N. Lenin) in 1901 and published in 1902. Lenin said that the article represented "a skeleton plan t ...

'' (1863) included a utopian dream of the far future, which became a prototype for many socialist utopias. A noted example is the duology by Marxist philosopher

Alexander Bogdanov Alexander Aleksandrovich Bogdanov (russian: Алекса́ндр Алекса́ндрович Богда́нов; – 7 April 1928), born Alexander Malinovsky, was a Russian and later Soviet physician, philosopher, science fiction writer, and B ...

, ''

Red Star A red star, five-pointed and filled, is a symbol that has often historically been associated with communist ideology, particularly in combination with the hammer and sickle, but is also used as a purely socialist symbol in the 21st century. I ...

'' and ''Engineer Menni''. Some plays of another Marxist,

Anatoly Lunacharsky Anatoly Vasilyevich Lunacharsky (russian: Анато́лий Васи́льевич Лунача́рский) (born Anatoly Aleksandrovich Antonov, – 26 December 1933) was a Russian Marxist revolutionary and the first Bolshevik Soviet People's ...

, propose his philosophical ideas in fantastic disguise. Other socialist utopias include ''Diary of André'' (1897) by pseudonymous A. Va-sky, ''On Another Planet'' (1901) by Porfiry Infantyev, and ''Spring Feast'' (1910) by Nikolay Oliger. Alexander Kuprin wrote a short story of the same kind, ''Toast'' (1907). Among others, Vladimir Solovyov wrote ''Tale of the Anti-Christ'' (1900), an ecumenical utopia. ''Earthly Paradise'' (1903) by Konstantin Mereschkowski is an anthropological utopia. ''Great War Between Men and Women'' (1913) by Sergey Solomin and ''Women Uprisen and Defeated'' (1914) by Polish writer

Ferdynand Antoni Ossendowski Ferdynand Antoni Ossendowski (27 May 1876 – 3 January 1945) was a Polish writer, explorer, university professor, and anticommunist political activist. He is known for his books about Lenin and the Russian Civil War in which he participated. ...

(written and published in Russian) is about a

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

revolution. Other feminist utopias include short

farce Farce is a comedy that seeks to entertain an audience through situations that are highly exaggerated, extravagant, ridiculous, absurd, and improbable. Farce is also characterized by heavy use of physical humor; the use of deliberate absurdity o ...

s ''Women on Mars'' (1906) by Victor Bilibin and ''Women Problem'' (1913) by

Nadezhda Teffi Nadezhda Alexandrovna Teffi (russian: Наде́жда Алекса́ндровна Тэ́ффи; , Saint Petersburg – 6 October 1952, Paris) was a Russian humorist writer. Together with Arkady Averchenko she was one of the prominent authors of t ...

. ''In Half a Century'' (1902) by

Sergey Sharapov Sergey may refer to: * Sergey (name), a Russian given name (including a list of people with the name) * Sergey, Switzerland, a municipality in Switzerland * ''Sergey'' (wasp), a genus in subfamily Doryctinae The Doryctinae or doryctine wasps are ...

is a patriarchal

Slavophile Slavophilia (russian: Славянофильство) was an intellectual movement originating from the 19th century that wanted the Russian Empire to be developed on the basis of values and institutions derived from Russia's early history. Slavoph ...

utopia, and ''Land of Bliss'' (1891) by Crimean Tatar Ismail Gasprinski is a

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

utopia. Voluminous ''A Created Legend'' (1914) by another

Symbolist Symbolism was a late 19th-century art movement of French and Belgian origin in poetry and other arts seeking to represent absolute truths symbolically through language and metaphorical images, mainly as a reaction against naturalism and realis ...

Fyodor Sologub is a utopia full of science fictional wonders close to magic.

Genre fiction

Entertainment fiction adopted

scientistic Scientism is the opinion that science and the scientific method are the best or only way to render truth about the world and reality. While the term was defined originally to mean "methods and attitudes typical of or attributed to natural scientis ...

themes, such as resurrection of an ancient Roman (''Extraordinary Story of a Resurrected Pompeian'' by Vasily Avenarius), global disaster (''Struggle of the Worlds'', 1900, by N. Kholodny; ''Under the Comet'', 1910, by Simon Belsky), mind reading devices (a recurring theme in works by Andrey Zarin), Antarctic city-states (''Under the Glass Dome'', 1914, by

Sergey Solomin Sergey may refer to: * Sergey (name), a Russian given name (including a list of people with the name) * Sergey, Switzerland, a municipality in Switzerland * Sergey (wasp), ''Sergey'' (wasp), a genus in subfamily Doryctinae {{Disambiguation ...

), an elixir of longevity (''Brothers of the Saint Cross'', 1898, by Nikolay Shelonsky), and '' Atlantis'' (1913, by Larisa Reisner).

Spaceflight Spaceflight (or space flight) is an application of astronautics to fly spacecraft into or through outer space, either with or without humans on board. Most spaceflight is uncrewed and conducted mainly with spacecraft such as satellites in or ...

remained a central science fiction topic since the 1890s in ''In the Ocean of Stars'' (1892) by Anany Lyakide, ''In the Moon'' (1893) and ''Dreams of Earth and Skies'' (1895) by Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, ''Voyage to Mars'' (1901) by Leonid Bogoyavlensky, "In Space" (1908) by Nikolay Morozov, ''Sailing Ether'' (1913) by Boris Krasnogorsky and its sequel, ''Islands of Ethereal Ocean'' (1914, co-authored by astronomer Daniil Svyatsky). In the 1910s Russian audience was interested in horror. ''Fire-Blossom'', a supernatural thriller by Alexander Amfiteatrov and Vera Kryzhanovsky's occult romances, that combined sci-fi and reactionary elitist utopia, were popular.

Bram Stoker Abraham Stoker (8 November 1847 – 20 April 1912) was an Irish author who is celebrated for his 1897 Gothic horror novel '' Dracula''. During his lifetime, he was better known as the personal assistant of actor Sir Henry Irving and busine ...

's ''

Dracula ''Dracula'' is a novel by Bram Stoker, published in 1897. As an epistolary novel, the narrative is related through letters, diary entries, and newspaper articles. It has no single protagonist, but opens with solicitor Jonathan Harker taking ...

'' was imitated by pseudonymous "b. Olshevri" (= "more lies" in Russian) in ''Vampires'', even before the original was translated to Russian. Early

Alexander Grin Aleksandr Stepanovich Grinevsky (better known by his pen name, Aleksandr Green / Grin (spelling varies in non-Russian literature), rus, Александр Грин, p=ɐlʲɪˈksandr ɡrʲin, a=Ru-Aleksandr Grin.ogg, 23 August 1880 – 8 July 1932 ...

's stories are mostly psychological horror (influenced by

Ambrose Bierce Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce (June 24, 1842 – ) was an American short story writer, journalist, poet, and American Civil War veteran. His book ''The Devil's Dictionary'' was named as one of "The 100 Greatest Masterpieces of American Literature" by t ...

), though later he drifted to fantasy. Future progress was described in fiction by scientists: "Wonders of Electricity" (1884) by electric engineer Vladimir Chikolev, ''Automatic Underground Railway'' (1902) by Alexander Rodnykh, and "Billionaire's Testament" (1904) by biologist

Porfiry Bakhmetyev Porfiry (russian: Порфирий; bg, Порфирий) is a given name in Russian and other Slavic languages, derived from the Greek Porphyry (''porphyrios'' "purple-clad"). It can refer to: ;People * Porfiry Ivanov (1898–1983), Russian myst ...

. Future war stories were produced by the military (''Cruiser "Russian Hope"'' (1887) and ''Fatal War of 18..'' (1889) by retired navy officer Alexander Belomor, ''Big Fist or Chinese-European War'' (1900) by K. Golokhvastov, ''Queen of the World'' (1908) and ''Kings of the Air'' (1909) by navy officer Vladimir Semyonov, "War of Nations 1921-1923" (1912) by Ix, ''War of the "Ring" with the "Union"'' (1913) by P. R-tsky, and ''End of War'' (1915) by

Lev Zhdanov Lev may refer to: Common uses *Bulgarian lev, the currency of Bulgaria *an abbreviation for Leviticus, the third book of the Hebrew Bible and the Torah People and fictional characters *Lev (given name) *Lev (surname) Places *Lev, Azerbaijan, a ...

). ''Threat to the World'' (1914) by Ivan Ryapasov (who styled himself "Ural Jules Verne") is similar to

Jules Verne Jules Gabriel Verne (;''Longman Pronunciation Dictionary''. ; 8 February 1828 – 24 March 1905) was a French novelist, poet, and playwright. His collaboration with the publisher Pierre-Jules Hetzel led to the creation of the ''Voyages extraor ...

The Begum's Fortune ''The Begum's Fortune'' (french: Les Cinq cents millions de la Bégum, literally "the 500 millions of the begum"), also published as ''The Begum's Millions'', is an 1879 novel by Jules Verne, with some utopian elements and other elements that seem ...

. Jules Verne was so popular that

Anton Chekhov Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (; 29 January 1860 Old Style date 17 January. – 15 July 1904 Old Style date 2 July.) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer who is considered to be one of the greatest writers of all time. His career ...

wrote a parody on him, and Konstantin Sluchevsky produced a sequel - "

Captain Nemo Captain Nemo (; later identified as an Indian, Prince Dakkar) is a fictional character created by the French novelist Jules Verne (1828–1905). Nemo appears in two of Verne's science-fiction classics, ''Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas'' ( ...

in Russia" (1898). File:Александр Грин.jpg,

File:A A Bogdanov.jpg,

File:Valery Bryusov c. 1900.jpg, Valery Bryusov

Soviet period

Soviet science fiction

The Soviet era was the

of Russian science fiction. Soviet writers were innovative, numerous and prolific, despite limitations set up by state censorship. Both Russian and foreign writers of science fiction enjoyed mainstream popularity in the Soviet Union, and many books were adapted for film and animation.

Early Soviet era

The birth of Soviet science fiction was spurred by

scientific revolution The Scientific Revolution was a series of events that marked the emergence of modern science during the early modern period, when developments in mathematics, physics, astronomy, biology (including human anatomy) and chemistry transfo ...

industrialisation Industrialisation ( alternatively spelled industrialization) is the period of social and economic change that transforms a human group from an agrarian society into an industrial society. This involves an extensive re-organisation of an econo ...

, mass education and other dramatic social changes that followed the

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and ad ...

. Early Soviet authors from the 1920s, such as

Alexander Belyaev Alexander Romanovich Belyaev (russian: Алекса́ндр Рома́нович Беля́ев, ; – 6 January 1942) was a Soviet Russian writer of science fiction. His works from the 1920s and 1930s made him a highly regarded figure in Russia ...

, Grigory Adamov,

Vladimir Obruchev Vladimir Afanasyevich Obruchev (russian: Влади́мир Афана́сьевич О́бручев; , Klepenino near Rzhev, Tver Oblast, Russian Empire – June 19, 1956, Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Моск� ...

and Alexey N. Tolstoy, stuck to hard science fiction. They openly embraced influence from the genre's western classics, such as

Arthur Conan Doyle Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930) was a British writer and physician. He created the character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for ''A Study in Scarlet'', the first of four novels and fifty-six short stories about Ho ...

and especially

H. G. Wells Herbert George Wells"Wells, H. G."
Revised 18 May 2015. ''

Science fiction books from the 1920s included science predictions, adventure and space travel, often with a hue of ''

working class The working class (or labouring class) comprises those engaged in manual-labour occupations or industrial work, who are remunerated via waged or salaried contracts. Working-class occupations (see also " Designation of workers by collar colou ...

'' agenda and satire against capitalism. Alexey N. Tolstoy's '' Aelita'' (1923), one of the most influential books of the era, featured two Russians raising a revolution on Mars. Tolstoy's '' Engineer Garin's Death Ray'' (1926) follows a mad scientist who plans to take over the world, and he's eventually welcomed by capitalists. Similarly, the main antagonist of Belyaev's ''

The Air Seller ''The Air Seller'' (rus. Продавец воздуха) is a science fiction novel by Russian writer Alexander Belayev. It was first published in 1929, in several issues of ''Vokrug Sveta'' magazine. The first book edition was in 1956. Plot Me ...

'' (1929) is a megalomaniac capitalist who plots to steal all the world's atmosphere. Belyaev's ''Battle in Ether'' (1928) is about a future world war, fought between communist Europe and capitalist America. The novel ''

Professor Dowell's Head ''Professor Dowell's Head'' is a 1925 science fiction and horror story (and later novel) by Russian author Alexander Belyaev. Plot Professor Dowell and his assistant surgeon Dr. Kern are working on medical problems including life support in s ...

'' (1925), also by Belyaev, is about a mad doctor who performs experimental head transplants on stolen bodies in a hospital, which he operates solely for profit, and where the patients aren't really sick at all. Soviet authors were also interested in the distant past. Belyaev described his view of "historical" Atlantis in ''The Last Man from Atlantis'' (1926), and Obruchev is best known for '' Plutonia'' (written in 1915, before Revolution, but only published in 1924), set inside

hollow Earth The Hollow Earth is a concept proposing that the planet Earth is entirely hollow or contains a substantial interior space. Notably suggested by Edmond Halley in the late 17th century, the notion was disproven, first tentatively by Pierre Bougue ...

where dinosaurs and other extinct species survived, as well as for his other "lost world" novel, '' Sannikov Land'' (1924). Two notable exclusions from Soviet 'Wellsian' tradition were Yevgeny Zamyatin, author of dystopian novel '' We'' (1924), and

, who contributed to science fiction with ''

Heart of a Dog ''Heart of a Dog'' (russian: links=no, italic=yes, Собачье сердце, Sobachye serdtse) is a novella by Russian author Mikhail Bulgakov. A biting satire of Bolshevism, it was written in 1925 at the height of the NEP period, when commu ...

'' (1925), ''

The Fatal Eggs ''The Fatal Eggs'' (russian: Роковые яйца, ) is a novella by Mikhail Bulgakov, a Soviet novelist and playwright whose most famous work is ''The Master and Margarita''. It was written in 1924 and first published in 1925. The novel becam ...

'' (1925) and '' Ivan Vasilyevich'' (1936). The two used science fiction for social satire rather than scientistic prediction, and challenged the traditional communist worldview. Some of their books were refused or even banned and only became officially published in the 1980s. Nevertheless, Zamyatin and especially Bulgakov became relatively well-known through circulation of fan-made copies. The following Stalin era, from the mid-1930s to the early 1950s, saw a period of stagnation in Soviet science fiction, because of heavy censorship that forced the writers to adopt

socialist realism Socialist realism is a style of idealized realistic art that was developed in the Soviet Union and was the official style in that country between 1932 and 1988, as well as in other socialist countries after World War II. Socialist realism is ch ...

cliches. Science fiction of this period is called "close aim". Instead of the distant future, it was set in "tomorrow", and limited itself to anticipation of industrial achievements, inventions and travels within the Solar system. The top "close aim" writers were

Alexander Kazantsev Alexander Petrovich Kazantsev (russian: Алекса́ндр Петро́вич Каза́нцев; 2 September 1906 – 13 September 2002) was a popular Soviet and Russian science fiction writer, ufologist and chess composer. Biography He was b ...

Georgy Martynov Georgy may refer to: *Georgy (given name) *Diminituve for Georgina *Georgy, the protagonist in ''Georgy Girl'' novel, film, and song * ''Georgy'' (musical), a musical from the novel ''Georgy Girl'' See also *Georgi (disambiguation) *Georgiy, a give ...

, Vladimir Savchenko and

Georgy Gurevich Georgy may refer to: * Georgy (given name) *Diminituve for Georgina *Georgy, the protagonist in ''Georgy Girl'' novel, film, and song * ''Georgy'' (musical), a musical from the novel ''Georgy Girl'' See also * Georgi (disambiguation) * Georgiy, a ...

. In films the "close aim" era lasted longer, and many films based on "close aim" books and scripts were made in the 1950s and 1960s. Some of these films, namely '' Planet of the Storms'' (1962) and '' The Sky Beckons'' (1959), were pirated, re-edited and released in the West under different titles.The Guardian
Rockets from Russia: great Eastern Bloc science-fiction films
/ref>

Late Soviet era

Algis Budrys Algirdas Jonas "Algis" Budrys (January 9, 1931 – June 9, 2008) was a Lithuanian-American science fiction author, editor, and critic. He was also known under the pen names Frank Mason, Alger Rome (in collaboration with Jerome Bixby), John ...

described postwar Russian science fiction as akin to the style of Hugo Gernsback: "Ah, Comrade, here among the marvels of the year 2000 ... we are free to discuss

dialectical materialism Dialectical materialism is a philosophy of science, history, and nature developed in Europe and based on the writings of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. Marxist dialectics, as a materialist philosophy, emphasizes the importance of real-world con ...

in total tranquility". In the second half of the 20th century, Soviet science fiction authors, inspired by the Thaw period of the 1950 and 1960s and the country's space pioneering, developed a more varied and complex approach. The liberties of the genre offered Soviet writers a loophole for free expression. Social science fiction, concerned with philosophy,

ethics Ethics or moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy that "involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior".''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' The field of ethics, along with aesthetics, concerns m ...

n and

dystopia A dystopia (from Ancient Greek δυσ- "bad, hard" and τόπος "place"; alternatively cacotopiaCacotopia (from κακός ''kakos'' "bad") was the term used by Jeremy Bentham in his 1818 Plan of Parliamentary Reform (Works, vol. 3, p. 493). ...

n ideas, became the prevalent subgenre; Budrys said in 1968, when reviewing a collection translated into English, that Russian authors had "discovered John Campbell", with stories that "read like they were from the back pages of circa 1950 '' Astounding''s". Most Soviet writers still portrayed the future Earth optimistically, as a communist utopia - some did it frankly, some to please publishers and avoid censorship.

Postapocalyptic Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction is a subgenre of speculative fiction in which the Earth's (or another planet's) civilization is collapsing or has collapsed. The apocalypse event may be climatic, such as runaway climate change; astr ...

and

n plots were usually placed outside Earth – on underdeveloped planets, in the distant past, or on parallel worlds. Nevertheless, the settings occasionally bore allusion of the real world, and could serve as a satire of contemporary society. The breakthrough is considered to have been started with Ivan Yefremov's '' Andromeda'' (1957), a

set in the very distant future. Yefremov rose to fame with his

n views on the future, as well as on

Ancient Greece Ancient Greece ( el, Ἑλλάς, Hellás) was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity ( AD 600), that comprised a loose collection of cult ...

in his

historical novels Historical fiction is a literary genre in which the plot takes place in a setting related to the past events, but is fictional. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literature, it can also be applied to other ty ...

. He was soon followed by a duo of brothers Arkady and Boris Strugatsky, who have taken a more critical approach: their books included darker themes and social satire. The Strugatskies are best known for their

Noon Universe The Noon Universe (Russian term: "Мир Полудня" or "Мир Полдня" – "World of Noon"; also known as the “Wanderers’ Universe”) is a fictional future setting for a number of hard science fiction novels written by Arkady and Bo ...

novels, such as ''

Hard to be a God ''Hard to Be a God'' (russian: Трудно быть богом, translit=''Trudno byt' bogom'') is a 1964 science-fiction novel by the Soviet writers Arkady and Boris Strugatsky, set in the Noon Universe. Premise and themes The novel follows ...

'' (1964) and '' Prisoners of Power'' (1969). A recurring theme in Strugatskies' fiction were progressors: agents of utopian future Earth who secretly spread scientistic and social progress to underdeveloped planets. Progressors often failed, bitterly recognizing that society is not ready for communism. The brothers are also credited for the Soviet's first

science fantasy Science fantasy is a hybrid genre within speculative fiction that simultaneously draws upon or combines tropes and elements from both science fiction and fantasy. In a conventional science fiction story, the world is presented as being scientif ...

, the ''

Monday Begins on Saturday ''Monday Begins on Saturday'' (russian: Понедельник начинается в субботу) is a 1965 science fantasy novel by Soviet writers Boris and Arkady Strugatsky, with illustrations by Yevgeniy Migunov. Set in a fictional to ...

'' trilogy (1964), and their post-apocalyptic novel ''

Roadside Picnic ''Roadside Picnic'' (Russian: , ''Piknik na obochine'', ) is a philosophical science fiction novel by Soviet-Russian authors Arkady and Boris Strugatsky, written in 1971 and published in 1972. It is the brothers' most popular and most widely tran ...

'' (1971) is often believed to have been a prediction of the

Chernobyl disaster The Chernobyl disaster was a nuclear accident that occurred on 26 April 1986 at the No. 4 reactor in the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, near the city of Pripyat in the north of the Ukrainian SSR in the Soviet Union. It is one of only two nuc ...

. Another notable late Soviet writer was

, whose books featured

and parallel worlds, and themes like

antimilitarism Antimilitarism (also spelt anti-militarism) is a doctrine that opposes war, relying heavily on a critical theory of imperialism and was an explicit goal of the First and Second International. Whereas pacifism is the doctrine that disputes (especia ...

and

environment protection Environmental protection is the practice of protecting the natural environment by individuals, organizations and governments. Its objectives are to conserve natural resources and the existing natural environment and, where possible, to repair dam ...

. The

space opera Space opera is a subgenre of science fiction that emphasizes space warfare, with use of melodramatic, risk-taking space adventures, relationships, and chivalric romance. Set mainly or entirely in outer space, it features technological and soci ...

subgenre was less developed, because both state censors and "highbrow" intelligentsia writers viewed it unfavorably. Nevertheless, there were moderately successful attempts to adapt space westerns to Soviet soil. The first was Alexander Kolpakov with "Griada" (1960), followed by

Sergey Snegov Sergey Snegov (russian: Серге́й Алекса́ндрович Сне́гов) (20 August 1910, in Odessa – 23 February 1994), real surname Kozeryuk (russian: Козерюк), was a Soviet science fiction writer. In 1985, he was awarded th ...

with the ''

Humans as Gods ''Humans as Gods'' (russian: Люди как боги, translit. ''Lyudi kak bogi'') is a 1966–1977 science fiction trilogy by Soviet author Sergey Snegov. Despite being initially intended as a parody on space opera, mythological an ...

'' trilogy (1966–1977), among others. A specific branch of both science fiction and children's books appeared in the mid-Soviet era: the children's science fiction. It was meant to educate children while entertaining them. The star of the genre was Bulychov, who, along with his adult books, created ''

Alisa Selezneva Alisa Selezneva or Seleznyova (Russian: Алиса Селезнёва) is the main character of the series of children's science fiction books by Russian writer Kir Bulychev. The first book with Alisa Selezneva was published in 1965, and the ser ...

'', a children's space adventure series about a teenage girl from the future. Others include Nikolay Nosov with his books about dwarf

Neznayka Dunno, or Know-Nothing or Ignoramus (russian: Незнайка, ''Neznayka'' that is Don'tknowka (ka - the Russian suffix here for drawing up the whole name in a cheerful form); from the Russian phrase "" ("''ne znayu''", ''don't know'') is a cha ...

, Evgeny Veltistov, who wrote about robot boy Electronic, Vitaly Melentyev, Yan Larri,

Vladislav Krapivin Vladislav Petrovich Krapivin (russian: Владислав Петрович Крапивин; 14 October 1938 – 1 September 2020) was a Russian literature, Russian Children's literature, children's books writer. Biography Vladislav Petrovich ...

, and

Vitaly Gubarev Vitali Georgievich Gubarev (russian: Виталий Георгиевич Губарев; – 1981) was a Soviet Russian writer of children's literature. Biography Gubarev was born in Rostov-on-Don (modern-day Rostov Oblast of Russia). According ...

Films and other media

Soviet cinema developed a tradition of science fiction films, with directors like

Pavel Klushantsev Pavel Vladimirovich Klushantsev (russian: Па́вел Влади́мирович Клуша́нцев; 25 February 1910 – 27 April 1999) was a Russian cameraman of higher category (1939), film director, producer, screenwriter and author who w ...

Andrey Tarkovsky Andrei Arsenyevich Tarkovsky ( rus, Андрей Арсеньевич Тарковский, p=ɐnˈdrʲej ɐrˈsʲenʲjɪvʲɪtɕ tɐrˈkofskʲɪj; 4 April 1932 – 29 December 1986) was a Russian filmmaker. Widely considered one of the greates ...

Konstantin Lopushansky Konstantin Sergeyevich Lopushansky (russian: Константин Сергеевич Лопушанский; born June 12, 1947) is a Soviet and Russian film director, film theorist and author. He is best known for directing the apocalyptic and po ...

Vladimir Tarasov Vladimir Ilich Tarasov (russian: Владимир Ильич Тарасов; born 7 February 1939 in Moscow) is a Russian animator and animation director. He is best known for his Soviet-era science fiction short films, such as ''The Pass, Cont ...

Richard Viktorov Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Old Frankish and is a compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'strong ...

and Gennady Tischenko. Many science fiction books, especially children's, were made into films, animation and TV. The most adapted Russian SF author was Bulychov; of the numerous films based on ''Alisa Selezneva'' stories, animation ''

Mystery of the Third Planet ''The Mystery of the Third Planet'' (russian: Тайна третьей планеты, ''Tayna tretyey planety''), aka ''The Secret of the Third Planet'' is a 1981 Soviet traditionally animated feature film directed by Roman Kachanov and produc ...

'' (1981) is probably the most popular. Other Bulychov-based films include ''

Per Aspera Ad Astra ''Ad astra'' is a Latin language, Latin phrase meaning "to the stars". The phrase has origins with Virgil, who wrote in his ''Aeneid'': "''sic itur ad astra''" ('thus one journeys to the stars') and "''opta ardua pennis astra sequi''" ('desire ...

'' (1981), ''

Guest from the Future ''Visitor from the Future'' (russian: Гостья из будущего, ''Gostya iz budushchego'' lit Guest from the future) is a five-part Soviet children's science fiction television miniseries, made at Gorky Film Studio, first aired in 1985 ...

'' (1985), ''

Two Tickets to India Two tickets to India (russian: Два билета в Индию, ''Dva bileta v Indiu'') is a 1985 Soviet/Russian traditionally animated short film directed Roman Kachanov. It was produced at the Soyuzmultfilm studio in Moscow and is based on ...

'' (1985), '' The Pass'' (1988) and ''

The Witches Cave ''The Witches Cave'' (russian: Подземелье ведьм) is a 1989 science fantasy film from Gorky Film Studio, USSR and Barrandov Studios, Czechoslovakia. The script was written by Kir Bulychov based upon his own story and directed by Y ...

'' (1990).

's ''

Stalker Stalking is unwanted and/or repeated surveillance by an individual or group toward another person. Stalking behaviors are interrelated to harassment and intimidation and may include following the victim in person or monitoring them. The term ...

'' (1979) was written by the Strugatskys, and is loosely based on their ''

''; there were also less successful films based on '' Dead Mountaineer's Hotel'' (1979) and ''

Hard to Be a God ''Hard to Be a God'' (russian: Трудно быть богом, translit=''Trudno byt' bogom'') is a 1964 science-fiction novel by the Soviet writers Arkady and Boris Strugatsky, set in the Noon Universe. Premise and themes The novel follows ...

'' (1989). '' Aelita'' (1924) was the first Soviet SF film, and ''Engineer Garin'' was made into film twice, in 1965 and in 1973. ''

Amphibian Man ''Amphibian Man'' (rus. Человек-амфибия) is a science fiction adventure novel by the Soviet Russian writer Alexander Beliaev. It was published in 1928. Plot Argentinean doctor Salvator, a scientist and a maverick surgeon, give ...

'' (1962), ''

The Andromeda Nebula ''The Andromeda Nebula'' (russian: Туманность Андромеды) is a 1967 Soviet science fiction film starring Sergei Stolyarov and directed by Yevgeni Sherstobitov at the Dovzhenko Film Studios. The film was originally intended to ...

'' (1967), '' Ivan Vasilyevich'' (1973), ''

'' (1988), '' Sannikov's Land'' (1974) and '' Electronic'' (1980) were filmed as well. There were also numerous adaptations of foreign science fiction books, most frequently, by

, Stanislaw Lem and

Ray Bradbury Ray Douglas Bradbury (; August 22, 1920June 5, 2012) was an American author and screenwriter. One of the most celebrated 20th-century American writers, he worked in a variety of modes, including fantasy, science fiction, horror, mystery, and r ...

. Of the movies based on original scripts, the comedy ''

Kin-dza-dza! ''Kin-dza-dza!'' (russian: link=no, italics=yes, Кин-дза-дза!) is a 1986 Soviet film released by the Mosfilm studio and directed by Georgiy Daneliya, with a story by Georgiy Daneliya and Revaz Gabriadze. Plot The story begins in 1980s M ...

'' (1986) and children's space opera duology ''

Moscow-Cassiopeia ''Moscow- Cassiopeia'' (russian: Москва — Кассиопея, Moskva-Kassiopeya) is a Soviet comic science fiction film directed by Richard Viktorov based on a script by Isai Kuznetsov and Avenir Zak. Followed by ''Teens in the Universe'' ...

'' (1973) and ''

Teens in the Universe ''Teens in the Universe'' (russian: Отроки во Вселенной, Otroki vo vselennoy) is a Soviet 1974 science fiction film directed by Richard Viktorov based on a script by Isai Kuznetsov and Avenir Zak about teens in the universe. Pr ...

'' (1974) should be noted. Despite the genre's popularity, the Soviet Union had very few media dedicated solely to science fiction, and most of them were

fanzine A fanzine (blend word, blend of ''fan (person), fan'' and ''magazine'' or ''-zine'') is a non-professional and non-official publication produced by fan (person), enthusiasts of a particular cultural phenomenon (such as a literary or musical genre) ...

s, released by SF fan clubs. SF short stories were usually present in either

popular science ''Popular Science'' (also known as ''PopSci'') is an American digital magazine carrying popular science content, which refers to articles for the general reader on science and technology subjects. ''Popular Science'' has won over 58 awards, incl ...

magazines, such as '' Tekhnika Molodezhi'', ''

Vokrug sveta ''Vokrug sveta'' (russian: Вокруг света, literally: "Around the World") is a Russian geographic magazine. It is the longest running magazine in the Russian language. The first issue was printed in Saint Petersburg, in December 1861, al ...

'' and ''

Uralsky Sledopyt ''Uralsky Sledopyt'' (russian: Уральский Следопыт, ''Ural Pathfinder'') is a Soviet and Russian magazine dedicated to tourism and local history. It also has a science fiction section. It is printed in Yekaterinburg (formerly Sver ...

'', or in literary anthologies, such as ''Mir Priklyucheniy'', that also included adventure, history and mystery.

Soviet fantasy

Literature

Fantasy fiction in the Soviet Union was represented primarily by children tales and stage plays. Some of the early Soviet children's prose was loose adaptations of foreign fairy tales unknown in contemporary Russia. Alexey N. Tolstoy wrote '' Buratino'', a light-hearted and shortened adaptation of Carlo Collodi's '' Pinocchio''. Alexander Volkov introduced fantasy fiction to Soviet children with his loose translation of

Frank L. Baum Lyman Frank Baum (; May 15, 1856 – May 6, 1919) was an American author best known for his children's books, particularly ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' and its sequels. He wrote 14 novels in the ''Oz'' series, plus 41 other novels (not includ ...

's '' The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'', published as ''

The Wizard of the Emerald City ''The Wizard of the Emerald City'' (russian: Волшебник Изумрудного Города) is a 1939 children's novel by Russian writer Alexander Melentyevich Volkov. The book is a re-narration of L. Frank Baum's ''The Wonderful Wizard ...

'', and then wrote a series of five sequels, unrelated to Baum. Another notable author was

Lazar Lagin Lazar Iosifovich Lagin (russian: Ла́зарь Ио́сифович Лагин), real name Lazar Ginzburg (4 December 1903, Vitebsk – 4 June 1979, Moscow), was a Soviet and Russian author of children's and science fiction books. Lagin is be ...

with ''

Old Khottabych ''Starik Khottabych'' (russian: Старик Хоттабыч, ''Old Man Khottabych'' or ''Old Khottabych'') is a Sovcolor Soviet fantasy film produced in the USSR by Goskino at Kinostudyia Lenfilm (Lenfilm Studio) in 1956, based on a children's ...

'', a children's tale about an Arab genie Khottabych bound to serve a Soviet schoolboy. Any sort of literature that dealt seriously with the

supernatural Supernatural refers to phenomena or entities that are beyond the laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin (above, beyond, or outside of) + (nature) Though the corollary term "nature", has had multiple meanings si ...

, either

, adult-oriented fantasy or magic realism, was unwelcomed by Soviet censors. Until the 1980s very few books in these genres were written, and even fewer were published, although earlier books, such as by Gogol, were not banned. Of the rare exceptions, Bulgakov in ''

Master and Margarita ''The Master and Margarita'' (russian: Мастер и Маргарита) is a novel by Soviet writer Mikhail Bulgakov, written in the Soviet Union between 1928 and 1940 during Stalin's regime. A censored version, with several chapters cut by ...

'' (not published in author's lifetime), the Strugatskies in ''

'' and Vladimir Orlov in '' Danilov, the Violist'' introduced magic and mystical creatures into contemporary Soviet reality in a satirical and fabulous manner. Another exception was early Soviet writer

, who wrote romantic tales, both realistic and fantastic. Magic and other fantasy themes occasionally appeared in theatrical plays by

Evgeny Shvarts Evgeny Lvovich Schwartz (russian: Евге́ний Льво́вич Шва́рц; , Kazan, Russian Empire – January 15, 1958, Leningrad, Soviet Union) was a Soviet writer and playwright, whose works include twenty-five plays, and screenplay ...

, Grigory Gorin and

. Their plays were family-oriented

fable Fable is a literary genre: a succinct fictional story, in prose or verse, that features animals, legendary creatures, plants, inanimate objects, or forces of nature that are anthropomorphized, and that illustrates or leads to a particular mo ...

s, where supernatural elements served as an

allegory As a literary device or artistic form, an allegory is a narrative or visual representation in which a character, place, or event can be interpreted to represent a hidden meaning with moral or political significance. Authors have used allegory th ...

. The supernatural horror genre, by contrast, was almost completely eliminated by censors' demands for every media to be modest and

family-friendly A family-friendly product or service is one that is considered to be suitable for all members of an average family. Family-friendly restaurants are ones that provide service to families that have young children. Frequently, family-friendly produc ...

Films

Fantasy, mythology and folklore were often present in Soviet film and animation, especially children's. Most films were adaptations of traditional fairy tales and myths, both Russian and foreign. But there were also many adaptations of stories by

Rudyard Kipling Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)''The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English novelist, short-story writer, poet, and journalist. He was born in British India, which inspired much of his work. ...

Astrid Lindgren Astrid Anna Emilia Lindgren (; ; 14 November 1907 – 28 January 2002) was a Swedish writer of fiction and screenplays. She is best known for several children's book series, featuring Pippi Longstocking, Emil of Lönneberga, Karlsson-on- ...

Alan Alexander Milne Alan Alexander Milne (; 18 January 1882 – 31 January 1956) was an English writer best known for his books about the teddy bear Winnie-the-Pooh, as well as for children's poetry. Milne was primarily a playwright before the huge success of Winni ...

, among many others. There were numerous fantasy feature films by Alexander Rou (''

Kashchey the Deathless ''Kashchey the Immortal'' (subtitle: A Little Autumn Fairy Tale) ( rus, Кащей бессмертный, Kashchéy bessmértny , ''Kashchey the Immortal'') is a one-act opera in three scenes by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. The libretto was writte ...

, Maria the Magic Weaver,

Kingdom of Crooked Mirrors ''Kingdom of Crooked Mirrors'' (russian: Королевство кривых зеркал, translit. ''Korolevstvo krivykh zerkal'') is a 1963 Soviet fairy tale film directed by Aleksandr Rou based on the novel, '' Kingdom of Crooked Mirro ...

'', etc.) and

Alexander Ptushko Aleksandr Lukich Ptushko (russian: Александр Лукич Птушко, – 6 March 1973) was a Soviet animation and fantasy film director, and a People's Artist of the USSR (1969). Ptushko is frequently (and somewhat misleadingly) referred ...

('' The New Gulliver,

Sadko Sadko (russian: Садко) is the principal character in a Russian medieval epic ''bylina''. He was an adventurer, merchant, and ''gusli'' musician from Novgorod. Textual notes "Sadko" is a version of the tale translated by Arthur Ransome in ...

, Ilya Muromets,

Sampo In Finnish mythology, the ''Sampo'' () is a magical device or object described in many different ways that was constructed by the blacksmith Ilmarinen and that brought riches and good fortune to its holder, akin to the horn of plenty (cornucopi ...

'', etc.). Ptushko also wrote '' Viy'' the most famous (and arguably the only "true") Soviet

supernatural horror Horror is a genre of fiction which is intended to frighten, scare, or disgust. Horror is often divided into the sub-genres of psychological horror and supernatural horror, which is in the realm of speculative fiction. Literary historian J. A ...

film. Fantasy animated features were produced by directors like

Lev Atamanov Lev Atamanov (russian: Лев Атаманов), born Levon Konstantinovich Atamanyan (russian: Левон Константинович Атаманян, hy, Լեւոն Կոնստանտինի Ատամանյան; – 12 February 1981), was a ...

('' Snow Queen, Scarlet Flower'', etc.),

Ivan Ivanov-Vano Ivan Petrovich Ivanov-Vano (russian: Иван Петрович Иванов-Вано; – 25 March 1987), born Ivanov, was a Soviet and Russian animation director, animator, screenwriter, educator, professor at Gerasimov Institute of Cinematog ...

('' Humpbacked Horse,

Snow Maiden Snegurochka (diminutive) or Snegurka ( rus, Снегу́рочка (diminutive), Снегу́рка, p=sʲnʲɪˈgurətɕkə, snʲɪˈgurkə), or The Snow Maiden, is a character in Russian fairy tales. This character has no apparent roots in ...

'', etc.), and

Alexandra Snezhko-Blotskaya Alexandra Gavrilovna Snezhko-Blotskaya (Russian: Александра Гавриловна Снежко-Блоцкая, 21 February 1909 in Volchansk, Russian Empire – 29 December 1980 in Moscow Oblast, Soviet Union) was a Soviet animated fil ...

(''

The Enchanted Boy ''The Enchanted Boy'' (russian: Заколдованный мальчик, ''Zakoldovanyy malchik'') is a 1955 Soviet/Russia traditionally animated feature film directed by Vladimir Polkovnikov and Aleksandra Snezhko-Blotskaya. The film is an ada ...

, Golden Cockerel'', numerous adaptations of

Greek mythology A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the Cosmogony, origin and Cosmology#Metaphysical co ...

). The late Soviet era saw a number of adult-oriented

fabulous Fabulous may refer to: *Fabulous (band), a 1990s British rock band * ''Fabulous'' (album), by Sheena Easton, 2000 *''Fabulous'', an album by the Tamperer featuring Maya, 1999 * "Fabulous" (Charlie Gracie song), 1957 * "Fabulous" (Jaheim song), 200 ...

films, close to magic realism. They were written by Shvartz ('' An Ordinary Miracle, Cain XVIII''), Gorin (''

Formula of Love ''Formula of Love'' (russian: Формула любви, Formula lyubvi) is a 1984 Soviet romantic fantasy comedy film directed by Mark Zakharov, from a screenplay by Grigori Gorin. It is loosely based on the story "Count Cagliostro" by Aleksey ...

The Very Same Munchhausen ''The Very Same Munchhausen'' ( rus, Тот самый Мюнхгаузен, Tot samyy Myunkhgauzen, alt. translation - ''That Very Münchhausen'') is a 1979 Soviet fantasy dramedy television film directed by Mark Zakharov, based on a script b ...

''), and Strugatskies ('' Magicians''); most of them were directed by Mark Zakharov. Several Soviet fantasy films were co-produced with foreign studios. Most notably, ''

Mio in the Land of Faraway ''Mio in the Land of Faraway'' ( sv, Mio min Mio; russian: Мио, мой Мио, Mio, moy Mio) is a 1987 fantasy film directed by Vladimir Grammatikov and starring Christopher Lee, Christian Bale, Nicholas Pickard, Timothy Bottoms and Susanna ...

'' (1987, co-produced with USA and Sweden) was shot by a Soviet crew in the English language, and featured

Christoper Lee Sir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee (27 May 1922 – 7 June 2015) was an English actor and singer. In a long career spanning more than 60 years, Lee often portrayed villains, and appeared as Count Dracula in seven Hammer Horror films, ultimat ...

and

Christian Bale Christian Charles Philip Bale (born 30 January 1974) is an English actor. Known for his versatility and physical transformations for his roles, he has been a leading man in films of several genres. He has received various accolades, including ...

. Other examples include '' The Story of Voyages'' (1983, co-produced with Czechoslovakia and Romania) and ''

'' (1959, co-produced with Finland).

Most notable Soviet writers

File:Alexander Belayev.jpg,

Image:ANTolstoy.jpg, Alexey N. Tolstoy Image:Bulgakov1910s.jpg,

File:Иван Ефремов 1925.jpeg, Ivan Yefremov File:Boris Strugatsky Seminar 20060109 02.jpg,

Boris Strugatsky The brothers Arkady Natanovich Strugatsky (russian: Аркадий Натанович Стругацкий; 28 August 1925 – 12 October 1991) and Boris Natanovich Strugatsky ( ru , Борис Натанович Стругацкий; 14 A ...

File:Kir Bulychev 1997.jpg,

Post-Soviet period

Literature

From the 1990s to this day,

and science fiction are among the best-selling literature in Russia. The fall of state censorship in the late 1980s allowed publishing of numerous translations of Western books and films that were previously unreleased in Russia. A new wave of writers rediscovered high fantasy and was influenced with John R. R. Tolkien,

Robert E. Howard Robert Ervin Howard (January 22, 1906June 11, 1936) was an American writer. He wrote pulp fiction in a diverse range of genres. He is well known for his character Conan the Barbarian and is regarded as the father of the sword and sorcery subge ...

and, more recently,

George R. R. Martin George Raymond Richard Martin (born George Raymond Martin; September 20, 1948), also known as GRRM, is an American novelist, screenwriter, television producer and short story writer. He is the author of the series of epic fantasy novels ''A Song ...

. While the majority of Russian fantasy writers, such as

Nick Perumov Nick Perumov (russian: link=no, Ник Перумов) is the pen name of Nikolay Daniilovich Perumov (russian: link=no, Николай Даниилович Перумов; born 21 November 1963), a Russian fantasy and science fiction writer. Bi ...

Vera Kamsha Vera Viktorovna Kamsha (russian: Вера Викторовна Камша; born November 5, 1962 in Lviv, Ukrainian SSR) is a Russian author of high fantasy and a journalist. Biography Kamsha graduated from Lviv Polytechnic, after which she mov ...

Alexey Pekhov Alexey, Alexei, Alexie, Aleksei, or Aleksey (russian: Алексе́й ; bg, Алексей ) is a Russian and Bulgarian male first name deriving from the Greek ''Aléxios'' (), meaning "Defender", and thus of the same origin as the Latin A ...

and

Tony Vilgotsky Anton "Tony" Vilgotsky (Russian: Антон Вильгоцкий) is a Russian musician, composer, horror and fantasy writer, playwright, and musical columnist. He is mostly known for his fantasy and horror novels (''Chosen by the Pentacle'', '' ...

, followed the Western tradition with its archetypal Norse or Anglo-Saxon settings, some others, most notably

Maria Semenova , caption = , pseudonym = , birth_date = , birth_place = Leningrad, Soviet Union , death_date = , death_place = , occupation = , period = , genre = Fantasy, History, Poetry , subject = , movement = , spouse = , children = , relative ...

and Yuri Nikitin, prefer

Russian mythology Slavic mythology or Slavic religion is the religious beliefs, myths, and ritual practices of the Slavs before Christianisation, which occurred at various stages between the 8th and the 13th century. The South Slavs, who likely settled in the B ...

as inspiration. Comic fantasy is also popular, with authors such as

Max Frei Max Frei (russian: Макс Фрай) is the pen name of Svetlana Yuryevna Martynchik (russian: Светла́на Ю́рьевна Марты́нчик; uk, Світлана Юріївна Мартинчик) (born 1965 in Odesa, Ukrainian SSR, ...

, Andrey Belyanin and Olga Gromyko. Urban and gothic fantasy, virtually absent in the Soviet Union, became notable in modern Russia after the success of

Sergey Lukyanenko Sergei Vasilyevich Lukyanenko (russian: Серге́й Васи́льевич Лукья́ненко, ; born 11 April 1968) is a Russian science fiction and fantasy author, writing in Russian. His works often feature intense action-packed plots, ...

's ''

Night Watch Night Watch or Nightwatch may refer to: Books * ''The Night Watch'', a 1977 memoir by Central Intelligence Agency officer David Atlee Phillips Novels * ''Night Watch'', a 1972 novel by American screenwriter Lucille Fletcher * ''Night Watch'', a 1 ...

'' and Vadim Panov's ''Secret City''. Magic realism is represented by

Maria Galina Maria Galina (born 1958) is a Russian writer. She was born in Kalinin (now the city of Tver Tver ( rus, Тверь, p=tvʲerʲ) is a city and the administrative centre of Tver Oblast, Russia. It is northwest of Moscow. Population: Tver w ...

and Lyudmila Petrushevskaya. Sergey Malitsky is also a notable author with his own distinctive style. In science fiction, with communist censorship gone, many various portrayals of the future appeared, including dystopias. Post-apocalyptic fiction,

and

alternate history Alternate history (also alternative history, althist, AH) is a genre of speculative fiction of stories in which one or more historical events occur and are resolved differently than in real life. As conjecture based upon historical fact, altern ...

are among the most popular genres, represented by authors like

Vyacheslav Rybakov Vyacheslav Rybakov (russian: Вячеслав Михайлович Рыбаков; born January 1954 in Leningrad), is a Russian science fiction author and an orientalist, interested in the medieval bureaucracy of China. He is a frequent collabor ...

, Yuri Nikitin and Yulia Latynina among many others. Overuse of fish-out-of-water plots for time travel and parallel worlds led Russian SF&F journalists to coin the ironic term '' popadanets'' (Rus. попаданец, lit. ''getter-into'') for such characters. There are still many writers of traditional space-related science fiction including

s, such as

Alexander Zorich , caption = , pseudonym = , birth_date = 1973 , birth_place = Kharkiv , death_date = , death_place = , occupation = , nationality = Russian, Ukrainian , period = , genre = Science-fiction, Fantasy, alternate history , subject = , movem ...

(''Tomorrow War'' series), Lukyanenko (''Lord from Planet Earth'') and

Andrey Livadny Andrey Lvovich Livadny (russian: Андрей Львович Ливадный, born May 27, 1969) is a Russian military science fiction writer. His works were first published in 1998 and include several novels as well as a number of tales and sho ...

, among others. The late 2000s and early 2010s saw a rise of Russian

Steampunk Steampunk is a subgenre of science fiction that incorporates retrofuturistic technology and aesthetics inspired by 19th-century industrial steam-powered machinery. Steampunk works are often set in an alternative history of the Victorian era or ...

, with such books as

's ''Mockingbird'' (2009), Vadim Panov's ''Hermeticon'' (2011), and ''Cetopolis'' (2012) by Gray F. Green (a collective pen name). Some of the modern Russian-language SF&F is written in

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

, especially in its "sci-fi capital",

Kharkiv Kharkiv ( uk, wikt:Харків, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine.H. L. Oldie,

, Yuri Nikitin and

Andrey Valentinov Andriy Valentynov / Andrey Valentinov (Ukrainian: Андрій Валентинов, Russian: Андрей Валентинов; born March 18, 1958) is the pen name of a Ukrainian Russian language, Russian-speaking science/fantasy fiction writer A ...

. Many others hail from

Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...

, including

Marina and Sergey Dyachenko Spouses Maryna Yuryivna Dyachenko (born 23 January 1968) and Serhiy Serhiyovych Dyachenko (14 April 1945 – 5 May 2022) (Marina Yuryevna Dyachenko (Shirshova) and Sergey Sergeyevich Dyachenko) (rus. Марина и Сергей Дяченко, ...

and

Vladimir Arenev Volodymyr Arenev (, russian: italic=yes, Владимир Аренев) is a pen name of Ukrainian science fiction, fantasy award-winning writer, journalist and screenwriter Volodymyr Puziy. Writes in Russian and Ukrainian languages, resides in Ky ...

. Belarusian authors, such as Olga Gromyko, Kirill Benediktov, Yuri Brayder and Nikolai Chadovich, also contributed to the genres. Some authors, namely Kamsha, Dyachenkos and Frei, were born in Ukraine and moved to Russia at some point. Most Ukrainian and Belarusian SF&F authors write in Russian, which gives them access to a broad Russophone audience of the post-Soviet countries, and usually publish their books via Russian publishers such as

Eksmo Eksmo (russian: Эксмо) is one of the largest publishing houses in Russia. Eksmo and AST (which it later acquired in 2012) together publish approximately 30% of all Russian books. Established in 1991 as a small book-selling company, Eksmo gr ...

, Azbuka and AST. In the post-Soviet fantasy and science fiction, the extensive serializing of successful formulas has become usual. Most notable are the two postapocalyptic book series based on the ''

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. ''S.T.A.L.K.E.R.'' is a first-person-shooter survival horror video game series developed by GSC Game World. The series is set in an alternate version of the present-day Chernobyl Exclusion Zone in Ukraine, where, according to the series' backs ...

'' computer game and ''

Metro 2033 Metro 2033 may refer to: * ''Metro 2033'' (novel), a 2002 novel by Russian author Dmitry Glukhovsky * ''Metro 2033'' (video game), a 2010 first-person shooter video game based on the novel See also * ''Metro'' (franchise), originating from t ...

'' novel, both of which featured a well-developed universe. The ''S.T.A.L.K.E.R.'' book series' features are heavy branding and almost negligible influence of the actual writer's name on individual novels (also, a TV show is in development). And though ''Metro 2033'' raised its creator

Dmitry Glukhovsky Dmitry Alekseyevich Glukhovsky (russian: Дми́трий Алексе́евич Глухо́вский, born 12 June 1979) is a Russian author and journalist best known for the science fiction novel ''Metro 2033'' and its sequels. As a journal ...

to national fame, it quickly developed into a franchise, with over 15 books published by various authors and spanned a tie-in

videogame Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This feedb ...

Movies

Production of science fiction and fantasy films in modern Russia dropped in comparison to Soviet cinema, due to high costs of visual effects. Throughout the 1990s, almost no movies in these genres were made. In the 2000s and 2010s, however, Russia once again produced a number of films. Most of them were based on books, notably by Sergey Lukyanenko (''

, Day Watch, Asiris Nuna''), Bulychov (''

Alice's Birthday ''Alice's Birthday'' (russian: Де́нь рожде́ния Али́сы, translit. Den' rozhdeniya Alisy), is a 2009 Russian traditionally animated children's science fiction film, directed by Sergey Seryogin and produced by Master-fil ...

''), the Strugatsky brothers' ('' The Inhabited Island, Ugly Swans,

''), Semyonova ('' Wolfhound of the Grey Hound Clan'') and Gogol ('' Viy''). A stand-out in animation is the 2010 steampunk short "Invention of Love" (" Изобретение любви") by Andrey Shushkov. A number of children's fairy tale films and animations were based on Russian mythology and history, most of them by

Melnitsa Animation Studio Melnitsa Animation Studio (russian: Студия анимационного кино «Мельница», "melnitsa" meaning "windmill") is one of the largest animation studios in Russia. Deutsche Welle called the studio the Walt Disney of Saint ...

(most notably,

The Three Bogatyrs ''The Three Bogatyrs'' (Три богатыря) is an animated franchise produced by Melnitsa Animation Studio. Voices of Sergey Makovetsky, Dmitry Vysotsky, Liya Medvedeva, Valery Soloviev, Oleg Kulikovich, Oleg Tabakov, Anatoly Petrov, ...

franchise and ''

Prince Vladimir Vladimir I Sviatoslavich or Volodymyr I Sviatoslavych ( orv, Володимѣръ Свѧтославичь, ''Volodiměrъ Svętoslavičь'';, ''Uladzimir'', russian: Владимир, ''Vladimir'', uk, Володимир, ''Volodymyr''. Se ...

''). In 2014, the Soviet classic ''Kin-dza-dza'' was remade into a family-friendly animation ''

Ku! Kin-dza-dza Ku! Kin-dza-dza ( rus. Ку! Кин-дза-дза) is a 2013 Russian animated science fiction film by Georgy Danelia. It is an animated remake of Danelia's 1986 live-action film ''Kin-dza-dza!''. Although it preserves much of the original movie ...

''. Movies based on original scripts were rare until mid-2010, but since then, the situation has changed. Original plots include the mockumentary ''

First on the Moon ''First on the Moon'' (russian: Первые на Луне, ''Pervye na Lune'') is a 2005 Russian mockumentary science fiction film about a fictional 1930s Soviet landing on the Moon. The film, which went on to win many awards, was the debut of ...

'', the time travel drama '' We are from the Future'', cyberpunk action '' Hardcore Henry'', the science fiction drama '' Attraction'', superhero films ''

Black Lightning Black Lightning (Jefferson Pierce) is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character, created by writer Tony Isabella and artist Trevor Von Eeden, first appeared in ''Black Lightning'' #1 (April 1977), during ...

'' and '' Zaschitniki''. Timur Bekmambetov and

Fyodor Bondarchuk Fyodor Sergeyevich Bondarchuk (russian: link=no, Фёдор Сергеевич Бондарчук ; born 9 May 1967) is a Russian film director, actor, TV and film producer, clipmaker, TV host, founder of production company Art Pictures Studio. ...

have been amongst the most influential producers and directors in the recent period.

Other media

Russian video game developers also contributed to the genres. Examples include the fantasy-based

MMORPG A massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) is a video game that combines aspects of a role-playing video game and a massively multiplayer online game. As in role-playing games (RPGs), the player assumes the role of a Player charac ...

Allods Online ''Allods Online'' is a free-to-play 3D fantasy MMORPG developed by Allods Team, formerly Astrum Nival, and published by Mail.Ru Group globally, with the international version operated by their subsidiary My.com. The game was originally released in ...

, the turn-based strategy game

Etherlords ''Etherlords'' (russian: Демиурги) is a series of fantasy turn-based strategy and card-dueling video games for the PC, by Russian developer Nival Interactive. The first game was published November 15, 2001 by Ravensburger Interactive Medi ...

, and the science fiction game RTS Perimeter, among many others. Science fiction and fantasy magazines, websites and other media became widespread in modern Russia. The largest magazine is '' Mir Fantastiki'', while ''

Esli ''Esli'' (russian: Если, Russian for "If") was a Russian science fiction literary magazine. It was started in 1991 in Moscow, as a publisher of foreign SF stories, but soon broadened its format to include Russophone writers as well. In the 200 ...

'' and '' Polden, XXI vek'' have closed down after the

Great Recession The Great Recession was a period of marked general decline, i.e. a recession, observed in national economies globally that occurred from late 2007 into 2009. The scale and timing of the recession varied from country to country (see map). At ...

. Ukrainian magazines, such as '' RBG-Azimuth'' or '' Realnost Fantastiki'', were mostly Russophone. Among websites, Fantlab.ru and Mirf.ru are considered the most influential according to Roscon Award.

Notable writers

File:Lukianenko, Sergey.jpg,

File:Мария Семёнова.jpg,

File:Nick Perumov.png,

File:Vera Kamsha MOW Feb-2011.jpg,

File:Vadim panov 2010.jpg, Vadim Panov File:H. L. Oldie.jpg, H. L. Oldie (Dmitry Gromov and Oleg Ladyzhensky) File:Marina and Sergey Dyachenko.jpg,

File:Dmitry Glukhovsky MOW 03-2011.jpg,

File:Martynchik Svetlana, author of Max Frei idea.jpg,

(Svetlana Martynchik) File:Latynina Yulia.jpg, Yulia Latynina

Reception

Russian science fiction and fantasy are popular in Poland.

Anthologies

A number of English anthologies of Russian science fiction and fantasy exist: * ''Soviet Science Fiction'', Collier Books, 1962, 189pp. * ''More Soviet Science Fiction'', Collier Books, 1962, 190pp. * ''Russian Science Fiction'', ed. Robert Magidoff, New York University Press, 1964. * ''Russian Science Fiction, 1968'', ed. Robert Magidoff, New York University Press, 1968. * ''Russian Science Fiction, 1969'', ed. Robert Magidoff, New York University Press, 1969. * ''New Soviet Science Fiction'', Macmillan, 1979, , xi+297pp. * ''Pre-Revolutionary Russian Science Fiction'': An Anthology (Seven Utopias and a Dream), ed. Leland Fetzer, Ardis, 1982, , 253pp. * ''Worlds Apart'' : An Anthology of Russian Science Fiction and Fantasy, ed. Alexander Levitsky, Overlook, 2007, , 656pp.

References

External links

Soviet science fiction, in Britannica Online

* [http://files.osa.ceu.hu/holdings/300/8/3/text/56-1-360.shtml "In the Light of the Silvery Sputnik". Notes on Soviet Science Fiction, Soviet Survey. January–March, 1958. I--Past and Present by Walter Z. Laqueur; II -- Fantasy and Reality by Vera Alexandrova; III - East and West by Zeev ben Shlomo]
Elana Gomel. Science Fiction in Russia: From Utopia to New Age

"Russian and East European Science Fiction Resources", 2010
- Slavic Reference Service {{DEFAULTSORT:Russian Science Fiction And Fantasy

Terminology

Imperial period

18th and early 19th centuries

Late 19th - early 20th century

Utopias

Genre fiction

Soviet period

Soviet science fiction

Early Soviet era

Late Soviet era

Films and other media

Soviet fantasy

Literature

Films

Most notable Soviet writers

Post-Soviet period

Literature

Movies

Other media

Notable writers

Reception

Anthologies

Further reading

References

External links