Andromeda's nebula. The heart of the snake. Efremov I.A.

“Andromeda nebula” for domestic fiction, the event is a significant event. In the science fiction of contemporaries of Ivan Efremov, with rare exceptions, there was nothing more than a decoration, against which the heroes moved from the place of the gut, fought with an alien flora and fauna, sometimes died, but mostly won. The main emphasis was on the adventures of the heroes, the main task was to entertain the reader. Such fantasy did not give special food to the mind and heart, although it was interesting, entertaining, useful, at least in that it aroused the imagination of young readers.

Roman Efremov was a break book. There was no such thing in modern Efremov literature, and not only in fantastic. His heroes lived not only the current day, but by future days, determining the fate of both earthly humanity and all the thinking peoples of the Universe. The level of thought of the author was no less powerful than the spatial scale of the plan. The Great Ring is the Ecumenical Brotherhood of Civilizations. The idea of ​​the connection of the reasonable inhabitants of the cosmos, the exchange of knowledge without any envious rivalry, the concept of “scientific humanism”, which the creator of the “Andromeda’s nebula” preached both his works and in real life.

The book was released unprecedented even for that time (end of the 1950s) with a circulation- several million copies, including the first publication in the journal. “Technique - youth”, and the main languages ​​of the world were translated for all, including Turkish and Esperanto. Boris Strugatsky, the student of Efremov, said about his teacher as follows: “It was a truly seasoned man - a great erudite, a brilliant storyteller and fearless fighter.”

The book “The Heart of the Snake” complements the book, which is also included in the cycle about the world of the future, the world of the Great Ring.