"Was This Some Sort Of Soviet Pulp SF Series?" Topic

Anyone know ANYTHING about these line drawings and what SF work they belong to?

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Is it from some SOVIET Era Russian series? If so, did they think the COLD WAR would extend far into the FUTURE? Is that what this Cold War series is really about … an ONGOING Cold War?

And, MOST importantly … is it good story material that might help bring about some worthwhile GAMING ideas?

Dan

I just did a google search using one of the images you supplied above ti get a list of hits. I then hit translate on the first link to get link

The second image revealed link

Djbthesecond

Wow, that's incredible!

So it is indeed something produced in Soviet Russia? Or is it a Russian-language series produced outside of the Iron Curtain?

Dan

So it would seem :-)

The second link says its from Inhabited Island by the Strugatsky, brothers written 1969. This was released in English as Prisoners of Power in 1977 link.

Djbthesecond

The external link at the bottom of that page took me here:

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I know what I'll be reading later tonight. This might be a lot of fun to read, specially knowing what we now know of events in the USSR at around that time. :)

Thanks a million.

Dan

No problems. The google search by image is a fantastic tool :-)

…and an Intro from Theodore Sturgeon no less :-)

Apparently there was a Russian two part movie made ten years ago? Dark Planet – link

Did the illustrator ("Yu Makarova"?) do any other SF work, I wonder?

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As for the movie, I'll watch it if it has subtitles. But I want to read the novel first of course.

Thanks

Dan
PS. The universe in the story is very interesting, and VERY "Cold War" minded, to say the least:
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"The Progressors … are agents embedded in less advanced humanoid civilizations in order to accelerate their development or resolve their problems."
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LOL. Interesting. And more than a bit creepy.

Dan

I have some books from 50s and 60s, and of course read lots of them. There was one called "Arctic Bridge" by Kazantsev, where SU and US were trying to make a bridge between through Bering straits, and some evil capitalists wanted to destroy it. There were two books "Callisto" about aliens making contacts with Earth and how SU and US reacted to this. I think I still have it somewhere in my library…
Will have a look when I'm back home.
You might also find some illustrations to I.Efremov's books, but they are not pulp – he is similar to, say, Arthur Clark, a scientist and humanitarian, beleiving in good side of mankind.

Yeah … "dey lookz like Rooskies to me !" …

Aelita, one of the earliest Soviet science fiction films (1924) so captured the public's imagination that it drove the objectives of the the Soviet space program through the 70s.

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aelita

As a child I've read all the SF I could get and most of it was East Bloc. Thus I've read hundreds of SF Soviet novels, most in russian. The best ones, f.ex. Strugaccy brothers been trying to avoid political issues. The most of Soviet SF was unfortunately mediocre (as in every language, I suppose) but with strong element of political indoctrination. And yes, most of Soviet (and nearly all of DDR) SF assumed that Cold War was won by communism peacefully and world was united into kind of benevolent moneyfree StarTreklike technocrat Utopian Federation, helping other less advanced nonhuman civilizations in progress into communist paradise.
Official USSR doctrine was that capitalism will sometime in the future will fall, as it was "scientifically proved my marxism". All SF writers had to adhere to that doctrine, even if they oppose it "between the lines". I recommend great polish visioner Zajdel.
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I love Star Trek, but sometimes I have a strange reminiscence of those commmunists SF novels.

Google search results are a bit strange, but I got smth:

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link
link

link

link

link

Those would be great pictures to use as color for a Traveller game.

@Umpapa, I'll have to check out Janusz Zajdel and see if any of his work is available in English (or even Spanish). He sounds like a very courageous man:
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"His works are also recognized as being a critique of the totalitarian, communist state, a reality of his life in People's Republic of Poland. Science fiction genre, with its outer-worldly, clearly fictional, and often allegorical setting and invented jargon was able to debate fundamentals of such systems with frankness that more mainstream literature would not be allowed to."
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EDIT – I found this one story by Zajdel:
link
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@Barin1, the architectural vision in some of those links is definitely unique. I can see a lot of potential for Cold War futurist terrain projects.
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@Oberlindes, I completely agree. Some of these illustrations could find new life in other works.

Dan

You've found the best, the most viosonary Zajdel's books, Limes inferior and Paradyzja. :)

My favourite Soviet military Space Opera, very very good:
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Its my most favourite Russian literature and one of the best space operas at all (and I am saying it as a Pole ;D so go imagine).

Well, I was really enjoying Stanislaw Lem back then…the films were meh, but the books were nice.
Never saw Zajdel at that time, and I don't think I've seen his books up to now…will check.

Barin1

I think Giorgio Tsoukalos (Ancient Aliens guy) would approve of this pic. :)

Dan

I got a model of that one guy !

LOL. Where did you get that guy?

Dan
PS. I like the Vinca figurines too:

Can't remember where I got him …? Wish I did !

Found where I got some of those pics Dan … link

I'm reminded of The 1980's Japanese SF anime series SPT Layzner which has the Cold War continuing far into the future. A lot of SF during the Cold War probably assumes the same.

I'll check it out.

Thanks!

Dan