Maksym Ivanovych Kidruk ( uk, Максим Іванович Кідрук; born 1 April 1984) is a Ukrainian

travelogue Travelogue may refer to: Genres * Travel literature, a record of the experiences of an author travelling * Travel documentary A travel documentary is a documentary film, television program, or online series that describes travel in general or ...

and

fiction writer Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying individuals, events, or places that are imaginary, or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portrayals are thus inconsistent with history, fact, or plausibility. In a traditi ...

. His professional career began in 2009 with an autobiographical novel ''The Mexican Chronicles'', describing the journey across Mexico from the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contin ...

to the

Caribbean Sea The Caribbean Sea ( es, Mar Caribe; french: Mer des Caraïbes; ht, Lanmè Karayib; jam, Kiaribiyan Sii; nl, Caraïbische Zee; pap, Laman Karibe) is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico ...

. Since then Kidruk traveled in 29 countries and wrote eight fiction books including travelogues, adventure stories and

thrillers Thriller is a genre of fiction, having numerous, often overlapping subgenres. Thrillers are characterized and defined by the moods they elicit, giving viewers heightened feelings of suspense, excitement, surprise, anticipation and anxiety. Suc ...

. He is the author of the very first Ukrainian

techno-thriller A techno-thriller or technothriller is a hybrid genre drawing from science fiction, thrillers, spy fiction, action, and war novels. They include a disproportionate amount (relative to other genres) of technical details on their subject matter ( ...

''Bot''. Most of his stories are based on real places and events which Kidruk witnessed or heard of from fellow travelers during his journeys. From 2012, he has been working solely in the techno-thriller genre.

Life

Kidruk was born on 1 April 1984 in Volodymyrets, a small town in western

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 ...

(

Rivne region Rivne Oblast ( uk, Рі́вненська о́бласть, translit=Rivnenska oblast), also referred to as Rivnenshchyna ( uk, Рі́вненщина) is an oblast (province) of Ukraine. Its administrative center is Rivne. The surface area of th ...

). In 2006 he graduated from National University of Water Management and Natural Resources Use (located in

Rivne Rivne (; uk, Рівне ),) also known as Rovno (Russian: Ровно; Polish: Równe; Yiddish: ראָוונע), is a city in western Ukraine. The city is the administrative center of Rivne Oblast (province), as well as the surrounding Rivne Raio ...

city) receiving a MSc in Engineering. While at the university Kidruk also worked as a programmer in Russian Developers Company ASCON. After graduating Kidruk moved to Kyiv, and became a PhD student at National Technical University "Kyiv Polytechnic Institute". In 2007 Kidruk obtained a Swedish Institute scholarship, and moved to Stockholm. He studied Sustainable Development at the Swedish Royal Institute of Technology (Kungliga Tekniska Hogskolan — KTH), one of the leading technical universities in Europe at the time. In the following 2 years Kidruk lived in Europe, gradually moving away from science toward literature. During the summer of 2008 Kidruk started his first big journey overseas, flying to Mexico and crossing the country from the western to eastern coast with a small backpack and little money. The adventures on the trip formed the core of his first published book, ''The Mexican Chronicles''. The book becomes an instant success in Ukraine (the first edition sold out within 6 months, during the next 3 years the book was reissued 3 times), and Kidruk decided to leave his science career and focus on literature. Kidruk's next big trip to

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sout ...

and

Easter Island Easter Island ( rap, Rapa Nui; es, Isla de Pascua) is an island and special territory of Chile in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, at the southeasternmost point of the Polynesian Triangle in Oceania. The island is most famous for its ne ...

developed into his second travel book ''The Journey to the Navel of the World'', published in 2010. The book was also successful (the second edition appeared in 2012). During 2010–2012 Kidruk visited

Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ' ...

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = National seal , national_motto = "Firm and Happy f ...

, Chile, Brazil, China, Turkey, Norway, Syria,

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...

, Egypt, New Zealand, Italy, France and others, in total almost 30 countries. He accidentally became a witness of the Egyptian uprising in 2011, staying two weeks on

Tahrir square Tahrir Square ( ar, ميدان التحرير ', , English: Liberation Square), also known as "Martyr Square", is a major public town square in downtown Cairo, Egypt. The square has been the location and focus for political demonstrations in Cai ...

surrounded by Arabs protesting against President Mubarak. Later in 2011 Kidruk organized a response to a sexually harassing "Win a Ukrainian Wife" competition launched by New Zealand's The Rock Fm radio station (the action took place in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about ...

, New Zealand, it is described in an autobiographical book ''To New Zealand!''). In 2012 Kidruk published

''Bot'', a story based on programming,

nanotechnologies Nanotechnology, also shortened to nanotech, is the use of matter on an atomic, molecular, and supramolecular scale for industrial purposes. The earliest, widespread description of nanotechnology referred to the particular technological goal o ...

and mysteries of a

human brain The human brain is the central organ (anatomy), organ of the human nervous system, and with the spinal cord makes up the central nervous system. The brain consists of the cerebrum, the brainstem and the cerebellum. It controls most of the act ...

. This work was very successful. The first edition of ''Bot'' sold out in 3 months. The book entered "Knyharnya Ye" bookstore chart at number sixteen, reaching number two in just two weeks, and staying in the top ten for twelve weeks. ''Bot'' is being translated into

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...

and German. In September 2013

''The Stronghold'' was published. In the fall of 2014 the thriller ''Cruel Sky'' ( «Жорстоке небо») was published by the "Club of Family Leisure" ( «Клуб сімейного дозвілля») publishing house.

Bibliography

Fiction

* 2009 – ''The Mexican Chronicles. One Dream Story'' – a travelogue; — * 2010 – ''The Journey to the Navel of the World. Volume 1'' – a travelogue; — * 2010 – ''The Journey to the Navel of the World. Volume 2'' – a travelogue; — * 2011 – ''Screwballs in Mexico'', a collection of adventure stories; * 2011 – ''Screwballs in Peru'', a collection of adventure stories; * 2011 – ''Love and Piranhas'', a travelogue; — * 2012 – ''Bot'', a techno-thriller; — * 2013 – ''

The Stronghold ''The Stronghold'' is a children's historical novel by the Scottish people, Scottish writer Mollie Hunter, published by Hamilton in 1974. Set in the Orkney islands during the 1st century BC, the story is an imaginative reconstruction of the dev ...

'', a psycho-thriller; — * 2014 – ''To New Zealand!'', an autobiographical novel; — * 2014 – '' Cruel Sky'', a

; — * 2015 — ''Bot II: The Guayaquil Paradox'', a techno-thriller; — * 2016 — ''Look Into My Dreams'' a thriller; — *2017 — ''Don't Look Back and Don't Speak'' (Не озирайся і мовчи); — *2018 — ''Where There Is No God'' (Де немає Бога); — *2019 — ''For Future's Sake'' (Заради майбутнього); — *2019 — ''Until Light Goes Out Forever'' (Доки світло не згасне назавжди) — *2023 – ''New dark ages. Colony'' (Нові темні віки. Колонія) –

Journalistic books

* 2015 – Unbrotherly (Небратні) —

Books in collaboration

* 2011 – ''20 Writers of Modern Ukraine'' * 2011 – ''Writers on Football'' * 2014 – ''Ode to Joy'' * 2015 – ''Volunteers. Mobilization of the Good''

Translations

* 2012 - «Wodka für den Torwart: 11 Fußball-Geschichten aus der Ukraine» (in German) * 2013 – Bot (in Russian) * 2014 – «MAJDAN!: Ukraine, Europa» (in collaboration, in German) * 2014 – Bot (in Polish) * 2015 – «Ja, Ukrainiec» (in Polish)

Technical books

* 2008 – ArCon: Interior Design and Architectural Simulation for All (in Russian) * 2009 – Compass-3D V10 for 100% (in Russian) * 2009 – Video manual for self-tuition on Compass-3D (DVD) (in Russian) * 2010 – Work in designing system Compass-3D V11 (in Russian)

Awards

* 2nd prize in the Coronation of the Word 2009 contest. * Winner of "The Book of the Year 2010" from Ukrainian magazine ''Correspondent''. * "The breakthrough of the Year 2009 in literature".

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kidruk, Max Ukrainian novelists 21st-century travel writers Living people 1984 births Ukrainian science fiction writers 21st-century novelists Techno-thriller writers Ukrainian male short story writers Ukrainian short story writers 21st-century male writers