''Mir Fantastiki'' (russian: Мир фантастики), officially abbreviated as ''MirF'', is a Russian monthly

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 uni ...

and

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving 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 literature and d ...

magazine. The name also refers to the website run by the magazine, Mirf.ru. ''Mir Fantastiki'' literally translates from Russian as ''World of Speculative Fiction''. In Western media it is often referred to as ''World of Fantasy'' or ''World of Fiction''.

Overview

''MF'' was published by Igromedia publishing house, along with video game magazine ''

Igromania ''Igromania'' (russian: Игромания, Russian for "Game Mania") is a Russian video game website and formerly a magazine. The magazine was published in Moscow and distributed in Russia and the CIS countries. It was founded in September 1997 ...

'', since September 2003. It is distributed in major ex-USSR countries via trade net and postal subscription, as well as through publisher-owned online shop Journalshop.ru. Its editorial office is situated in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

. The magazine was founded by Nikolay Pegasov, later best known as a board game publisher in Hobby World. ''Mir Fantastiki'' used to be one of the main Russian periodical SF&F editions, along with ''

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 2000 ...

'' and '' Polden, XXI vek''. Since 2013 it remains the only broadly circulated survivor in its niche after an industry crisis. Unlike the other two, which were literary magazines publishing short stories, ''Mir Fantastiki'' is largely devoted to media review and sci-fi/fantasy

geek The word ''geek'' is a slang term originally used to describe eccentric or non-mainstream people; in current use, the word typically connotes an expert or enthusiast obsessed with a hobby or intellectual pursuit. In the past, it had a general ...

subculture. It covers all sorts of science fiction and fantasy media, whether literature, movies, TV shows, video games or comics. Their official motto is "Fantasy and science fiction in all their aspects". While the magazine is seen sometimes as a Russian counterpart to '' Locus'' or '' SFX'', ''Mir Fantastiki'' shares certain traits with both. Its book section is largest and contains not only reviews, but also literary criticism and master classes of writing by experienced authors, most often by H. L. Oldie. However, in other sections it also covers mainstream western science fiction and fantasy franchises, such as

Middle-earth Middle-earth is the fictional setting of much of the English writer J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy. The term is equivalent to the '' Miðgarðr'' of Norse mythology and ''Middangeard'' in Old English works, including ''Beowulf''. Middle-earth is ...

or ''

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has been expanded into various film ...

'', as well as video game and comic franchises. ''Mir Fantastiki'' reviews

horror fiction 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 ...

as well, but less frequently than sci-fi and fantasy. ''MirF'' annually publishes "Year's totals" and names the year's best books, films, games and other media. The magazine operates a website and official communities in VK, YouTube, Facebook, and other social media. In 2018, ''Mir Fantastiki'' was obtained by Hobby World. The magazine launched a crowdfunding campaign for revival in 2019 and raised over , setting a new record for Russian media crowdfunding (the previous record, , was held by ''

Iskusstvo Kino ''Iskusstvo Kino'' ( Russian: Искусство кино, ''Film Art'') is a film magazine published in Moscow, Russia. It has been published since 1931 and is one of the earliest magazines in Europe which specialize on film theory and review al ...

''). Following campaigns raised 6 million in 2020 and 8,5 million in 2021.

Mirf.ru

According to Yandex, Mirf.ru is the second most popular science fiction & fantasy site in Runet. It was launched in 2004. Until 2015 it served as an archive of magazine's older articles and as a discussion forum. Mirf.ru was relaunched in 2015. Since then it is updated daily and publishes articles, reviews, news and other content that only partially overlaps with the printed magazine.

Content

There are several general sections in ''Mir Fantastiki'': # Book Row - reviews of new releases in Russia, interviews with writers, literary criticism and biographic articles. Also includes

comics a medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, captions, and onomatopoeia can indicate ...

subsection. Originally Book Row was the largest section of MirF, but throughout the 2010s it was gradually surpassed by Videodrome. # Videodrome - reviews of new films and TV series, interviews with filmmakers, articles about SF&F cinema of the past, notable filmmakers and special effects.

Anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...

is covered occasionally. # Game Club - consists of the larger video game section and the smaller board game column. # Music Center - music album reviews. ''MF'' only reviews fantasy-, science fiction- or horror-related albums (in lyrics or

concept Concepts are defined as abstract ideas. They are understood to be the fundamental building blocks of the concept behind principles, thoughts and beliefs. They play an important role in all aspects of cognition. As such, concepts are studied by ...

), that usually includes heavy metal,

electronic music Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means ( electro ...

and

film score A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film. The score comprises a number of orchestral, instrumental, or choral pieces called cues, which are timed to begin and end at specific points during the film in order to e ...

s. By 2016 it was adsorbed into Gate of the Worlds. # Gate of the Worlds - articles on the popular fictional universes, creatures and characters. Often includes "Top 10" of various fictional things, conventions reports and interviews with

fantasy art Fantastic art is a broad and loosely defined art genre. It is not restricted to a specific school of artists, geographical location or historical period. It can be characterised by subject matter – which portrays non-realistic, mystical, my ...

ists. # Time machine - the

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 ...

section: articles dedicated to future technology, history and mythology, "what if" research, "Arsenal" column about weapons and military tactics. # Fun Zone - the entertainment section. It usually contains a short story by a popular Russian writer, a

comic strip A comic strip is a Comics, sequence of drawings, often cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often Serial (literature), serialized, with text in Speech balloon, balloons and Glossary of comics ter ...

by artist Alexander Remizov, a reader's contest, and occasionally a collection of geek humour.

Technical information

A4, full color, 128 pages, additional materials on DVD. Circulation: 16000 copies per month (September 2016)

Awards

''Mir Fantastiki'' is a recipient of many Russian and international science fiction and fantasy awards. * Eurocon "Best magazine" (2006, 2021) * Internet-Roscon (2011) - for the website. * Strannik (2009) * Zilantcon Durandal (2005) *

Aelita ''Aelita'' (russian: Аэли́та, ), also known as ''Aelita: Queen of Mars'', is a 1924 Soviet silent science fiction film directed by Yakov Protazanov and produced at the Mezhrabpom-Rus film studio. It was based on Alexei Tolstoy's 1923 ...

(2008) *

Ivan Yefremov Ivan Antonovich (real patronymic Antipovich) Yefremov ( ru , Ива́н Анто́нович (Анти́пович) Ефре́мов; April 23, 1908 – October 5, 1972; last name sometimes transliterated as Efremov) was a Soviet paleonto ...

prize (2008) * Star Bridge (2008) * Bronze Icarus (2005) * The Second Try (2008) Personal awards to ''MirF'' contributors for their works published in ''MirF'': *

Alexander Belayev 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 Russi ...

prize - to Mikhail Popov (2006) and Vladimir Puziy (2008) * Rosсon Awards - to H. L. Oldie (2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014) and Anton Pervushin (2009).

References

External links

* * {{ScienceFictionMagazines 2003 establishments in Russia Fantasy fiction magazines Horror fiction magazines Magazines established in 2003 Science fiction magazines established in the 2000s Mass media in Moscow Speculative fiction magazines published in Russia Russian-language magazines Monthly magazines published in Russia Science fiction magazines published in Russia Video game magazines published in Russia