Alexander Nikolayevich Gromov () is a

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

writer, who began writing in 1986 and was first published in the early 1990s. His work is influenced by that of the

Strugatsky brothers The brothers Arkady Strugatsky (28 August 1925 – 12 October 1991) and Boris Strugatsky (14 April 1933 – 19 November 2012) were Soviet and Russian science-fiction authors who collaborated through most of their careers. Their notable works i ...

, and he has stated a preference for the

social science fiction Social science fiction or sociological science fiction is a subgenre of science fiction, usually (but not necessarily) soft science fiction, concerned less with technology or space opera and more with speculation about society. In other wor ...

genre. He writes primarily in his native

Russian language Russian is an East Slavic languages, East Slavic language belonging to the Balto-Slavic languages, Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family. It is one of the four extant East Slavic languages, and is ...

. Gromov lives in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

, and is an

amateur astronomer Amateur astronomy is a hobby where participants enjoy observing or imaging celestial objects in the sky using the unaided eye, binoculars, or telescopes. Even though scientific research may not be their primary goal, some amateur astronomers m ...

and former

electronic engineer Electronic engineering is a sub-discipline of electrical engineering that emerged in the early 20th century and is distinguished by the additional use of active components such as semiconductor devices to amplify and control electric current flow ...

Gromov's works

''Soft Landing''

''Soft Landing'' (original Russian title: ''Myagkaya posadka'') was published in 1995. The novel is set in

, approximately at the end of the 21st century. The novel centers on the life of an ordinary man fighting for survival while new subspecies of ''

Homo sapiens Humans (''Homo sapiens'') or modern humans are the most common and widespread species of primate, and the last surviving species of the genus ''Homo''. They are Hominidae, great apes characterized by their Prehistory of nakedness and clothing ...

'' wage war against normal humans. ''Soft Landing'' received a Belyaev Award and Interpresscon Award in 1996.

''Year of the Lemming''

''Year of the Lemming'' (original Russian title: ''God Lemminga''), was published in 1997. It is a prequel to ''Soft Landing'' and is set in the year 2040. In the novel, the appearance of contagious diseases and unexpected technological failures has caused the establishment of four services that harshly monitor the life of humankind. The protagonist Michail Malakhov is faced with a suicide epidemic, the cure for which is being hidden by scientists.

''Master of the Void''

''Master of the Void'' (original Russian title: ''Vlastelin Pustoty'') was first published in 1997. The plot involves the transition of a nation in peaceful harmony with the natural world on a distant planet, to a phase of industrial dictatorship created to defend against outer aggression.

"Saint Vitus' Minuet"

St. Vitus' Minuet (), published in 1997, is a novella which deals with an emerging society on an unexplored planet, and the psychological aspects of survival. ''Saint Vitus' Minuet'' won a Fancon Award in 1997.

Genres and themes

While most of his novels have a well-defined hard scientific background, Gromov's stated main interest is

: ''I still have to tell a couple of words about my works — not about each one, but about all of them. Most of the things I wrote can be considered social science fiction (not in the sense of "capitalism-socialism" — this topic does not interest me). The recipe of it, worked out by

H. G. Wells Herbert George Wells (21 September 1866 – 13 August 1946) was an English writer, prolific in many genres. He wrote more than fifty novels and dozens of short stories. His non-fiction output included works of social commentary, politics, hist ...

, has not changed till the present day and looks like this: you take a socium (limited number of people is better — easier to work) and do some ugly thing to it, and then you sit and look at the consequences...'' Two of Gromov's books focus on a theme of power in a social context: his novella ''Saint Vitus Minuet'' (''Menuet Svyatogo Vitta'', 1997), deals with an emerging society; the novel ''Master of the Void'' discusses the transition of a peaceful nation in harmony with nature to an aggressive industrial dictatorship. The latter examines the surrounding mechanisms of power in the fictional government as well as the protagonist's rise to leadership.

References

External links

*
Some works of Gromov at lib.ru (Russian)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gromov, Alexander Russian science fiction writers Living people Year of birth missing (living people)