''Plutonia'' (''Плутония'') is a science fiction novel in the "
lost world
The lost world is a subgenre of the fantasy or science fiction genres that involves the discovery of an unknown Earth civilization. It began as a subgenre of the late- Victorian adventure romance and remains popular into the 21st century.
The ...
" genre by Russian academician and writer
Vladimir Obruchev
Vladimir Afanasyevich Obruchev (; – June 19, 1956) was a Russian and Soviet geologist who specialized in the study of Siberia and Central Asia. He was also one of the first Russian science fiction authors.
Scientific research
Vladimir Obr ...
. It was first published in the original Russian in
1924
Events
January
* January 12 – Gopinath Saha shoots Ernest Day, whom he has mistaken for Sir Charles Tegart, the police commissioner of Calcutta, and is arrested soon after.
* January 20–January 30, 30 – Kuomintang in Ch ...
.
Plot
The title ''Plutonia'' refers to the novel's setting in a
underground world with the source of light and heat turned out to be
Earth's core
The internal structure of Earth are the layers of the Earth, excluding its atmosphere and hydrosphere. The structure consists of an outer silicate solid crust, a highly viscous asthenosphere, and solid mantle, a liquid outer core whose flow g ...
, which the explorers called Pluto for the
Roman god of the underworld. The terrain is marked by dramatic geographic features and inhabited by prehistoric animals and primitive people. These are essentially the animal and plant life of previous geological periods in their natural surroundings. As the characters venture deeper into the underground area, they encounter more and more ancient life forms, back to the dinosaurs and other species.
Reception
Russian literary critic praised both scientific and literary qualities of the book.
''
Kirkus Reviews
''Kirkus Reviews'' is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus. The magazine's publisher, Kirkus Media, is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fiction, no ...
'' said, "This is a most erudite adventure tale buttressed by accurate geological, biological and botanical information, geared for the intelligent reader."
Author David Whitehouse said, "The characterisation is poor and the plot overly simple, but the redeeming quality of the book is Obruchev's knowledge of geology."
Translations
An English-language edition translated by Brian Pearce was published in 1955, issued by the State Publishing House for Geographical Literature, Moscow. Other English editions include a translation by Fainna Solasko with illustrations by G. Nikolsky, published in 1961 by Criterion Books.
Besides English, the novel has been translated into: Spanish (1953), German (1953),
Finnish (1954),
Ukrainian (1955), French (1955),
Czech
Czech may refer to:
* Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe
** Czech language
** Czechs, the people of the area
** Czech culture
** Czech cuisine
* One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus
*Czech (surnam ...
(1941),
Hungarian (1956),
Romanian
Romanian may refer to:
*anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania
**Romanians, an ethnic group
**Romanian language, a Romance language
***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language
**Romanian cuisine, traditional ...
(1956),
Latvian (1957),
Portuguese (1960), and
Polish
Polish may refer to:
* Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe
* Polish language
* Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent
* Polish chicken
* Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...
(1966).
See also
*
Hollow Earth
The Hollow Earth is a concept proposing that the planet Earth is entirely hollow or contains a substantial interior space. Notably suggested by Edmond Halley in the late 17th century, the notion was disproven, first tentatively by Pierre Bougue ...
*
Pellucidar
Pellucidar is the fictional internal surface of a Hollow Earth invented by American writer Edgar Rice Burroughs for a series of action adventure stories. In a crossover event, Tarzan, who was also created by Burroughs, visits Pellucidar.
The ...
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Plutonia (Novel)
1924 science fiction novels
1924 Russian novels
Novels about dinosaurs
Novels set in prehistory
Russian science fiction novels
Novels set in subterranea
Lost world novels
Fiction about the Hollow Earth