Sergey Lukyanenko

Sergei Vasilyevich Lukyanenko (russian: Серге́й Васи́льевич Лукья́ненко, ; born 11 April 1968) is a Russian science fiction and fantasy author, writing in Russian. His works often feature intense action-packed plots, interwoven with the moral dilemma of keeping one's humanity while being strong.

Some of his works have been adapted into film productions, for which he wrote the screenplays.

Biography

Lukyanenko was born in Karatau, Kazakhstan, then a part of the Soviet Union. After graduating from school, he moved to Alma-Ata, and enrolled at the Alma-Ata State Medical Institute in 1986 majoring in psychotherapy. He had started writing as a student, and in 1992 had just started making money from it. During this time he became an active member in Russian fandom, visiting conventions and attending seminars all around the Soviet Union. In 1996 he moved to Moscow where he currently resides.

Name transliteration

Lukyanenko's name is romanized as ''Sergey Lukianenko'' on the English version of his official website and as ''Sergei Lukyanenko'' by his publisher on works translated into English. Other spellings such as ''Sergey Lukyanenko'' are also found.

Writing career

Early years

Lukyanenko started writing in the mid-1980s, and his first publication, the short story "Misconduct" ("Where The Mean Enemy Lurks", although written earlier, was published later), followed soon in 1988. Science fiction in the Soviet Union was exposed to political control, as it was viewed chiefly as a political tool rather than an art. In the late 1980s, however, it was viewed somewhat benevolently, and he was able to jump on the bandwagon of the state support, attending a number of literary seminars and publishing several novellas and short stories.

First works of this period show the clear influence of the Russian children's author and teacher Vladislav Krapivin, whose fan Lukyanenko remains up to this day. These works, such as the novella '' Eighth Color of Rainbow'', feature the same themes of coming of age, loyalty and friendship, as well as teenage protagonists and a similar target audience. However, Lukyanenko soon moved from imitating Krapivin toward a more polemic view of his idealistic views of children and their interaction. In the 1994 novel ''Knights of Forty Islands'', Lukyanenko established himself as an author of the Goldingian tradition.

After dissolution of the Soviet Union

After the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the switch to the market economy, Russian authors now had to struggle with unfamiliar realities of a free publishing system. The hopes of a creative boom never materialized, as publishers were eager to exploit the lucrative pulp literature market (virtually nonexistent before) largely ignoring the existing literature establishment. This led to rather low confidence in domestic authors, and it was extremely hard to find a publisher ready to invest in a local writer.

Lukyanenko, though, fared somewhat better than the others, already having made something of a name in Russian science fiction circles. Nascent computer networks (mainly FidoNet), distributing electronic copies of his works, also helped to create demand for printed versions. Another contribution was his writing style, combining intricate but captivating plots with deep intrigue and concentrated action.

His books at the time included the aforementioned ''Knights of the 40 Islands'', plus ''Nuclear Dream'', a collection of short stories and novellas, published in 1992, and two space opera trilogies: ''Line of Delirium'', the setting of which was loosely based on that of the ''Master of Orion'' series of video games, and the earlier '' Lord from Planet Earth'', based on the dark setting brought forth in his early short stories (entitled '' A Splendid Faraway Universe''). ''Autumn Visits'', was also written during that time, when the author was struggling with depression.

''Labyrinth of Reflections'', a book heavily based on various internet subcultures and cyberpunk mythos, is another product of this period. Although ''Labyrinth'' is often labeled as cyberpunk, it is a rather straight romance story, hardly meeting Dozois criterion, and, more to the fact, was written when the author did not even have an Internet connection; all his internet knowledge was limited to FIDONet membership.

After moving from Kazakhstan to Moscow, he continued to write there, now often venturing into literary experiments – like the religiously themed alternative history dilogy ''Seekers of the Sky'', where he experimented with language stylization. He also continued several series started in his earlier period, and started several new ones (often in his favorite genre of space opera) – like the ''Genome'' series, now featuring two novels (''Genome'' and ''Dances on the Snow'') and the '' Cripples'' novella, or ''The Stars Are Cold Toys'' dilogy, sharing the same themes with David Brin

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