Kir Bulychev

Kir Bulychev
Bulychev in 1997
Born
Igor Vsevolodovich Mozheiko

18 October 1934
Moscow, Soviet Union
DiedSeptember 5, 2003(2003-09-05) (aged 68)
Moscow, Russia
EducationMaurice Thorez Moscow State Pedagogical Institute of Foreign Languages
OccupationOriental studies
Writing career
Pen nameKir Bulychev
LanguageRussian
GenreScience fiction
Notable worksAlisa Selezneva series
Guslar series
Notable awardsAelita Prize 1997

Kir Bulychev (Russian: Кир Булычёв, romanized: Kir Bulychyov; 18 October 1934 – 5 September 2003) was the pen name of Igor Vsevolodovich Mozheiko (Russian: И́горь Все́володович Може́йко), a Soviet and Russian science fiction writer, critic, translator and historian. His magnum opus is a children's science fiction series Alisa Seleznyova, although most of his books are adult-oriented. His books were adapted for film, television, and animation over 20 times – more than any other Russian science fiction author – and Bulychev himself wrote scripts for early adaptations.

Biography

Mozheiko (Mojeiko) received a Master's degree in 1965 and a Ph.D. in 1981. From 1963 he worked in the Institute of Oriental Studies of the USSR Academy of Sciences. He was a specialist in the medieval history of Burma and wrote a biography of Aung San.

He first used the pseudonym Kir Bulychev in 1965, for his very first science fiction story, "A Girl Nothing Can Happen To". It was the first in what would become his most popular book series, Alisa Seleznyova, that eventually comprised more than 50 novellas and short stories. This children's science fiction series is centered around the titular heroine, a teenage girl from the future, who travels through space and time, solves mysteries, makes discoveries and saves endangered peoples and species. Bulychov kept writing Alisa for the rest of his life: the last book appeared in 2003, months before his death. There were four animated and three life-action adaptations of Alisa stories, as well as tie-in comics and video games.

Another of Bulychev's best-known works is a series of short stories about Veliky Guslar, a Russian town that attracts all kinds of aliens and supernatural beings. This fictional city is based on the real city of Veliky Ustyug.

He also wrote many standalone science fiction novels.

Bulychev wrote scripts for more than 20 movies: according to Mir Fantastiki magazine, he is the most adapted Russian science fiction author. Besides his own writing, he translated numerous American science fiction stories into Russian.

Selected bibliography

Memorial stone at the Alisa Seleznyova alley in Moscow

Only novels and novellas included.

Alisa Seleznyova series

Veliky Guslyar series

There is a crossover story, in which Alisa Seleznyova decided to travel to the 20th-century Veliky Guslyar. First published as a short story "Alisa in Guslyar" (Алиса в Гусляре, 2000), it was soon expanded into a novel Alisa in the Land of Fantasies (Алиса в стране фантазий, 2000).

Doctor Pavlysh series

Cora Orvat ("InterGPol") series

A series of ironic science fiction crime/mystery stories featuring the super-agent Cora Orvat (Russian: Кора Орват) of the Intergalactic Police (InterGpol).

In his interviews Bulychev said that he planned Kora as an adult Alisa. However later he lost interest in this idea and he even made them to meet each other in order to see them separately.

In addition, Планета для тиранов (A Planet for Tyrants, 1997) from Alisa Seleznyova series is a crossover with the Cora Orvat series

River Chronos series

Andrey Bruce duology

Non-serialized

Books published in English

The dates given are the dates of English editions.

Science fiction:

History:

Film adaptations

All lifetime adaptations scripts were written by Bulychov himself.

Based on Alisa Seleznyova

Posthumous:

Based on Veliky Guslar

The 1981 short Golden Fishes [ru] is based on the story "Поступили в продажу золотые рыбки" ("Goldfish Are on Sale"). The local pet store starts selling goldfish and it turns out that they can grant three wishes.

The 1984 comedy film Chance is based on the novel "The Martian Potion [ru]". 300 years ago an alien gifted an elixir of youth to a resident of Veliky Guslar. For a long time he kept this secret, but eventually Guslyarites learn about the "Martian potion".

The 1988 comedy TV film The Fairytale Glade [ru] is losely based on the elements from short stories "Недостойный богатырь" ("The Unworthy Bogatyr") and "Районные соревнования по домино" ("District Dominoes Competition"). The portagonist Kuzma accidentally finds a sleeping beauty Marya and kisses her. However the local bureaucrats turned their bliss into a nightmare and eventually into a tragedy unhappy Marya eats a poison apple (a hint to the premedication of Pushkin's "speeping beauty"). Bulychev was unhappy with the adaptation and even wanted his name removed from the credits.

In 2024, a TV series Obvious Impossible [ru] was released, loosely based on Guslyar stories. The title is a pun on the Soviet popular science TV program Obvious — Impossible [ru]. While it is based on Bulychev's stories, the action in Guslyar happens in the modern times, with smartphones, drones, and all. The characters have different names and appearances, the stories were retold "modernized", and this has become a quiz for Bulychev's fans to guess who (in film) is who (in originals) and what episode was made from what. The series received mixed reviews.

A number of short stories were made into animated cartoons: «Кладезь мудрости», «Копилка», «Спутник икры» (based on «Прошедшее время»), «Свободный тиран», «Яблоня» и «Чудеса в Гусляре» (based on «Паровоз для царя»), criticized for poor puppet animation quality.

Other

Posthumous:

References

  1. 1 2 Алиса в Гусляре, at the official Bulychev's website
  2. ↑ ИнтерГпол, FantLab
  3. ↑ Кир Булычев: «Алиса – это Буратино», interviewers: К.Молдавская, А.Щербак-Жуков; photographer И.Борисенко // Книжное обозрение, 2002, 7 October (№ 41), p. 3
  4. ↑ Исчезновение профессора Лу Фу
  5. ↑ Планета для тиранов, FantLab
  6. ↑ Е. В. Харитонов, А. В. Щербак-Жуков, ПОЛЯНА СКАЗОК, citing their book, На экране Чудо: Отечественная кинофантастика и киносказка (1909-2002)
  7. ↑ Александр Гагинский, Почему сериал «Очевидное невероятное» — это не «Великий Гусляр» (Why the Series "Obviously Incredible" is not "Veliky Guslyar"), March 12, 2024
  8. ↑ Мультфильмы по Киру Булычёву: Алиса, «Перевал» и другие