Technik Velkého Kyjeva – Vasiljev Vladimir (2014)

Vladimir Vasiljev has made a name for himself among Czech readers primarily as the co-author of the novel Day Watch, but his most significant work was actually written even earlier. It is Technician of Greater Kyiv, one of the key books that helped shape the form of modern Russian fantasy in the 1990s. The world the author brings us into resembles the worlds of sword and sorcery – with the only difference being that swords are replaced by rifles and pistols, heroes do not ride horses but drive fast cars, and advanced technology takes the place of spells and magic. It is a world of endless metropolises, inhabited not only by humans but also by elves, dwarves, orcs, and other races. A world where machines live their own lives and do not need – nor want – the oversight of living beings. A world where wild trucks race along its roads and highways. A world full of mysteries and hidden truths... Is it fantasy? Is it sci-fi? Is it cyberpunk? The answer to each of these questions is yes, but individual genres and the boundaries between them mean nothing to Vasiljev's unbridled imagination. They blend and merge in a gripping story that concerns the fate of the entire world.