Alexander Gromov
Alexander Nikolayevich Gromov (Алексáндр Николáевич Грóмов) is a Russian science fiction writer, who began writing in 1986 and was first published in the early 1990s. His work is influenced by that of the Strugatsky brothers.
Gromov is a former electronic engineer and an amateur astronomer. While most of his novels have a well-defined hard scientific background, Gromov's main interest is social science fiction, as he explains it: 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, 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...[1]
Gromov's works
None of Gromov's books have been translated into English yet.
Soft Landing
Soft Landing (Myagkaya posadka) was published in 1995. The novel is set in Moscow, approximately at the end of 21st century. The novel centers on the life of an ordinary man fighting for survival while new subspecies of Homo sapiens wage war against normal humans.
Year of the Lemming
Year of the Lemming (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 (Vlastelin Pustoty) was first published in 1997.[2] The plot involves the transition of a nation, in peaceful harmony with the nature on a distant planet, to a phase of industrial dictatorship created to defend against outer aggression.
Themes
Two of Gromov's books focus on a theme of power. His novella Saint Vitus Minuet (Menuet Svyatogo Vitta, 1997), deals with an emerging society on an unexplored planet and the psychological aspects of survival. His novel Master of the Void discusses the transition of a peaceful nation in harmony with the nature to an industrial war dictatorship. It examines the surrounding mechanisms of power in the fictional government as well as the protagonist's rise to leadership.