The Sky Where Stars Live

Formally, Viktor Kolupayev is a Siberian school of science fiction, if one can divide science fiction by territorial scale. Just as someone distinguishes it, for example, into Petersburg and Moscow schools. But that’s all from the devil. In reality, science fiction is a universally human matter; it is "beyond schools and systems," as Pasternak wrote about Blok. However, the Tomsk writer considered himself not quite a science fiction writer. "My stories began to be called fantastic. I didn’t object because I wasn’t asked. And even if I had been asked, I still wouldn’t have objected, even though I already almost knew that nothing could be invented."

"Nothing can be invented." Indeed, Kolupayev's science fiction stands firmly on solid ground. Realistic, not made up. Whether its characters travel by train from Fomsk to Margrod or hear the singing of a forest on a distant planet, whether they decorate a New Year’s tree in another galaxy or bring to life a lifeless world with earthly love. But despite all the realistic authenticity, the writer endowed most of his characters with a magical property — they see with their eyes the sky where stars live.