The River Chronos

When Kira Bulychev was asked in an interview on the television channel «Culture» to name the most important of all that he had written, the master replied that he had a work that was, if not the whole of his life, then at least the last decade. The cycle «The River Chronos», he spoke of it. In the novels that are part of the cycle, both creative aspects of the writer found embodiment: history and literature. They combine the most diverse literary directions: family saga, science fiction, alternative history, detective, love story, satire, and life tragedy... The River Chronos, according to Bulychev, is a capricious river, like History itself. You can dive into it — and surface not where you expect, and see not what you hope to see. For example, Constantinople-Istanbul, stormed by Russian troops who triumphed in World War I. Or the coronation of the son of Emperor Nicholas... The main characters of the cycle's novels, Andrei and Lydia Berestovy, go through the meat grinder of all the misfortunes that befell Russia in the early 20th century, — from the hell of the world slaughter to the February and October revolutions and the events that followed. The fantastic device that Andrei inherited allows the heroes of the cycle to travel through time, and this wonderful property gave Kira Bulychev the opportunity to describe the history of our country as he saw it through the eyes of an impartial observer.