Voiskunsky, Evgeny
Entry updated 12 September 2022. Tagged: Author.
(1922-2020) Russian naval officer, journalist and author; he wrote in collaboration with his first cousin Isai Borisovich Lukodianov (1913-1984) until the latter's death. Their work together began with the two-volume Institute of Marine Physics sequence. Ekipazh "Mekonga" (1961; cut trans Leonard Stoklitsky as The Crew of the Mekong 1974) is a long but fast-moving Hard-SF examination of two intersecting projects: an attempt to increase the surface tension of oil so that it can be sent without needing pipelines; and an investigation of the scientific principles behind an ancient knife whose blade is interpenetrable with matter (see Matter Penetration). En passant, the Caspian Sea is raised. The second tale, Ur, Syn Shama ["Ur, Son of Sham"] (1975), depicts an encounter with Aliens, who bring the protagonist, an ancient Babylonian kidnapped aeons earlier, back to Earth. "Tchiorny Stolb" (in Fantastika 1963, anth 1963 edited by Kiriil Andreev; trans anon as "The Black Pillar" in The Molecular Café, anth 1968 edited by Arkady and Boris Strugatski), depicts a Near-Future global catastrophe as the result of deep drilling of Earth's mantle. In Otchen' Daliokii Tartess ["Far Distant Tartess"] (1968) Atlantis meets its doom when local scientist-priests discover the secret of atomic energy. Plesk zviozdenykh Morei ["Star Seas Lapping"] (fixup 1970) deals with the Terraforming of Venus, and a long-frustrated but finally successful attempt to initiate interstellar travel. Some short work was assembled in Na Perekriostkakh Vremeni ["At the Crossroads of Time"] (coll 1964); a late novel is Nezakonaia Planeta ["The Illegal Planet"] (1980), which explores Terraforming with the illegal planet of the title being Pluto (see Outer Planets). [VG/JC]
Evgeny L'vovich Voiskunsky
born Baku, USSR [now Azerbaijan]: 9 April 1922
died Moscow: 3 July 2020
works
series
Institute of Marine Physics
- Ekipazh "Mekonga" (Moscow: Detgiz, 1961) with Isai Lukodianov [Institute of Marine Physics: hb/V Vysotsky]
- The Crew of the Mekong (Moscow: Mir, 1974) with Isai Lukodianov [trans by Leonard Stoklitsky of the above: Institute of Marine Physics: pb/]
- Ur, Syn Shama Formula Nevozmozhnogo ["Ur, Son of Sham"] (no publisher found: 1975) with Isai Lukodianov [Institute of Marine Physics: binding unknown/]
individual titles
- Fantastika 1963 (Moscow: Molodaya Gvardiya, 1963) edited by Kiriil Andreev [anth: contains "Tchiorny Stolb" with Isai Lukodianov: hb/V Nagaev]
- The Molecular Café: Science Fiction Stories (Moscow: MIR, 1968) edited by Arkady and Boris Strugatski [anth: contains "Tchiorny Stolb" trans anon as "The Black Pillar": pb/]
- Otchen' Daliokii Tartess ["Far Distant Tartess"] (no publisher found: 1968) [binding unknown/]
- Na perekryostkakh vremeni ["At the Crossroads of Time"] (Moscow: Znanie, 1964) [coll: pb/]
- Nezakonaia Planeta ["The Illegal Planet"] (no publisher found: 1980) [binding unknown/]
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