The Last War

Kir Bulychev is the second most significant figure in Russian science fiction of the 20th century after the Strugatsky brothers. Several generations of readers have grown up on his books, and the first love of a reader is lasting and does not fade with the years. Founder of the Great Guslyar, godfather to Alice Selezneva, a girl from the future of Earth, chronicler of the works and days of Doctor Pavlysh and his friends from the crew of the interplanetary starship "Segesha", a pilot on the river Chronos, which connects different shores of Russia in time... - Kir Bulychev is as multidimensional as life itself; in his literary universe, there is room for playful pranks, biting, merciless irony, and the wisdom of a scholar and seer. It contains everything except boredom.

The spaceship "Segesha" was peacefully heading to Titan with a cargo of mining equipment when a radiogram came from the Galactic center: urgently interrupt the flight, take aboard passengers from an alien ship, and load special cargo. Then set course to one of the star systems to a planet where, according to the data from an unmanned scout ship, a terrible war has broken out. Why were Earthlings sent there? Because, judging by the discovered images of the inhabitants of the dead planet, they outwardly resemble humans. And the special cargo is a device created by the race of coroners for the restoration of dead bodies. This is the setup of the novel "The Last War." But the task that the author sets is not limited to an adventurous plot. Essentially, the story told by the writer is a possible projection into the future of our today's Earth with its intergovernmental disputes, xenophobia, total unwillingness to understand one’s neighbor and accept opposing viewpoints. Can our planet not repeat the destructive path taken by an alien civilization? And is it worth bringing back to life those who in their struggle for power brought the planet to destruction?

The book also includes the novellas "Thirteen Years of Journey" and "The Great Spirit and the Runaways."