Light in the Window. Earthly Paths. The Well

Writer Svyatoslav Loginov – a distinguished laureate of many fantastic awards («Strannik», «Interpresscon», «Roscon», the «Aelita» prize, the Belyaev Prize, the Kir Bulychev Prize, the Ivan Efremov Prize, etc.), a master of short form, author of the novel «The Multihanded... God of Dalayna», one of the most unusual phenomena in domestic science fiction, which has transformed the understanding of what it should be, and other bright works recognized and demanded by readers. The three novels included in this book are three worlds, three sides of life. In the novel «Light in the Window», the action takes place on the other side of existence, in the afterlife, where the main character arrives after death. But this afterlife is not ephemeral and fleeting, as most mystics might imagine. It has strict economic laws: here you can obtain everything you need in life – from the simplest things, clothing, services, food to the luxury of rich mansions surrounded by impregnable walls – but you must pay for your needs with the memory you left behind in the world of the living. As long as you are remembered there, you are also alive here. If the memory of you is erased, you turn into emptiness. The novel «Earthly Paths» is a multilayered narrative about how magic leaves the world. Progress, the hard-working god, the patron of craftsmen and scholars, has displaced the familiar gods that people believed in, along with magic, to the deaf back corners of civilization. In a world that does not believe in magic, magic loses its power. In a world that does not believe in gods, gods cease to be gods. «The Well». The time of action is the 17th century. The setting is half of the world. No matter where the cruel fate of Semyon, a simple peasant from Tula, has thrown him in his quest for fortune on the Volga, he was captured by steppe nomads. The sands of Arabia, Persia, Mecca, Istanbul, Jerusalem, China, India… In life, he went through everything, took on all sins, changed flags, clothes, faith, and returned home with a soul burned by hatred for his tormentors. But in nature, there is a magical well that grants a person what cannot be bought for any treasure. This is the gift of mercy. And the one who receives this gift finds peace in their heart...