The Seller of Air and Others

The novel «The Seller of Air» by A. R. Belyaev began to be published in 1929 in the magazine «Around the World». Subscribers eagerly awaited the release of new issues to find out about the reasons for the dramatic change in the climate on Earth, the mysteries of the Yana-Julia ridge, and the fantastic, at first glance, idea of literally trading air. In the novel, Alexander Romanovich originally played with capitalism's desire to seize any resources that are not yet private property of individuals or companies. Why not then make air an object of sale? It sounds incredible, however, in 1980, California resident Dennis Hope declared himself the owner of all celestial bodies in the Solar System except for Earth and the Sun, and in 2020, the 45th President of the United States, Donald Trump, signed a decree on the commercial use of the Moon, effectively refusing to consider it the heritage of all mankind. Like many talented science fiction writers, Belyaev was a futurist—he was able to look into the future, accurately outlining its alluring or frightening prospects. The first electronic television, suitable for practical use, was created at the end of 1936, and a year before this event, Belyaev in the novel «The Wonderful Eye» was already describing captivating scenes of television use in various aspects of life. Alexander Romanovich carefully studied the works of Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky and foresaw the rapid development of astronautics. The rich imagination of the writer unfolded entire pictures of flights to the Moon and interplanetary journeys, although it would take another two decades before the launch of the first Earth satellite. The story «Jump into Nothing»—about a journey to Venus—was sent by Belyaev to Tsiolkovsky, and he corresponded with him until the end of his life.

Like the novel «The Seller of Air», other works by Belyaev included in this collection were first published in periodicals. In the 1920s, Alexander Romanovich collaborated with the magazines «The World Explorer», «The Struggle of Worlds», and «Around the World». The novels and stories published in them were later printed as separate books. In this edition, all texts of the writer's works are presented in their original magazine versions. Illustrations for the book include drawings from the first magazine publications of the writer's novels and stories. In this regard, this edition is unique—it allows Belyaev's fans to feel the same emotions and impressions that the first readers of his new items in the periodicals received.