The Andromeda Nebula. The Heart of the Serpent

"The Andromeda Nebula" is a landmark event in domestic science fiction.
In the science fiction of Ivan Efremov's contemporaries, space, with rare exceptions, was no more than a backdrop against which heroes moved from place to place, fought with alien flora... and fauna, sometimes perished, but mostly triumphed. The main focus was on the heroes' adventures, and the primary task was to entertain the reader. Such science fiction did not provide much food for thought and the heart, although it was interesting in its own way, engaging, and at least useful in that it sparked the imagination of young readers.
Efremov's novel was a breakthrough book. There had been nothing like it in contemporary literature, and not only in science fiction. His heroes lived not only for the current day but for future days that determined the fate of both earthly humanity and all thinking peoples of the Universe. The level of the author's thought was no less powerful than the spatial scale of the design. The Great Ring - a universal brotherhood of civilizations. The idea of connecting intelligent inhabitants...