Alexei Nikolayevich Tolstoy (1883–1945) was a renowned Russian writer. He was born into the family of Count Nikolai Tolstoy and his wife Alexandra Turgeneva. The couple divorced before their son was born: the older children stayed with their father, while Alexei, along with his mother, settled in the estate of his stepfather, Alexei Bostrom. From his mother, a talented writer, Tolstoy inherited a love for literature; he began to try his hand at writing stories even in childhood. In 1901, Alexei moved to Petersburg, where he enrolled in the Technological Institute. During his student years, he wrote his first short story and published a collection of his own poetry at his own expense. He soon became disillusioned with his poetic abilities and fully focused on prose. He wrote fairy tales, short stories, novellas, and plays; often his work had a folkloric basis. Tolstoy served as a war correspondent during World War I and subsequently wrote several works on military themes. He had a negative attitude toward the October Revolution. In 1918, he left the country with his family and lived in Europe for a while. However, life away from his homeland proved unbearable for Tolstoy, and after a few years he returned to the USSR. There he was warmly welcomed and immediately set to work. His works, which were quite diverse, were favorably received by readers. He was recognized as one of the outstanding writers of his time. Alexei Nikolayevich headed the Union of Writers, became a deputy of the Supreme Soviet, and an academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences.
This edition presents the fantastic works of Alexei Tolstoy. "The Hyperboloid of Engineer Garin" (1927) tells the story of a Russian scientist trying to achieve grand goals through an unimaginably dangerous invention. "Aelita" (1923) narrates a space journey, an amazing alien civilization, and the love between an earthling and the daughter of the lord of Mars. In the story "The Union of Five" (1925), a community of power-hungry magnates intends to destroy the Moon to seize control of the world, but soon faces unforeseen consequences of such a decision. These works, initially received critically by contemporaries, are now considered classics of Soviet science fiction. The texts are typeset according to the first publications that appeared in the magazine "Krasnaya Nov". The illustrations for this collection were created by artist Tatyana Kosach. Her iconographic and graphic works can be found in private collections of art lovers from various countries around the world. In the series "Library of World Literature," her drawings have repeatedly adorned the editions of works by domestic and foreign classics.
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