The Adventures of Alice

Kira Bulychev (1934–2003) was a Soviet and Russian writer, translator, screenwriter, and playwright, as well as a Doctor of Historical Sciences. He created his pen name Igor Vsevolodovich Mojeiko from the name of his wife Kira Soshinskaya and his mother's maiden name — Maria Bulycheva. Mojeiko was born in Moscow. Since childhood, he loved reading and was especially fascinated by the works of science fiction writers. After school, Igor Vsevolodovich entered the Moscow State Institute of Foreign Languages, later completing his postgraduate studies and beginning to work at the Institute of Oriental Studies. He wrote historical and geographical essays for magazines, worked on translations, and defended both his candidate and doctoral dissertations. In academic circles, Igor Mojeiko was known for his publications on the history of Southeast Asia. The writer published fantastic stories and novellas exclusively under this pseudonym: in the scientific environment, fiction was considered unserious, and Mojeiko was afraid of facing disapproval from colleagues. However, he gained most fame as a science fiction writer, opening doors for readers to the world of endless cosmos, mysterious futures, and incredible discoveries. He especially gravitated towards creating cycles of works united by common heroes, locations, or themes. These include the series about the whimsical city of the Great Guslyar, about the cosmic doctor Vladislav Pavlysh, about the agent of the Intergalactic Police Kora Orvat, and of course about the resourceful girl from the future — Alice.

“The Adventures of Alice” is the most famous cycle of works by Bulychev. The main character of the captivating novellas and stories is schoolgirl Alice Seleznyova — a brave and curious girl; she travels through time and explores the most remote corners of the Universe. The prototype of Alice was the writer's daughter. Bulychev continued to write amazing stories about the girl from the future for many years. He aimed to make children's literature interesting to a new generation of children growing up in conditions of scientific and technical progress. Bulychev's works had colossal success even during his lifetime; they remain popular to this day. This publication is the sixth and final compilation of his works about the extraordinary traveler in the series “Library of World Literature.” The book includes ten novellas and stories: “Dragonosaur,” “Alice and the Sapphire Crown,” “Alice and the Cursed King,” “Princes in the Tower,” “Freaks and Beauties,” “Alice and Alicia,” “Takan for the Children of Earth,” “Consecration of the Temple of Ananda,” “Photograph from the Future,” “Mind for the Cat.” The text of “Photograph from the Future” is published in Russian for the first time without abridgments. The wonderful illustrations for the works were created by the talented Russian artist Dmitry Nikolaevich Nikulushkin.