The Man Who Saw Antimatter

In fact, it is not particularly necessary to introduce Ilya Varshavsky as a science fiction writer. It is enough to quote the words spoken about him by such an authoritative master (and colleague in the genre) as Boris Strugatsky. Here are those words: «He appeared among the science fiction writers of the '60s suddenly, already fully formed, mature, skilled, and original, with his own language, his own theme, and his unique, inimitable style. This was a time when we knew almost nothing about Bradbury, Asimov, or Shekley.

And he emerged among us with a folder brimming with numerous two- or three-page stories on thin cigarette paper, and within these little stories was a whole world — with amusing robots, so similar to foolish and kind humans, and people, cruel and merciless, like malicious machines, and unknown planets inhabited by amazing and funny creatures, and an uncheerful future, strange and unexpected, just like our own life...»

There is nothing to add or subtract here. Everything is clear, fair, and correct. We, the compilers, will only note that this volume presents almost the complete collection of the fantastic (and not only) works of Ilya Varshavsky, truly a classic of domestic science fiction.