Sergei Lukyanenko facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Sergei Lukyanenko
Lukyanenko in 2011
Born	Sergei Vasilyevich Lukyanenko (1968-04-11) April 11, 1968 (age 56) Karatau, Kazakhstan, Soviet Union
Occupation	Physician, writer, journalist, blogger
Genre	Science fiction, fantasy
Notable works	Labyrinth of Reflections Night Watch series

Sergei Vasilyevich Lukyanenko (Russian: Серге́й Васи́льевич Лукья́ненко, IPA: [sʲɪrˈɡʲej vɐˈsʲilʲjɪvʲɪtɕ lʊˈkʲjænʲɪnkə]; born 11 April 1968) is a Russian science fiction and fantasy author, writing in Russian. His works often feature intense action-packed plots, interwoven with the moral dilemma of keeping one's humanity while being strong. Some of his works have been adapted into film productions, for which he wrote the screenplays.

Biography

Lukyanenko was born in Karatau, Kazakhstan, then a part of the Soviet Union. After graduating from school, he moved to Alma-Ata, and enrolled at the Alma-Ata State Medical Institute in 1986 majoring in psychotherapy. He had started writing as a student, and in 1992 had just started making money from it. During this time he became an active member in Russian fandom, visiting conventions and attending seminars all around the Soviet Union. In 1996 he moved to Moscow where he currently resides.

Name transliteration

Lukyanenko's name is romanized as Sergey Lukianenko on the English version of his official website and as Sergei Lukyanenko by his publisher on works translated into English. Other spellings such as Sergey Lukyanenko are also found.

Writing career

Early years

Lukyanenko started writing in the mid-1980s, and his first publication, the short story "Misconduct" ("Where The Mean Enemy Lurks", although written earlier, was published later), followed soon in 1988. Science fiction in the Soviet Union was exposed to political control, as it was viewed chiefly as a political tool rather than an art. In the late 1980s, however, it was viewed somewhat benevolently, and he was able to jump on the bandwagon of the state support, attending a number of literary seminars and publishing several novellas and short stories.

First works of this period show the clear influence of the Russian children's author and teacher Vladislav Krapivin, whose fan Lukyanenko remains up to this day. These works, such as the novella Eighth Color of Rainbow, feature the same themes of coming of age, loyalty and friendship, as well as teenage protagonists and a similar target audience. However, Lukyanenko soon moved from imitating Krapivin toward a more polemic view of his idealistic views of children and their interaction. In the 1994 novel Knights of Forty Islands, Lukyanenko established himself as an author of the Goldingian tradition.

After dissolution of the Soviet Union

After the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the switch to the market economy, Russian authors now had to struggle with unfamiliar realities of a free publishing system.

Lukyanenko, though, fared somewhat better than the others, already having made something of a name in Russian science fiction circles. After moving from Kazakhstan to Moscow, he continued to write there, now often venturing into literary experiments – like the religiously themed alternative history dilogy Seekers of the Sky, where he experimented with language stylization.

Breakthrough

The novel Night Watch marked Lukyanenko's return to the fantasy genre.

The 2004 film Night Watch (Nochnoy dozor), based on the book, was regarded as "the first Russian blockbuster." The film grossed over $16 million in Russia, a box office record at that time. In the United States, an adaptation of the film was released by Fox Searchlight. The film Day Watch (Dnevnoy dozor) was released in Russia on January 1, 2006, and it was released in the US on June 1, 2007. He also released a number of sequels to the Watch series.

Foreign releases

Until 2006 relatively few of Lukyanenko's works had been released outside of Russia, mostly in Baltic states, Bulgaria and Poland, countries with traditionally strong ties with Russian literature. Even fewer were commercially published in English. However, success of the movies finally changed the situation. Night Watch, translated by Andrew Bromfield, was published in English in July 2006, Day Watch followed in January 2007, Twilight Watch was published in July 2007.

Position on politics

Lukyanenko has been known as an avid supporter of copyright, i. e. harsh measures against copyright infringement, traditionally widespread among Russian readership. During the large meeting of various authors and business people titled "Copyright defense on internet" in 2013 he complained that "only 1% of all downloads of his latest book were legal downloads".

Lukyanenko kept a blog at LiveJournal, posting both personal and public information or snippets of a book in progress. On his website and his blog, Lukyanenko has repeatedly spoken out against the international adoption of Russian orphans, especially by Americans. His first blog was discontinued on 11 July 2008 after a conflict with readers over the issue. He started another blog a few days later, promising firmer moderation policies. Lukyanenko welcomed the Dima Yakovlev Law banning the international adoption of children from Russia in response to the US Magnitsky Act.

Consistently promoting sharply anti-Ukraine views in his books, Lukyanenko condemned the Euromaidan movement of 2013–4, saying that it would be followed by a forced Ukrainization. Lukyanenko, having Ukrainian ancestry himself, threatened authors supporting the Euromaidan that he would make every effort to prevent their books being published in Russia. He also forbade translation of his books into the Ukrainian language. He welcomed the March 2014 annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation.

In February 2014 Lukyanenko announced boycott of Denmark because of the culling of a giraffe at the Copenhagen Zoo.

On 28 February 2022, Lukyanenko was the leading signatory of a public letter with a few other authors supporting Russian military invasion of Ukraine launched four days earlier. The letter makes allegations of NATO's "secret plans to destroy Russia", Western countries' "embracement of Nazis", calls the 2014 Crimean status referendum legitimate and "free", and claims Russia's invasion aimed at "bringing peace in Europe".

On 3 September 2022, at Chicon 8, the World Science Fiction Society passed a resolution condemning Lukyanenko's pro-invasion views and asking that he be disinvited as Guest of Honor at the 2023 Worldcon in Chengdu.

Awards

See also

In Spanish: Serguéi Lukiánenko para niños