Cripples

"The world I described first in the novel ‘Genome,’ and later in ‘Dances on Snow,’ isn’t one of my most beloved worlds. But at the same time, a tightly structured society of genetically modified people—‘specialists’—seems to me one of the most plausible options for our future.

In this world, I wrote an ironic detective story (‘Genome’) and a coming-of-age novel (‘Dances on Snow’). There are other ideas too. ‘The Disabled Ones’ is a small adventurous space opera whose main hero, the pilot specialist Alex, has come a long way since ‘Genome.’ Now he has a new ship, a new crew, and new work. I think I’ll sometimes check in—how he’s doing.

Originally, this novella had a slightly different ending. I was steering the events toward a small, local happy ending, but at the last moment I decided not to write it—like I was embarrassed to give the heroes a break...

But even before publication, the novella was read by Nick Perumov, and he suggested—on his own—that I should make a different ending... the very one I was embarrassed to write. And then I accepted it. Apparently, a happy ending really does make itself available. In principle, I don’t need much persuading to write good books. But still, a separate thanks to Nick Perumov for pushing me toward humaneness!"

© Sergey Lukyanenko