Omon Ra

The history of Soviet rocketry is presented as a grand and sadistic falsification. According to Pelevin, its true purpose is to carry out bloody sacrifices that feed the state’s magical structure. For example, cadets at the A. Meresyev flight school have their feet amputated. But not all. Omon and his friend Mityka are lucky: they are enrolled in an elite detachment of kamikaze cosmonauts, which has a great mission in store—to pedal the “Lunokhod-1” and “Lunokhod-2.” Naturally, with such a level of “advanced technology,” no rockets are going anywhere.
Yet in the finale, Omon—doomed to a ritual execution—suddenly realizes that reality is only a nightmare imposed by his imagination. The hero’s double nature is visible in his nickname: joining the cosmonauts earns Omon the callsign Ra (the Sun god in ancient Egyptian mythology).