Trilogy "Depth", Lukyanenko S.: "Labyrinth of reflections", "False mirrors", "Transparent stained-glass windows"

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Probably, every fan of the work of the Russian science fiction writer Sergei Lukyanenko is familiar with "Depth". Just a luxurious series of books will appeal to even the most picky lover of science fiction. Therefore, no one should pass by them, and especially fans of cyberpunk.

The Legendary Trilogy

For starters, it's worth saying that the trilogy "Depth" by Sergei Lukyanenko became one of the first representatives of the cyberpunk genre in Russian literature. She has gained a huge number of fans among gamers, hackers and just people whose work is related to computers. However, even readers who know little about computers (and at the time when the books were written, there were much more of them than now) still plunged into the magnificent world created by the talented writer with pleasure.

The first part of the trilogy - "Labyrinth of Reflections" - was published in 1997. And almost immediately it became a rarity - the wholethe circulation, like the next eight, swept away in a surprisingly short time. It's understandable that fans were eager for a sequel. And they saw him. The second part - "False Mirrors" - appeared on the shelves two years later - in 1999. The book became no less popular than the first. In total, it was published ten times! And it was translated into Czech and Polish. But the third was not so exciting. "Transparent Stained Glass" has become not a full-fledged novel, but rather a story. The plot was not so strong, and the main character disappeared, and his companions faded into the background. In general, the book turned out to be not as connected with the previous ones as readers expected. But still, she also gained some popularity.

What is Depth?

As already mentioned, Lukyanenko's "Depth" genre is cyberpunk. This means that the fictional world must be closely connected with computers or virtual reality.

So it is. The usual Russian programmer Dmitry Dibenko never grabbed the stars from the sky. Sometimes he meditated, bribed by newfangled Buddhist currents. Sometimes he used soft drugs to relax. And one day he created a small program that was supposed to help calm down after a hard day's work, to renounce the world. But she had a small side effect - when launched on any computer, she made a person believe that everything that happened on the screen was true. This is how the Depth appeared - a virtual world that anyone who has at leastweakest computer. Communication through the Internet has become really alive. And the games have gained incredible realism - healing potions have acquired a taste, and with the advent of special suits, injuries have become painful.

Of course, the authorities have passed many laws and regulations that restrict freedom in the Deep. But the genie was out of the bottle, and it was impossible to drive it back.

Welcome to Deeptown

Depth has taken the internet to a whole new level. Now he is alive. Each server is a whole world, and its realism and completeness depend only on how much effort and time the creator has invested in it. But among the many worlds rises Deeptown - a city that is the center of the Deep itself. A city that never sleeps, where millions of people from all over the world come every day. Why, some people just live here, leaving Deeptown for only a few hours a day and even less often.

Which is not surprising - here you can live in a chic mansion or castle, enjoy the most delicious dishes and do everything that you can think of. And completely forget about the shabby one-room apartment and the empty refrigerator that are waiting in reality. Many do.

There are representatives of all professions here: artists, policemen, programmers, loaders, prostitutes, robbers, sellers, bartenders and many others. But divers stand apart from everyone. Most people do not believe in them, considering them a beautiful legend. And the divers themselves try not to advertisetheir skills. But they are. People who cannot fully believe in the realism of what is happening. And thanks to this, they are able to leave at any time, breaking their tails, finding holes in the most reliable security systems, circling hundreds of professional programmers, system administrators, antiviruses and security programs. Of course, their services are in high demand. And even the fact that their services are very expensive does not deter customers. After all, there are no poor people among them. But there are very few divers themselves - one for many thousands of ordinary users. It is to them that Sergei Lukyanenko's trilogy "Depth" is dedicated.

Maze of reflections

The main character of the book is Leonid. He lives in a small apartment in St. Petersburg. And he lives in Deeptown. Yes, buying a whole multi-storey building here is not a cheap pleasure. But Leonid can afford it - he is a diver. His services are in great demand and generously paid. True, and the risk is considerable - for the theft of some secrets, they can be killed in reality.

But one day Leonid receives a very unusual order - a person is stuck in a virtual game. He just sits still and does not try to do something or exit the game for several days. This is not so rare - a special protocol of actions has been created for such a case. The catch is that this person is not connected to any computer to enter the network. Who is he? Leonid will have to find the answer.

Fake mirrors

The book continues to tell about the adventures of Leonid, a former diver,who, like everyone else, suddenly lost all his fabulous abilities in the Deep. But there is a legend that somewhere else there was a Dark Diver, who not only retained all the skills inherent in this special caste, but also increased it. Few believe in its existence. But no one can refute it either.

It's much worse that third generation weapons have appeared in Deeptown. By killing a person from him in the Deep, you can kill him in reality. What will this lead to? Perhaps to the death of the Depth itself. But its permanent inhabitants will never allow this. If necessary, they will do the impossible and even sacrifice their lives.

Transparent stained glass windows

In the third book, many of the main characters faded into the background, and Leonid disappeared altogether. In his place came Karina, the security inspector of the Deep. She will take part in the inspection of the virtual prison.

It doesn't take long for her to realize that a cruel experiment is being put on the prisoners here - they will try to turn them into divers through superhuman suffering. Will Karina be able to challenge the system? Will she be able to find people who will support her?

Conclusion

This concludes our article. Now you know more about the cycle of books by Sergei Lukyanenko "Depth". It is possible that you will want to familiarize yourself with them or re-read them in order to refresh your impressions of long-read works. Well, happy reading!