Too Scary to Be Fiction” – A Ukrainian Writer Writing in Russian

“The Best Age for Death” from Bratislava

Meet Yan Mikhailovich Valetov (1963) – born in Dnipropetrovsk, graduated from the physics and technology institute, was a captain of KVN at the union level. He published his first science fiction book in 2004. Since then, he has released 17 published novels, in Kyiv and Kharkiv, and more in St. Petersburg… In April 2014, a four-part miniseries "Ultimate Depth" based on the novel "Depth" was released. Production: "Unified Media Group" on order from the TV channel "Russia-2", directed by Konstantin Maximov.

He writes in Russian, and recently has been forced to publish in the émigré publishing house Vidim books, located in Slovakia. Along with Viktor Shenderovich, Anton Dolin, and Vera Polozkova.

Recently, Mr. Valetov communicated via Zoom with readers – he has released a dystopian novel. The organizers warned – the meeting is taking place with cameras off!

"To be honest, this is my first book written in the genre of pure science fiction – I have to live up to the title of a science fiction writer. Some may find it excessively harsh and naturalistic, but if it weren't for the presence of my sixteen-year-old daughter behind me, it would have been much harsher and scarier – the world in which the characters live is too unpleasant. So for the fact that you can buy 'The Best Age for Death' not sealed in black cellophane at the adult stand – thank her."

• After 2014, I stopped publishing in Russia. But at the same time – I am a Ukrainian writer writing in Russian. I am a multi-genre writer – there is history and adventure genre. I am a fan of thrillers, and I believe that any book should not be boring!

According to Yan, his daughter helps him in his creativity so much that from her description – "what kind of book would you like to read?" – he invented the adventure "Squirrel", with elements of horror, during a 6-hour drive to Kyiv.

• As my very vintage dad said, it’s too scary to be fiction…

Military science fiction of the 2010s has become a grim reality.

“The War Showed That We Are Not Very Kind”

Science fiction, the writer reminds, who created "No Man's Land" with a plot… of blowing up dams on the Dnieper – is a reality taken to absurdity. "When the Kakhovka was blown up, I felt pain and fear. But that did not change my attitude towards the book."

In "The Best Age for Death," Yan considers a potential scenario of the disappearance… of adults.

• In my childhood, there was a book called "The Holiday of Disobedience," which was quite popular but not scary at all.

"We live in a very cruel world," Valetov states, "The war showed that we are not very kind, not very friendly people. Our neighbors, whom we used to visit, turned out to be capable of actions we could not even imagine."

The best science fiction novels of recent times, according to Valetov, are Paolo Bacigalupi's "The Windup Girl," Richard Morgan's "Altered Carbon," and Alexey Palkich's "The Hopak Equation." The latter, written by a Ukrainian in 2025, as Yan says – is "the best anti-war novel almost without war."

• I was lucky; we lived almost all the time without war. I thought we would escape it. We did not escape… There is always evil in the world.

"Any writer is a bit of a manipulator and a schizophrenic. We create worlds, people live in them. I am not sure – am I speaking myself, or is the hero speaking through me?"

In his childhood, Valetov liked Herbert Wells and Alexander Belyaev. "There are eternal texts – for example, I constantly return to the Strugatsky brothers. They are the fathers of all good authors writing in Russian, not just my age, but plus twenty years."

"The Coronavirus Significantly Affected the Fate of the Book in Europe"

Yan Valetov recalls how his novels could not be promoted in the market because for 2-3 years during the pandemic, no meetings or fairs took place. Now he has to live under the constant threat of incoming Shaheds.

"The Best Age for Death" describes a strain called "Ruthless":

• My novel is based on a DNA marker against which the virus was created, causing everyone who reached 18 years old to die. What did this lead to? Knowledge and morality disappeared. Society transformed into a monstrous gang. Books are used only for kindling. Not a very cheerful plot. But optimistic.

Yan Valetov considers forecasts about the disappearance of books as illusory as the stereotype that the USSR was the most reading country. "I was recently in a huge bookstore in Norway – luxurious editions, and there are 6.5 million people. At the same time – how bookstores are dying in Ukraine. To read, two thin readers are enough. But still, people read. And, as a rule, they are more successful than those who watch television."

• My daughter, son, and daughter-in-law read. And some of my classmates from the physics and mathematics department read a couple of dozen books, and that’s only because they were forced to. Well, it’s hard to talk to them.

Thoughts from Valetov

• The Russian people have no influence on the politics of their Russian state.

• We should blame not only the leadership for what is happening but also those who, with their own hands, silence, and taxes support this war. They are not innocent performers, victims of the regime. They are its support, its strength, its skills. Ordinary programmers, inputting coordinates and routes into a dumb rocket, an ordinary worker assembling a Shahed that will fly into another house. They all are the war.

• Everyone wants victory over the enemy, but the military commissar is in the top 1000 nouveaux riches. And how this happened in a country that hates corruption, I don’t know. Probably, Zelensky is to blame. He promised to fight in the series and didn’t succeed. Mindich (a Ukrainian businessman recently charged with corruption) is not a white tiger in the jungle. He is a salted cucumber in a barrel of salted cucumbers. He just happened to be in a lucky place.

• You can declare the fight against corruption for as long as you want, its imminent death, its agony under the blows of anti-corruption bodies, and then watch with satisfaction as the assistant prosecutor for supervision drives past in the latest Lexus owned by a mother-in-law from a remote village in Kyiv region.

• There will be no dictatorship; you will see. The current power will leave, giving way to the next. Think about whom to choose so that the next power turns out to be better than what you voted for before. It’s difficult, but I want to believe that we will cope with this problem.

• We cannot kill them all; we cannot all move to Canada. They are our neighbors – and that is a fact. We must learn to live next to them. Find our recipe for survival under pressure. What should we remember? They will eat the weak, try to trample the bully, and simply buy the fool – they have plenty of money. Be strong, don’t provoke, and don’t show foolishness and greed.

• We are not observers in this chess game, but unfortunately, we are not grandmasters either. I do not harbor hopes for a quick peace. But we need a pause like air.