Books like A Legend of the Future

"The best science fiction writer in Cuba; the only possible debate is which of his works is the best…. His trilogy of Spiral, A Legend of the Future, and Year 200 is still the best of Cuban science fiction…. With a very refined style and well-established scientific-social background, Agustín’s work surprises through its humanistic content. His concerns surrounding the meaning of life and the evolution of human beings put him in a privileged place among national writers.” —Cuenta RegresivaA morally profound chamber piece, Agustín de Rojas’ A Legend of the Future takes place inside a damaged spaceship following the failure of a mission to Titan, one of Saturn’s moons. The journey back to Earth forces the crewmembers to face their innermost fears while coexisting with each other in a state of desperation. This mesmerizing novel, reminiscent of Arthur C. Clarke’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, is a science fiction roman à clef about the intense pressures—economic, ideological, psychological—inside Communist Cuba.REVIEWS"The best science fiction writer in Cuba; the only possible debate is which of his works is the best…. His trilogy of Spiral, A Legend of the Future, and Year 200 is still the best of Cuban science fiction…. With a very refined style and well-established scientific-social background, Agustín’s work surprises through its humanistic content. His concerns surrounding the meaning of life and the evolution of human beings put him in a privileged place among national writers.”—Cuenta Regresiva"The best and most popular novelist of this genre that the Island has ever given…. He is considered one of the principal exponents of Cuban science fiction, and he was undoubtedly the one who knew how to best combine solid scientific formation as plots and attractive characters with a confidence well-based in humanity’s socialist future.”—Yoss"One of the best science fiction writers in Cuba—and, until [his death], one of the best Cuban story tellers alive…. Today Agustín de Rojas’ work, from Spiral through Catharsis and Society, is admired by cult readers, pro-government thinkers, and elitists alike."—Félix Luis Viera, Cubaencuentro"The most elevated figure in Cuban science fiction." —AxxónABOUT THE AUTHORAgustín de Rojas (1949-2011) is the patron saint of Cuban science fiction. A professor of the history of theater at the Escuela de Instructores de Arte in Villa Clara, he authored a canonical trilogy of novels consisting of Espiral (Spiral, 1982), for which he was awarded the David Prize; Una leyenda del future (A Legend of the Future, 1985); and El año 200 (The Year 200, 1990), all of which are scheduled for publication in English translation by Restless Books. While he was heavily influenced by Ray Bradbury and translated Isaac Asimov into Spanish, de Rojas aligned himself mostly with the Soviet line of socialist realism defined by brothers Arkady and Boris Strugatsky and Ivan Antonovich Yefremov. After the fall of the Soviet Union, de Rojas stopped writing science fiction. He spent his final years persuaded—and persuading others—that Fidel Castro did not exist.