Time spiral

The novel can be attributed to the subgenre of the “temporary opera”, since an important plot-forming element in it is the “ time machine ”, which allows you to move heroes from one era to another (in this case, however, only in one direction - from the past to the future). This is probably the first Soviet work of this genre.

The novel describes a visit to Earth by representatives of an alien civilization . The alien technique allows them to move both in space (through teleportation ) and in time. First, they get to Atlantis of the tenth millennium BC, then, taking with them a resident of this country, they are transferred to the territory of the present Volgograd region at the beginning of the 13th century, and finally - at the end of the 21st century. Such a technique allows the writer to give, from the point of view of one group of heroes, sketches of human life from ancient times to our era.

A parallel storyline of the novel is a description of the studies of earthly scientists who are looking for evidence of aliens visiting the Earth. The book begins with a finding in an Egyptian tomb of an ancient manuscript describing a visit by newcomers to Atlantis. Comparing this manuscript with another ancient legend about the “ genies ” that the Mongols met on the territory of the Golden Horde at the end of Genghis Khan’s reign, scientists find two “cylinders” - two cameras that the aliens used to move in space and time, examine the principle of their structure, and then use one of them to travel to the alien home planet.

These two storylines converge only at the end of the novel, when the aliens leave the “time machine” in the 21st century.

The leitmotif of the novel is the idea that a person belongs to his time.

Criticism found the novel weak compared to previous works of the writer. ^{[1] [2]}

• Martynov G. The Spiral of Time: A Fantastic Tale (in abbreviation) // Neva . - 1966. - No. 8 . - S. 61-130 .
• Martynov G. Spiral of Time: A Fantastic Novel in Two Books. - L .: Lenizdat, 1966 .-- 472 p. - 65,000 copies.
• Martynov G. Spiral of time; Guest from the Abyss: Fantastic Novels. - M .: AST, 2002 .-- 765 p. - ISBN 5170143974 .