hopes of a creative boom never materialized, as publishers were eager to exploit the lucrative pulp literature market (virtually nonexistent before) largely ignoring the existing literature establishment. This led to rather low confidence in domestic authors, and it was extremely hard to find a publisher ready to invest in a local writer. Lukyanenko, though, fared somewhat better than the others, already having made something of a name in Russian science fiction circles. Nascent computer networks (mainly FidoNet), distributing electronic copies of his works, also helped to create demand for printed versions. Another contribution was his writing style, combining intricate but captivating plots with deep intrigue and concentrated action. His books at the time included the aforementioned Knights of the 40 Islands, plus Nuclear Dream, a collection of short stories and novellas, published in 1992, and two space opera trilogies: Line of Delirium, the setting of which was loosely based on that of the Master of Orion series of video games, and the earlier Lord from Planet Earth, based on the dark setting brought forth in his early short stories (entitled A Splendid Faraway Universe). Autumn Visits, was also written during that time, when the author was struggling with depression. Labyrinth of Reflections, a book heavily based on various internet subcultures and cyberpunk mythos, is another product of this period. Although Labyrinth is often labeled as cyberpunk, it is a rather straight romance story, hardly meeting Dozois criterion, and, more to the fact, was written when the author did not even have an Internet connection; all his internet knowledge was limited to FIDONet membership. After moving from Kazakhstan to Moscow, he continued to write there, now often venturing into literary experiments – like the religiously themed alternative history dilogy Seekers of the Sky, where he experimented with language stylization. He also continued several series started in his earlier period, and started several new ones (often in his favorite genre of space opera) – like the Genome series, now featuring two novels (Genome and Dances on the Snow) and the Cripples novella, or The Stars Are Cold Toys dilogy, sharing the same themes with David Brin's Uplift series. Breakthrough The novel Night Watch marked Lukyanenko's return to the fantasy genre, which he repeatedly visited during his career, but never ventured into seriously. Even in this novel he stayed in the less radical realm of urban fantasy; however, his gloomy but picturesque settings