Trix Sollier has accomplished many glorious feats and no one will call him a klutz anymore.

It seems that all his dreams have come true - and he can safely learn magic (even if the training includes washing floors and peeling potatoes).

But if you have to suddenly go to the hot and exotic country of Samarshan on New Year’s Eve, there’s no time for studying! Here you need to remember everything you can and even a little more.

After all, Samarshan is simply a very exotic country! The Sultan rules there (some believe that he is a vizier), the Transparent God gathers an army (some are afraid that he really is a god, at least from the small ones), and local customs are colorful and spontaneity.

All that remains is to rely on old friends - wandering artists, old enemies - Vitamantes, and step-relatives who are in lifelong exile.

Because there are many dangerous encounters ahead - with a genie bound by moral restrictions, a sphinx bound by no restrictions, and desert gnomes (did you think that such things did not exist? You were wrong!). And all because you shouldn’t trust every dragon you meet. Of course, dragons can’t lie, but has that ever stopped them?

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Sergei Vasilyevich Lukyanenko is a Russian science fiction writer. Born April 11, 1968, Karatau, Kazakhstan.

The family are doctors. His father is a psychiatrist, his mother worked in drug treatment, and his older brother is a cardiologist. He graduated from high school with a gold medal. He graduated from the Faculty of Medicine of ASMI in 1990, specializing as a general practitioner. He completed his residency as a psychiatrist and is proficient in hypnosis. He lived in Alma-Ata (Almaty) until the end of 1996, then in Moscow, received a residence permit a year and a half later. He worked as a psychiatrist in the Almaty city mental hospital for a year, then as an employee of the Worlds magazine from 1992, deputy editor-in-chief, and since 1995 as a professional writer.

At the age of five I read “The Andromeda Nebula”, at seven - “The Land of Crimson Clouds”. V. Krapivin had a great influence on the poetics of Lukyanenko’s first works. Besides A. and B. Strugatsky and V. Krapivin, Sergei Vasilyevich names E. Gulyakovsky, C. Dickens and V. Hugo as his favorite writers. I started writing “for the table” and “for friends” while still in college. The main reason is the scarcity and inaccessibility of good fiction.

Sergei Lukyanenko's first books were published at the turn of the 80s and 90s. Having started with things in which there was a strong imitation of Krapivin (from ours), Heinlein (from foreign ones) quickly moved on to creativity in his own original style. Sergei became famous for his stories “Knights of the Forty Islands” (a controversy with Krapivin) and “Atomic Dream”. The first SF publication was “Violation” (“Zarya” (Alma-Ata), 1988) and “Alien Pain”. The author's first collection - “Atomic Dream”

He was a member of the editorial board of the magazine “Worlds”, published in Alma-Ata by A. Kubatiev. He was an active participant in the Almaty KLF “Alpha Pegasus” and its literary consultant. He took part in the bibliographic list of the Supreme Council of the KFL and the Council of the VO KLF, edited by I. Khalymbadzhi. Participant of the seminar in Dubulti (1989, group of S. Snegov). Member of the WTO, participant in the Yalta seminars 1990, 1991, “Tiraspol-93”, “Sibkon-93, 95”.

In the early 90s, Lukyanenko’s close connection with the fan environment and the use of the internal realities of both the Soviet (Russian/Russian-speaking) fandom and the Fido network, of which he is an active participant, ensured him wide popularity in these rather narrow but influential reader circles. However, the further brilliant commercial success of his books among the general reader shows that the roots of this popularity are much deeper - in the artistic skill and ideological innovation of the still young author, so in tune with the mood of the 90s.

In Lukyanenko’s formative period, one can single out the trilogy “Line of Dreams” - “Emperors of Illusions” - “Shadows of Dreams” as a very, very unconventional space opera, for which the genre “philosophical-space opera” was defined; trilogy “Today, Mom!” and "Lord from Planet Earth"; the stories “Knights of the Forty Islands” and “The Boy and the Darkness” as works of challenge to the Krapivinskaya line in “teenage fiction” and “fiction about teenagers.” Since 1997, more or less significant books by Sergei Lukyanenko have become available to readers.

Serious achievements in the writer’s work can be called: the duology about Deeptown “Labyrinth of Reflections” / “False Mirrors”, which in some ways became a cult for the Runet of the 90s; the novel “Autumn Visits” is the author’s “darkest” work, written in the realities of the post-perestroika 90s; the duology “Seekers of the Sky” (“Cold Shores” / “The Morning Is Coming”) - an attempt, within the framework of traditional “thieves’ fantasy,” to create their own myth about the Savior; “Spectre” is the author’s most stylistically sophisticated novel, which collected almost all the fandom awards for the year; the cycle “Watches”, with its film adaptation brought the author wild popularity.

He created a book on the browser-based online computer game “Starquake” - “Competitors”.

Sergei Lukyanenko defines his genre as “Fiction of Hard Action” or “Fiction of the Path”.

In addition to a large number of other literary awards, in 1999 Sergei Lukyanenko became the youngest winner of Aelita, the oldest Russian prize awarded for overall contribution to the development of science fiction.

Sergei has been married since 1991. His wife is Sonya, PhD, associate professor. Sonya Lukyanenko was born in Almaty, graduated from the Faculty of Psychology of the Kazakh State University with a degree in child psychologist, teacher of psychology, worked in her specialty for more than 10 years, until December 2003. She taught psychology at the Kazakh University, then at the Russian State University for the Humanities at the Faculty of Psychology named after Vygotsky.

The writer has lived permanently in Moscow since 1997 (since 2007, the rest of the writer’s family - his older brother and parents - also live in Moscow). Raises sons Artemy and Daniel. He keeps pets (Yorkshire terrier Busya and her offspring), collects mice, enjoys cooking and smokes his favorite pipe (he quit smoking in the spring of 2006).

At the moment, “Night Watch” and “Day Watch”, “Today, Mom!” have already been filmed. from the cycle “Island “Rus”” (titled “Aziris Nuna”). Projects based on the books “Genome” and “Labyrinth of Reflections” have not yet received development.

The film “Draft” based on the dilogy “Working on Mistakes” is being prepared for release in 2018.

At the moment, computer games based on the “sentinel” cycle have also been released (two parts of a tactical RPG and an arcade racing game), and a role-playing game based on the book “No Time for Dragons.” Unfortunately, the attempt to make a game based on the “Line of Dreams” duology failed. There is also an online browser game in the world of the “sentinel” cycle. A number of board games and games for cell phones based on the writer’s work have also been created.

Since March 29, 2004, he lived in Live Journal (livejournal.com) as Doctor Livesy (doctor_livsy), from July 15, 2008, he switched to an illegal position as Doctor Pilyulkin (dr-piliulkin), which was quickly declassified. In April 2017, the magazine was deleted due to a change in the user agreement of the resource.

Since 2017, Sergey Lukyanenko has appeared on Facebook.

Once upon a time there lived a glorious Jedi, Luke Surgewalker. He wandered throughout the Galaxy and fought against Evil with all zeal, bringing Light to those who vegetate in Darkness. And not only a lightsaber shone in his hands, but also an ordinary steel one, and even a completely harmless-looking wooden one, and the keyboard was no less a formidable weapon for him than a blaster. But the years passed, the oxygen planets wore down the silicoid, and the glorious Luke Sergewalker not only grew old, but settled down, built himself an ivory tower, hung his trusty swords and blasters on the walls, and he himself tells stories to the kids, his own and his neighbors. The stories turn out to be entertaining, but some are too childish.

For a long time I could not understand why Lukyanenko’s new novel did not make much of an impression on me. Maybe the plot is weak? No, the plot is just a plot. For an adventure story it is quite normal and exciting. There is a fair amount of originality. There are lucky finds and unexpected turns. In a word, read it - I don’t want to.

Maybe there's something wrong with the style? No, just the opposite. Fidget, like its predecessor Klutz, is extremely easy and enjoyable to read. You simply glide through the text like water skiing on the surface of a lake. No clumsy phrases or unfortunate turns of phrase, everything is cleaned and smoothed...

Maybe the text is too primitive and designed for a superficial reader? Also no. With a generous hand, the author scattered allusions and allusions to a variety of works of art and the realities of our lives throughout the text. Everyone got it - from Harry Potter to Stalin and Gorbachev. In some places these hints are quite obvious, but in other episodes only an attentive reader will recognize the author’s irony. Sometimes the author clearly overdoes the saturation of his text with references to other works, but there are also very successful moments, for example, the camel race, glorified in imitation of Gogol. I think every reader will find something funny and interesting in this text. In general, the novels from the Trix series, with their stylistics, more and more remind me of Uspensky’s books about Zhikhar.

In addition, from time to time the author very carefully shows us his views on politics, raises quite serious questions and at the same time very skillfully weaves this into the fabric of his text. At times I wanted to argue with the author, but I absolutely cannot call the novel superficial.

Maybe there's something wrong with the characters? Yes, everything seems to be in order. Not only the Trix, but also the secondary characters like the sultan and the vizier, dwarves and actors, dragons and assassins, merchants and warriors, genies and mermaids are colorful, charming, cute and have a certain personality. Even the living dead Vitaman Gavar or Trix’s blood enemy Darik, or the main villain of the novel Transparent God turn out, in essence, to be quite good guys with whom it is quite possible to deal.

And it is precisely this feature of the novel that, in my opinion, plays a fatal role for it. There is absolutely no conflict in the novel. There is no fundamental clash of two different positions, two incompatible characters or ideas. All minor contradictions are successfully resolved and it turns out that the whole thing was not worth a damn. In addition, the novel has a second serious drawback. In a good adventure story, the reader must identify himself with the heroes, be afraid for the fate of the hero, at least once, for real. There is no trace of this in “Fidget.” The author smooths out the rough edges so much that even for an inexperienced reader it becomes clear: nothing bad can happen to the hero. It will easily come out unscathed. As a last resort, the author will come to his aid with all the capabilities of the almighty God from the Machine and will easily solve all the problems that the hero cannot cope with on his own. In a couple of episodes, this interference is so obvious that it completely discourages any possibility of empathizing with Trix and his friends. And if Klutz, despite the lightness of the adventures taking place, still began with a tragic episode, which gave it a certain depth, then in Fidget pain, fear, and fatigue diligently bypass the hero on the tenth road. At the end of the novel, the author hints to readers that Trix has become more mature and wiser after his adventures, but you don’t really believe this anymore, because the author is raising his hero in too hothouse conditions.

Conclusion. If you want to read a light, pleasant adventure book and enjoy mysteries and allusions to literary themes, Fidget will give you many pleasant moments. I especially recommend the book for children aged 10-12. If you want to read something serious and memorable, a novel that will make you think seriously and empathize with the characters, then it is better to take something else.

P.S. But I still hope that the glorious Jedi Luke Surgwalker will take his faithful lightsaber off the shelf before it rusts at all, and finally go on another campaign, only not as cartoonish as the adventures of Trix, but a real one, demanding from the author and the reader serious efforts.

Rating: 7

If while reading "The Clunker" you could laugh at some really good jokes, then when dealing with the second book - "The Fidget" - you have to restrain boredom, because the denouement is already soon, on the 700th page, a little more, it’s a pity to close it. It's such a sporting interest to find out how it all ended.

“Fidget” is a book seemingly for children, but it soon becomes clear that the humor in the novel is not at all childish. But not an adult either. More likely, it’s designed for a fifteen-year-old, pimply-faced youth with a dirty Playboy or Penthouse under his bed. Against the backdrop of vulgar jokes, by the way, Trix’s embarrassment and trembling in front of a tender girl’s back or his fear of imagining a naked girl looks especially idiotic.

The plot is cliched, only the barcode is missing.

It is useless to look for logic in “Fidget”; it was not provided for there.

The language is frankly poor.

It only gets worse. References to the “boy with a scar”, at whom only the lazy would not mock, to the Professor, to our realities, to children’s fairy tales (what are they for?) against the backdrop of a wretched caricature - the beautiful kingdom-state of Samarshan, a rough mixture Tajiks-Uzbeks and “A Thousand and One Nights”. Apparently, the author was too lazy to invent something, so the result was a homunculus, haphazardly glued together from pieces, a hastily created freak.

The result is a rare stamping. I remember with nostalgia “Atomic Dream”, “Genome”, stories, what can I say.

Of course, for a novice author the book is not bad, but for a “master” it is shameful, and its meaning is money, people are grabbing it, because the author has not yet knitted brooms, but that’s exactly what - for now. It will be boring for adults to read this, and useless for children. There is no idea in the book, it has no load, except for typical Hollywood gags.

Prizes... It’s not clear why there are 2 prizes.

Rating: no

The novel fell a little short of my expectations. I thought it would be at the level of the first one, which I really liked. And I understood that “Fidget” should be read precisely as a continuation of the first novel. Sergei Lukyanenko liked this story and, having given up writing “The Vision Catcher” halfway (about whose further fate for some reason nothing is known), he decided to continue (or finish?) talking about the adventures and adventures of the Trix. And he did it. The only problem is that all the originality, freshness of ideas and novelty of characters remained in the first book, while the second was given the role of only a direct continuation. The novel did not bring anything new or surprising, the characters are still the same, there are practically no new ones, so there are no discoveries here. The percentage of humor has been preserved, but the irony of anything and various parallels and allusions have sharply decreased. And no wonder. Therefore, the book was read as a good, well-knit adventure fantasy for teenagers of younger, older and retirement age. This genre has its place and is very necessary and very valuable. But if you remember the first thing that comes to mind, purely for comparison, then this is, for example, Sergei Sadov with his “Heir of the Order” and this book “Fidget”, in my opinion, loses. What Sadov does on his own looks deliberate and very artificial here. I mean "childish". And if you remember the best, earliest works of Lukyanenko himself? I understand that comparing later with earlier is a bad and hackneyed move, but I’ll compare. “Knights of the Islands”, “The Boy and the Darkness”... There was complete immersion. When I read it, it truly seemed that no one else had ever had anything like this, and some of the young author’s stylistic flaws and cliches were not noticeable, because they disappeared under the impression of what he saw on the pages. And here... Stamp? Oh no. If anything is stamped, it is only the successful moves of the last book. Are the stamps played out? We can say that playing with cliches is also a cliche. But not in this case. Here we see just an idea and adventures for its development without any special problems, but with good readability. There is even some multi-levelness observed, which is what the writer’s earlier works are famous for. One is repelled from the other, the second flows into the third with a reference to the first. But here it is in a simplified form. Although it is also worthy of respect.

There are also two main interesting points. This is when the Trix are with dragons and especially when the Trix are companions with dwarves. These are perhaps the most striking passages in the book. That's probably all. And the rest is a strong and cheerful good level without any special peaks and valleys. Except...

Except for the beginning, the first part, which for some reason was the most boring to read. And the mood with which I started reading and the thought that the book would be devoured in one evening and one morning disappeared almost immediately, on page thirty to forty. And the finale. More precisely, the climax part, which is a real zilch. That is, there is a commendable attempt to endow the entire action with a special morality, to reduce everything to a peaceful and humane ending, so that justice triumphs and the reader’s heart rejoices, but either the bar turned out to be too low, or, as the respected kkk72 noted in his review, there really is no conflict, I’ll even say more, the absence of what we were preparing for throughout the entire book. Dragons gathered with their magic and fire, gnomes with their fighting skills, heroes trained with assassins. And for what? No, the attempt is certainly visible, but it’s still zilch...

And further. I have the first novel in a gift edition, with an interesting cover, white paper and illustrations, and the second, albeit new, is “Star Labyrinth”, and on the gray pages the contents are not perceived as well as I would like. This is also a big deal.

Yes, there is a chance that the book will be re-read someday. This is if I take hold of the first one, and the second one is attached to it by inertia.

It turned out to be some kind of completely abusive review. But this is only because of not entirely justified expectations. And so the impression is quite smooth. Although, for comparison, I gave the first novel a ten!

P.S. And further. About the peculiarities of Lukyanenko’s books and style. No matter how many disappointing “Competitors” he has written lately, etc., each new book of his is bought (and not only by me) immediately after its release, from among the first copies of the first printing. Miracles.

Rating: 7

Imagine a good Disney or Pixar cartoon. The one that is announced for the whole family. Or even better - a sequel to a successful Hollywood cartoon for the whole family (and the sequel should be filmed for wide release, and not intended for release directly on DVD). In such a cartoon there should be bait for both children and adults + in addition there should be favorite characters from the first part and the more, the better. But in the end, the audience is happy, the producers replenish their bank account, and the screenwriters go to write the script for the threequel.

In this regard, Klutz-Fidget is Lukyanenko’s most successful Hollywood project. Everything was planned and executed to a very good level. A lot of postmodernism? Well, it’s for everyone - both for children (The Wizard of Oz, fights with superheroes, Harry Potter) and for those who are a little older - that same esglumation...

And since the book is, first of all, intended for children, there is no need to grumble from a height of 30-40-50-60 years and talk about the lack of conflict, insufficient motivation, logical inconsistencies... People love good cartoons for the great mood after the session - for the jokes, for the music, for the colorful characters, for the well-drawn secondary characters - for the good background.... Simply because - a good work is felt immediately...

If Lukyanenko has enough passion for more parts of this cycle, I will only be glad that soon my children will have a very good cycle to read, which will at the same time be interesting to me. Like this. Enjoy reading!

Rating: 8

I will say that I began my acquaintance with the famous writer with “Watches” and after that I swore not to read his books. Six months ago, a friend persuaded me to read his early works, started with “Line of Dreams” and was sucked in. Excellent plots, excellent writing style. During these six months I read all of Lukyanenko’s early works and I’ll say frankly that I didn’t come across a single “passable” thing. Favorite works “Knights of the Forty Islands”, “Line of Dreams”, “Emperors of Illusions”, the “Deeptown” duology, “Stars of Cold Toys” and some complex highlight the novel, all written at a very high level. But... everything that was written after “The Watches”, including them, is quiet horror. I started reading the “Trix” duology and didn’t finish reading it, but tormented these books. This is not science fiction, but two books of fairy tales. I agree to read fairy tales, but... of high quality, and not with an ugly plot, stereotyped characters to which I classify the Trix himself, the fairy in love with him, the little dragon and others. Especially after the fairy tale, Lukyanenko undertook to re-read “Old Man Hottabych » Lagina. Also a fairy tale, only the level is different. Lagina has a Masterpiece, Lukyanenko has Waste Paper.

Rating: 5

I liked the novel. First of all, sharp plot twists. There are slightly fewer (or better disguised) allusions to other works. It seemed to me that the book was a little politicized and although one may not agree with the general line, it was structured beautifully. The detective storyline was interesting, but the ending was a bit disappointing.

After reading the first book, I thought that there would be no sequel. Because I expected the event to develop in the direction of increasing magical battles and other spells, which would require retelling another 2-3 dozen fairy tales and poems.

But the sequel turned out to take a slightly different path.

Fidget this time turned out to be a bigger klutz than in the first book. Although his luck never left him.

The book turned out to be an organic continuation of Klutz.

Firstly, the action time is almost uninterrupted. More precisely, it is, in fact, interrupted at the end of Klutz, and the second book begins a few days after the end of the first.

True, slight mismatches immediately begin. Sorrel was planning to go to the Chapter of Magi in the evening, but it seems that he stayed a little late for the sake of training Trix. And of all the reported troubles, only the Transparent God has appeared so far, so the rest will be enough for another 5 books.

Secondly, the planted seeds sprout. And the first, oddly enough, turns out to be a pole for dragons. Since he was in the tower, he must play.

Trix wanted to master teleportation and, as a result, teleported more than once, and not only in space. But also in time. And he even teleported someone himself.

I wanted to learn something new about magical creatures - and found out that dragons and the sphinx are not magical creatures.

The selection of characters for Fidget is interesting. Paklus does not participate and Sorrel almost does not participate, despite the fact that all the other characters of any significance participate.

Fairy Annette said at the beginning of the book that she might not be able to live without Trix. It was decided not to experiment. But halfway through the book, it seemed like the experiment had taken place. And it was very interesting how the experiment would end.

At least two works are used twice in the novel. The Wizard of the Emerald City and Harry Potter.

Lukyanenko also expressed his love for the modern values ​​of the Western world at least twice. The first time was when Markel the Unexpected began to quote the “Universal Declaration of Human Rights” and the second time when the Samarshants promised not to use weapons of mass destruction – “human rights”, against the Kingdom, as the most inhumane thing.

School of Assassins - a grotesque version of Harry Potter And I associated the snake-like EAM with Snape, and not with the cheerful rogue Mumrik. On the other hand, it is not clear why EAM was sent to school and what and from whom he studied. If Abv, then why, Abv could not teach the children himself.

The theory of magic is given a lot of space in the novel. But there is also plenty of confusion. As in the first book, Faith is considered the basis of magic. You need to convince either reality as such, or those around you, or at least yourself. At the same time, for example, there is no magical protection from dragon fire. I wonder why. He's out of reality. Or he cannot be convinced. Again, what difference does it make whether the stone falls by itself or under the influence of a wizard? By the way, this also applies to the non-magical sphinx, which for some reason cannot be influenced by magic.

Or the same teleportation. Firstly, is it magic or not magic. And who should believe in it. There's more physics there. He decomposed himself into atoms or quarks and sent them traveling. Dragons supposedly cannot teleport because they are very heavy, but they do not weigh much more than a person. True, Mumrik might not have understood such subtleties very well. Then it turned out that if necessary, the dragon can teleport and teleport even in time. By the way, this raised the question of what they thought before. Let’s say you can’t eat Alkhazab before birth, so as not to seriously affect reality. But it would probably still be possible to explore the reasons and features of his magic, having a trump card in reserve. And so Trix had to “write” his qualifying work on the phenomenon of Alkhazab magic almost alone.

Trix did an excellent job. Along the way, I figured out the magical abilities of gnomes and mermaids. I also carried out the implementation. And I actually got the results. But the slenderness of the torii is a little lacking.

You can try to consider the above theory from a programming point of view. It seems Bushkov had such an association in Svarog. Then it turns out that reality is a huge and complex translator/compiler. According to fairly complex rules, he translates spells into reality. But the gnome assembler doesn’t work, because writing a program to produce a chair from atoms for reality takes forever. But it seems possible to pull ready-made ideas out of the dwarf’s head, if the mermaids really want to.

Alkhazab is very reminiscent of one prophet. True, the latter was smarter, he did not declare himself God. But with Alkhazab’s magic, not everything is clear. Let's say he is super-naive and is surrounded by savages who believe in him. And he could convince the world to protect itself from all dangers. But you can feel the magic yourself (during fights). Delivering confident counter strikes at any distance is all a bit strange. And most importantly, it is not at all clear what prevents Ahazabam from appearing once every five years, or even more often, if the condition for omnipotence becomes exclusively infantilism, and the impetus from communication with some self-taught magician.

By the way, Alkhazab’s statement that he himself is young is not obvious; after all, 32 years is a very respectable age for a desert warrior. In addition, according to the plot, it was not obvious to me that Akhlazab’s victory would be a great evil.

Lukyanenko remains true to his ideals about the relativity of good and evil. And I ignore morality about the fact that the desire to do everything well is more dangerous than the desire to do well for oneself. There are practically no absolutely negative characters in this book. Except that Sator Griz became angrier this time. But Derik, Le Havre and Akhlazab not only ceased to be negative, but, it seems to me, became the author’s favorites.

Le Havre turned out to be such a great actor and connoisseur of art. And suspicions arose. That Sorrel’s stories about the crimes of the Vitamants do not quite adequately convey reality.

From small details. I really liked the rusty bronze nails. It was funny what happened with the BMW. It was only while rereading it aloud to my wife that I discovered the abbreviations for the different names of Alkhazab’s guards.

Rating: 8

Not every writer who writes serious literature can write a fairy tale for children. It’s one thing for a children’s writer to create a serious work (let’s remember Tolkien).

Here, for example, is Sergei Lukyanenko. More than a serious author. There are many successful works, there are several film adaptations. Recognized as the No. 1 science fiction writer in Russia.

And suddenly, out of the blue, I decided to write a fairy tale. Maybe. Or perhaps Lukyanenko wanted to write fantasy. But it is not important. The important thing is that he didn’t succeed at all.

So, the “Trix” cycle, consisting of two novels - “The Klutz” and “The Fidget”. A tempting little world with kings, elves, dwarves, etc., etc. The story of the heir to the throne, expelled from the duchy. And turning him into a powerful sorcerer and, in some way, a hero. This is all, as you understood the plot of the first novel - “The Klutz”, which I have already analyzed, so to speak.

“Fidget” is a direct continuation of “Klutz”. The main character is the same - Trix Sollier. He fled from his home back to the sorcerer Radion Sorrel. The events of the novel take place on New Year's Eve. Trix sits alone in Sorrel's tower. Suddenly, quite a bit, a dragon from the distant, sultry state of Samarshan flies up to the tower. A serious rebellion is brewing in this state - a certain Transparent God, possessing enormous magical power, is gathering an army. The dragon with a long, incomprehensible name needs to see Radion Sorrel, who was not at home. The disappointed reptile, speaking on behalf of the entire dragon people, was already about to devour the boy, but he beats him in solving riddles and forces the dragon to take him to Samarshan, “so that the great and mighty” Trix Sollier defeats the Transparent God. In general, this is where the description of the plot can end. And the fool understands that the snake took the main character with her.

In general, the first fact that surprised me was the act of the dragon. What prevented him from picking up and flying home without taking on the burden of responsibility in the form of an extremely arrogant wizard. Or did he seriously think that the wizard's apprentice would defeat God?..

Of course, I didn’t like the thick, mammoth-thick trolling of Comrade Lukyanenko. If in the first book the author at least somehow limited himself in this way, then in the “fidgety” he went wild. Trolling “The Lord of the Rings”, “The Wizard of Oz” and car thieves is, of course, strong.

At the expense of car thieves. Yes, there is a car in the book. BMW. Pink. And I really didn’t like it. It's a bit too much for a fantasy novel. This is a fact for me - this very BMW runs on the purest oil. I don't know much about auto mechanics, but a BMW can't run on oil. Fact.

There was no special meaning put into the novel. Most authors did not even have philosophical phrases that replaced any semantic meaning. There was no point in writing this book, because “The Klutz” had a logical conclusion. And there are only two reasons for writing this novel. Either the author became very attached to the characters. Either the author really needed the “cabbage.”

The book's humor is actually completely replaced by the author's trolling. A child will not understand, an adult will not appreciate it.

One of the few advantages of the novel is its ease of reading. The book reads quickly and confidently.

The cover of the book should also be mentioned. Yes, the picture is gorgeous. Except for the heroes of the film “Bridge to Terabithia” depicted on the cover. Although this does not violate the composition.

In general, the second novel in the series turned out even worse than the first. Absolute nonsense with a mockery of everyone and everything, flat humor and a stupid plot. And all this under a beautiful cover with a famous name on it. And why did the book receive the Silver Roscon? For the beautiful cover!?

Rating: 5/10

Rating: 5

Everyone needs good books. The housewife wants to read not a stupid, ironic, but, let’s be honest, a low-grade book about a detective’s aunt. An aesthetic snob will look for complexity in literature, the absurdity of the plot and the feeling that no one else will understand this THING except him.

We, young and romantic people, always needed adventures with an action movie. We, sensible, educated and moderately cynical people, have always wanted logical, thoughtful and vibrant worlds. And of course, we all wanted to recognize ourselves in the characters and feel that something big was hidden in the text, some kind of THOUGHT.

Lukyanenko always had all this. It happened, but unfortunately it has passed. And the Trix novels are well written. Funny allusions and quotes make me happy. Both things read well. The non-trivial fantasy world can also be considered a plus. But the depth has disappeared somewhere. The characters are very sketchy. All the characters are somehow blissful and unreal. The narration is chaotic and not verified. There are many adventures (sometimes too many), but not all of them are exciting.

In general, the books, oddly enough, are not bad. Of course, they are inferior to what Lukyanenko wrote in the 90s. And they are inferior because they were written for another reader. They were not written for US. Perhaps this was written for teenagers with fragile brains and unfaded veneer on rose-colored glasses. But they won’t understand even half of the humor and quotes contained in the text. So let's wait for the author to come to his senses and write a good book for those who really appreciate him - for us.

Rating: 7

The contradiction, which seemed somewhat unpleasant in the first book, certainly remained in the second book; here, again, it is a children's fairy tale and the irony is not written for children at all. But somehow it turned out that it stopped being unpleasant, and even vice versa. The fairy tale has become more childish, even a little like a children's play, when everyone - both friends and enemies - carefully and in detail tells the main character about their thoughts, plans, and so on. But in a fairy tale it really looks natural! And the descriptive part, the very style of the story, without losing its irony, became somehow more refined, the irony no longer seemed forced and instead of irritation began to cause a smile and even laughter (I’m talking about the battle rake, and about the battle lamb too... ).

During the course of the story, many common truths are mentioned - as in any fairy tale: these truths help the heroes and should be remembered by young readers. The eternal theme so beloved by Lukyanenko - the contradiction between good and evil - was subjected to serious (despite the style!) analysis. And the ambiguity of this contradiction. An evil wizard performs noble deeds, a kind ruler shows incredible cruelty. So young readers have not only something to follow as they read, but also something to think about. And a fairy tale that makes you think is already serious. With all this, the adult reader is offered a vast layer of irony, jokes, and gags, thanks to which behind many completely childish adventures one can see thoughts that only adults can understand, sometimes funny, sometimes serious. As a result, the book makes adults think too, and this is doubly serious.

Although the respected kkk72 is right, and the great Jedi Luke Sergewalker really hung his lightsaber on the wall, not out of old age, but out of wisdom, and replaced it with that weapon that is only suitable for real wizards - the word. The word is light, ironic, simple and wise, understandable equally to children and adults. And since only very experienced wizards can create magic without waving swords and other objects, the lightsaber was sent to hang on the wall. Bye.

Rating: 10

First and most importantly, I really liked the novel and read it in one sitting on the evening of January 1)) Now, let’s talk about everything in order.

Recently, more and more people have started talking about Lukyanenko’s creative crisis. After a pretty good, but not up to the best stuff, “The Last Watch”, a chaotic “clean-up” and openly commercially oriented “competitors”, even I began to fear the worst. And then the novel “The Klutz” came out - a continuation of the old story, once published in the magazine “If,” about the heir to the dethroned duke, who (the heir) is trying to avenge his father. The book was written in the genre of humorous fantasy, completely new for Lukyanenko, and left the impression of a sweet novel for one evening, which, however, does not pretend to be more. That’s why, and also because of the impression that Sergei Vasilyevich’s sequels usually turn out worse than the first parts, I didn’t expect anything special from the “fidget.” And, as it turned out, I was deeply mistaken.

In the second volume, absolutely all the shortcomings have disappeared - it is very clearly explained how magic works in the world of the book, the frankly absurd, overly fabulous moments, such as Sorrel’s students turned into flower fairies, have disappeared. At the same time, the book retained the sweet and kind atmosphere of the first part. Still no one dies, the most evil villains turn out to be misunderstood eccentrics or just big kids who are trying to prove something to the whole world. But now it doesn’t look deliberate and exaggerated. Lukyanenko’s signature reflections and digressions at the beginning of each chapter were very appropriate - about life, about people, about their feelings and emotions. The hero has really matured and understood a lot about life; the characters of many characters, and Trix in the first place, have become much deeper and more multifaceted.

A separate advantage of the book is its humor. Here it is of the highest quality - on the pages of the book you will not find a single vulgar, primitive or simply stupid joke. Particularly pleasing are the numerous references to a variety of works. Lukyanenko went through his contemporaries - books about Erast Fandorin, Harry Potter, Marvel comics about superheroes - and classics like Gogol, Tolkien, Villon and Aquinas. Politicians, both modern and outdated, also got it. The scene in the school of assassins, where the historical realities of the 20th century are played out, is absolutely a masterpiece. Moreover, all this is presented completely without malice and with humor. I am usually annoyed by attempts to parody, for example, books about Potter - there are so many of these parodies that it is no longer funny. However, here I laughed heartily. I suspect that I simply didn’t recognize or notice a bunch of interesting things. And most importantly, these references look amazingly appropriate, deciphering them is really funny and exciting. And besides, they do not at all violate the individuality of the work, remaining just a couple of phrases inserted at the right time, nothing more. “Fidget” is the story of the young magician Trix, unique and unlike anything else.

There are also dragons, a genie, a sphinx and even desert gnomes with the local equivalent of mobile phones. In a word, this is an excellent book for children and for all adults in whom the spirit of childhood and a love of adventure is alive somewhere inside. For the first time in many years, since the times of Krapivin and Bulychev, truly wonderful, lovingly and well-written children's and youth fiction in Russian has appeared. It is about such books that they say: “This is what I would give to my son to read.” I’ll be looking forward to Sergei Vasilyevich’s new book, “The Vision Catcher,” because now I know that science fiction writer No. 1 still has something to surprise his readers with!

Rating: 10

The first book looked better both in terms of novelty of perception and in terms of adventure. But the second one turned out well too. In fact, almost all the works of humorous fiction that I have read or skimmed have caused melancholy, comparable only to the angst of watching a sitcom. Collections of jokes squeezed out with difficulty, often stupid, very often vulgar. By vulgarity I mean the desire to reduce any human actions and impulses to a set of simple instincts. There is no vulgarity here. The book is light, cheerful, good-natured, suitable for both teenagers and older people. The author easily jumps from topic to topic, touches on various literary and political analogies and immediately moves away from them, kindly biting those who get in his way. The world is not developed enough, it's all a game. There is little heroic in the hero, since he is an ordinary teenager, despite his magical abilities and the future title of co-duke. To me, he is prettier than the usual Lukyanenko teenagers, mysterious, always offended by something and, in general, the same. And finally, the book is simply kind without being sweet. This is already a big plus.

Rating: 4

With the cycle “Klutz - Fidget,” Lukyanenko clearly tried his hand at the genre of humorous fantasy. He had written humorous stories before, but they were more satirical, ridiculing one or another reality. Here there is pure, in some ways even ironic humor. For some reason, it seems to many that writing in this particular genre is easy, but I hasten to dispel their doubts: a couple of inserts into the text of the narrative of funny stories and anecdotes will not make it belong to this direction.

Both books are easy to read, with interest, but unlike reading matter, which you read and forget, here you can re-read it - again and again. And I sincerely don’t understand those who claim that the author has written himself out and is now writing for the general public, just to receive a fee and a percentage of sales. One gets the feeling that such readers are interested in something where in EVERY word, from beginning to end, there is a certain TRUTH that can only be comprehended by the enlightened - and they “comprehend” it, so that they can then casually boast: “Here, I read a new novel.” Lukyanenko is, as always, magnificent, a masterpiece.” I’m not saying that Lukyanenko’s books are difficult to read, it’s just that in each of his works he makes you think about something that he gradually put into the book. Here - everything is easy and simple, the novel is understandable to everyone - and “enlightened” readers, in a fit of jealousy that now they have nothing to boast about, begin to criticize the writer himself.

In general, after hard thoughts and difficult conversations, you need to relax and indulge in fun in order to get rid of ingrained bitterness. And this is exactly how one can relate Lukyanenko’s previous novels and this cycle

Rating: 10

It so happened that for the second year in a row, Sergei Lukyanenko’s books about the adventures of the Trix became one of the most desired New Year’s gifts for me. I would be happy to spend more than one winter holiday in this pleasant company. Why? First of all, probably because these books turned out to be timely and personally very necessary for me. Sorry, dear children, but many components of the special charm of these novels will, unfortunately, still be incomprehensible to you. Play quietly alone while your parents read a fairy tale written especially for them by their peer, who has grown up and become a Wizard. For your dads and moms who are tired of the constant worries of maintaining the high title of superman and the ideal image of a modern lady, and at the same time from the boring action movies and romance novels that are boring, but “appropriate” to their age and status. For adults who are in a hurry to plunge into the atmosphere of their childhood with pleasure, to feel initiated into this witty game, with the air of conspirators to laugh at the allusions and periphrases that are understandable at a glance.

In "The Klutz," the wise author made us think about the incomprehensible, magical connection with our parents and pay tribute of gratitude and respect to our first teachers and mentors. In “Fidget”, relationships with peers, attempts to achieve mutual understanding with representatives of the opposite sex, to understand and rethink relationships with those who are accustomed to being considered enemies come to the fore... And again - quite childishly - you rejoice at meeting old friends (it’s a pity , that many of them appear in the novel for a short time), as well as meeting new characters - for example, a Samarsha merchant, purposefully trying to get his daughters to marry even a dragon. The second book of the dilogy, just like the previous one, is replete with truly funny moments: how do you like the communication between representatives of the dragon family in the spirit of “Kid and Carlson”? And what about Trix’s successful fight against hazing in the ranks of Alkhazab’s army? What about the inspired creation of a magical car and the choice of a name for it? And the unexpectedly strong effect of the seemingly well-known and well-worn spell: “Come on, Christmas tree, light up!” And how many more have been quoted and retold to friends, colleagues and acquaintances!

Although the positive characters have grown a little, they have not lost their naivety and other reliable qualities. Negative heroes also continued their evolution towards realism. In the end, everyone turned out more alive, even those who were initially completely lifeless)) The main villain, who is not a villain at all, looks like a nice change from the background of typical fantasy...

Overall the story turned out okay. It's a pity that the finale wasn't enchanting - it was kind of simple compared to the ending of "Klutzes." And for the umpteenth time Lukyanenko led his hero to practical omnipotence, which he resolutely rejected! In my opinion, at this point this “children’s” book is similar to the author’s “adult” novels.

The impression of the book is slightly spoiled by the excessive play on postmodernism - funny, witty, relevant, damn it! - but from time to time the author’s sense of proportion fails. These countless hints seem to become an end in themselves: this is what I joked about, and this is what I spoke about in Aesopian language. Children will not notice many of these exercises at all, and they will become bored in these places. And adults will be offended, for example, for a lesson in mocking the Scarecrow from the Emerald City. That’s why, with all the pleasure with which I read the book, I gave it not 10, but 9 points.

Sergei Lukyanenko

Fidget

Part one. Trix is ​​offended

If, at less than fifteen years old, you corrected a falsehood, improved the truth, won the heart of the princess, and even performed a Real Miracle, you really want everyone to always praise you.

Trix, the only and full-fledged student of the great wizard Radion Sorrel, who has the high status of a successor (and after all, a successor is almost a real wizard), stood at the window in his little room at the top of the magic tower and sulked.

No, he did not regret at all that after all the adventures that had happened during the year, he left his father’s duchy, where he would someday have to ascend the throne, and returned to Sorrel to continue his studies. Washing floors, preparing food and cleaning toilets - all this is not very pleasant, but practicing magic makes up for everyday inconveniences.

True, he hasn’t learned anything new over the past week - an attempt to summon a new salamander to replace the old one, which hardly heats the water in the cauldron, ended in a small fire, experiments in culinary magic (and Sorrel was initially skeptical!) led to an upset stomach , and the simple spell “ramming stone” caused only a melodic roar and terrible voices, singing something threateningly in an unknown language.

And the most annoying thing was that Trix still stubbornly refused to teleport. Sorrel, it seems, was not very strong at it himself, but he still went to the chapter of magicians, traditionally convened shortly after the New Year. One. Leaving Trix in his magic tower with an offensive request not to demolish it to the ground.

No, this is not how Trix imagined his life with Sorrel. New adventures, secrets, battles, intrigues... Saving the whole world and Princess Tiana to boot! Victory over the insidious vitamancers!

And instead - rewriting old, no longer effective spells from ancient books and malicious remarks from Sorrel.

And the sad, lonely celebration of the Old New Year, which will come in about nine hours. The teacher, of course, valued Trix very much, but for the sake of the klutz student, he would not return early from the chapter. But it was a special holiday! Family, which was supposed to be spent not on the street with friends, but at home, with family and friends...

It must be said that the Old New Year was celebrated only in the kingdom. This has been the case since the time of King Markel the Unexpected, who became famous for his unusual reforms - he introduced two additional parts of the world, he threw out three letters from the alphabet, and instead added two others and a new sign - a semicolon, he ordered that weight should not be measured in pounds, and in some wonderful “keels”. Everyone knew perfectly well what a pound was; it was the weight of a weight attached on a chain to the ceremonial royal mace. And the mysterious “kilo,” according to the monarch, weighed more than twice as much and was equal to the weight of one “liter” of fresh water at sea level... just figure out how many pints or quarts of water are included in this very “liter” so that it can be Markel the Unexpected never had time to weigh it and take it as a standard, losing interest in his idea.

By and large, all the reforms of the witty king did not take root. New letters from the alphabet slowly fell out (although the old ones did not return), parts of the world remained only on the old tower clock in the Capital, in the shops everyone still asked to weigh a pound of white bread and pour two pints of milk, and not to weigh half a “keel” and pour “liter”. And only the change of calendar was crowned with partial success. One day in the middle of winter, Markel the Unexpected said that, while watching the stars, he discovered that the old calendar was behind by as many as thirteen days, and therefore the New Year should be celebrated earlier. On this occasion, he ordered fireworks to be set off, wine to be poured out to the commoners, and everyone’s taxes for the two weeks that had not happened to be forgiven. By all accounts, the king simply wanted to have the holiday early - but fireworks... wine... taxes! So the new calendar was readily accepted. But they didn’t forget the old one either... which led to the emergence of a holiday that is surprising in its name - the Old New Year.

They say that on his deathbed, the old King Markel the Unexpected sighed and said: “I came to this world too early! He was not yet ready to accept my ideas... but he will accept them... And now - about the main thing! Write it down! All people are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and must act towards each other in a spirit of brotherhood..."

It is not known what else the king would have said to the scribes, stunned by surprise, but, fortunately, his heir exclaimed: “Why are you standing there, monsters? Father is delirious from pain and fever! Give the old man a good dose of poppy seed broth immediately!”

The portion was indeed good, and late at night Markel the Unexpected peacefully passed away into another world. By an amazing coincidence, this happened just on the eve of the Old New Year, which was perceived by everyone as a good sign and approval of the celebration...

Trix sighed and sat down at his desk. It was a good, albeit old table - made of bog oak, with a tabletop upholstered in griffin skin, with three drawers on the left (one was secret, but with a key lost a long time ago) and two drawers on the right. The drawers were empty, only in the upper left was a stack of paper, and in the lower right was a supply of feathers and knives for sharpening them.

Having opened a great, albeit ancient, book on family magic in front of him, Trix read with expression:

“All happy families are alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” This spell, the fruit of my long thoughts, can be used for good and bad purposes, whichever you need most. If, for example, you need to bring peace and tranquility to your family, say it loudly and clearly, placing special emphasis on the first part - “all happy families are alike.” Well, to introduce squabbles and discord, the emphasis is on the second part - “every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” The spell must be used wisely and with all possible care...

Trix sighed. It probably really worked at one time. Although if you look at it, there was not the slightest sense in the spell. For example, the local Bosgard blacksmith beats his wife every now and then - and yet they have a happy family. And the vegetable seller blows away the dust from his wife - and they are happy too. Well, what is the similarity here?

But just in case, Trix rewrote the spell three times, said it out loud and with expression seven times, after which he began to write the analysis given by Sorrel:

“In the great lines of his great work, the great wizard count told a great secret...”

Analysis of the spell did not work. It's hard to write something you don't believe in at all. Trix sighed again - this time quite bitterly, took out a blank sheet of paper and began to write a letter home:

My dear parents! Duke and Duchess! I love you very much. And I really love adventures. And magic too. And you don’t allow me to do it. Tell me to learn dancing and fencing. And this is wrong. I am going to Radion Schavel and will live there. Don't worry about me. I won't get lost. I know how to do everything and will write to you, but I’m not soon on the throne. Only after dad. Goodbye.

Your son - Trix Saulier.

After re-reading what he had written, Trix thought about it and decided that everything turned out very correctly - short, honest and very polite. All that remained was to decide how to send the letter home.

After thinking for a minute, Trix went to the window, opened it, letting in fresh frosty air, and said loudly:

- Fly with greetings! Come back with an answer!

The leaf in his palm trembled slightly, but did not even think of flying away. A postman was needed. But where can I get it? There was no one around the wizard's tower - who would unnecessarily dare to approach such a dangerous and unpredictable place? Snow-covered fields stretched to the very horizon, only in the distance, above the low buildings of the town of Bosgård, wisps of smoke stretched upward - and around the tower itself, despite the time of year, roses, poppies, tulips and other flowers beloved by Sorrel bloomed wildly. Somewhere there fluttered Annette, a flower fairy hopelessly in love with Trix. She probably would have taken the letter away. But if I moved away from the tower in winter, I would immediately freeze and fall asleep...

“Bird...” Trix said thoughtfully. “I need a bird - strong and brave, capable of flying through the darkness of the night, through snow and storms. Fly tirelessly and carry my message to my parents...

With a confused screech, a huge white owl swooped down from somewhere above. Trix even recoiled when she sat down on the windowsill and looked around in bewilderment. A mouse's tail protruded from the owl's beak.

-Aren't you afraid of wizards? – just in case, Trix asked.

The owl swallowed and stared at the boy suspiciously.

“Take my letter to the county of Saulier,” said Trix. – Hand it over personally to Duke Rath Solye. Fine?

Sergei Lukyanenko

Fidget

Part one. Trix is ​​offended

If, in less than fifteen years, you corrected a falsehood, improved the truth, won the heart of the princess, and even performed a Real Miracle - you really want everyone to always praise you.

Trix, the only and full-fledged student of the great wizard Radion Sorrel, who has the high status of a successor (and after all, a successor is almost a real wizard), stood at the window in his little room at the top of the magic tower and sulked.

No, he did not regret at all that after all the adventures that had happened during the year, he left his father’s duchy, where he would someday have to ascend the throne, and returned to Sorrel to continue his studies. Washing floors, preparing food and cleaning toilets - all this is not very pleasant, but practicing magic makes up for everyday inconveniences.

True, he hasn’t learned anything new over the past week - an attempt to summon a new salamander to replace the old one, which hardly heats the water in the cauldron, ended in a small fire, experiments in culinary magic (and Sorrel was initially skeptical!) led to an upset stomach , and the simple spell “ramming stone” caused only a melodic roar and terrible voices, singing something threateningly in an unknown language.

And the most annoying thing was that Trix still stubbornly refused to teleport. Sorrel, it seems, was not very strong at it himself, but he still went to the chapter of magicians, traditionally convened shortly after the New Year. One. Leaving Trix in his magic tower with an offensive request not to demolish it to the ground.

No, this is not how Trix imagined his life with Sorrel. New adventures, secrets, battles, intrigues... Saving the whole world and Princess Tiana to boot! Victory over the insidious vitamancers!

And instead - rewriting old, no longer effective spells from ancient books and malicious remarks from Sorrel.

And the sad, lonely celebration of the Old New Year, which will come in about nine hours. The teacher, of course, valued Trix very much, but for the sake of the klutz student, he would not return early from the chapter. But it was a special holiday! Family, which was supposed to be spent not on the street with friends, but at home, with family and friends...

It must be said that the Old New Year was celebrated only in the kingdom. This has been the case since the time of King Markel the Unexpected, who became famous for his unusual reforms - he introduced two additional parts of the world, he threw out three letters from the alphabet, and instead added two others and a new sign - a semicolon, he ordered that weight should not be measured in pounds, and in some wonderful “keels”. Everyone knew perfectly well what a pound was; it was the weight of a weight attached on a chain to the ceremonial royal mace. And the mysterious “kilo,” according to the monarch, weighed more than twice as much and was equal to the weight of one “liter” of fresh water at sea level... just figure out how many pints or quarts of water are included in this very “liter” so that it can be Markel the Unexpected never had time to weigh it and take it as a standard, losing interest in his idea.

By and large, all the reforms of the witty king did not take root. New letters from the alphabet slowly fell out (although the old ones did not return), parts of the world remained only on the old tower clock in the Capital, in the shops everyone still asked to weigh a pound of white bread and pour two pints of milk, and not to weigh half a “keel” and pour “liter”. And only the change of calendar was crowned with partial success. One day in the middle of winter, Markel the Unexpected said that, while watching the stars, he discovered that the old calendar was behind by as many as thirteen days, and therefore the New Year should be celebrated earlier. On this occasion, he ordered fireworks to be set off, wine to be poured out to the commoners, and everyone’s taxes for the two weeks that had not happened to be forgiven. By all accounts, the king simply wanted to have the holiday early - but fireworks... wine... taxes! So the new calendar was readily accepted. But they didn’t forget the old one either... which led to the emergence of a holiday that is surprising in its name - the Old New Year.

They say that on his deathbed, the old King Markel the Unexpected sighed and said: “I came to this world too early! He was not yet ready to accept my ideas... but he will accept them... And now - about the main thing! Write it down! All people are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and must act towards each other in a spirit of brotherhood..."

It is not known what else the king would have said to the scribes, stunned by surprise, but, fortunately, his heir exclaimed: “Why are you standing there, monsters? Father is delirious from pain and fever! Give the old man a good dose of poppy seed broth immediately!”

The portion was indeed good, and late at night Markel the Unexpected peacefully passed away into another world. By an amazing coincidence, this happened just on the eve of the Old New Year, which was perceived by everyone as a good sign and approval of the celebration...

Trix sighed and sat down at his desk. It was a good, albeit old table - made of bog oak, with a tabletop upholstered in griffin skin, with three drawers on the left (one was secret, but with a key lost a long time ago) and two drawers on the right. The drawers were empty, only in the upper left was a stack of paper, and in the lower right was a supply of feathers and knives for sharpening them.

Having opened a great, albeit ancient, book on family magic in front of him, Trix read with expression:

- “All happy families are alike, each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” This spell, the fruit of my long thoughts, can be used for good and bad purposes, whichever you need most. If, for example, you need to bring peace and tranquility to your family, say it loudly and clearly, placing special emphasis on the first part - “all happy families are alike.” Well, to introduce squabbles and discord, the emphasis is on the second part - “every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” The spell must be used wisely and with all possible care...

Trix sighed. It probably really worked at one time. Although if you look at it, there was not the slightest sense in the spell. For example, the local Bosgard blacksmith beats his wife every now and then - and yet they have a happy family. And the vegetable seller blows away specks of dust from his wife - and they are happy too. Well, what is the similarity here?

But just in case, Trix rewrote the spell three times, said it out loud and with expression seven times, after which he began to write the analysis given by Sorrel:

“In the great lines of his great work, the great wizard count told a great secret...”

Analysis of the spell did not work. It's hard to write something you don't believe in at all. Trix sighed again - this time quite bitterly, took out a blank sheet of paper and began to write a letter home:

...

My dear parents! Duke and Duchess! I love you very much. And I really love adventures. And magic too. And you don’t allow me to do it. Tell me to learn dancing and fencing. And this is wrong. I am going to Radion Schavel and will live there. Don't worry about me. I won't get lost. I know how to do everything and will write to you, but I’m not soon on the throne. Only after dad. Goodbye.

Your son - Trix Saulier.

After re-reading what was written, Trix thought and decided that everything turned out very correctly - short, honest and very polite. All that remained was to decide how to send the letter home.

After thinking for a minute, Trix went to the window, opened it, letting in fresh frosty air, and said loudly:

Fly with greetings! Come back with an answer!

The leaf in his palm trembled slightly, but did not even think of flying away. A postman was needed. But where can I get it? There was no one around the wizard's tower - who would unnecessarily dare to approach such a dangerous and unpredictable place? Snow-covered fields stretched to the very horizon, only in the distance, above the low buildings of the town of Bosgård, wisps of smoke stretched upward - and around the tower itself, despite the time of year, roses, poppies, tulips and other flowers beloved by Sorrel bloomed wildly. Somewhere there fluttered Annette, a flower fairy hopelessly in love with Trix. She probably would have taken the letter away. But if I moved away from the tower in winter, I would immediately freeze and fall asleep...

Bird... - Trix said thoughtfully. - I need a bird - strong and brave, capable of flying through the darkness of the night, through snow and storm. Fly tirelessly and carry my message to my parents...

With a confused screech, a huge white owl swooped down from somewhere above. Trix even recoiled when she sat down on the windowsill and looked around in bewilderment. A mouse's tail protruded from the owl's beak.

Aren't you afraid of wizards? - Trix asked, just in case.

The owl swallowed and stared at the boy suspiciously.

Take my letter to Saulier County,” said Trix. - Hand it personally to Duke Ratu Solye. Fine?

The owl extended its clawed foot forward. Trix, with some apprehension, wrapped it in a note and tied it with a piece of twine. He repeated again:

So, to the County of Sollier, to the Duke personally...

The owl looked at him with contempt and flew up from the windowsill.

After sending the message to his parents, Trix immediately felt more cheerful. And even though he was alone in the tower, even though he had only potatoes and a frozen piece of pork to eat - food, albeit satisfying, was not festive. Still, some New Year's mood began to appear! Trix closed the window, lit a couple of candles, because the sun was already setting, and tried to honestly analyze the spell.

The spell stubbornly resisted.

Hanging down, Trix began to study the tabletop, on which Sorrel’s previous students had left their lamentations, spells and messages. Despite the fact that each student began his studies by thoroughly washing the table, the good ink could not be completely removed. There were also complaints about studying mossy magic books with spells that had long since lost their power, and caustic remarks addressed to Master Sorrel, and an enthusiastic ode to the beautiful wife of the Bosgard baron (Trix remembered the old fat baroness and shrugged his shoulders in bewilderment - in his youth he could not understand that every old woman was once a lovely young girl). All this had already been read and re-read by Trix several times, but still remained entertaining.

And then Trix noticed something else.

Under all the old inscriptions, completely erased, there was another inscription - from it only barely noticeable scratches remained on the griffin skin. Probably, the light of the candles and the last rays of the setting sun fell on the tabletop at such an angle that the old lines were revealed.

Key... key... under... sill... window sill... - read the intrigued Trix. And he asked himself: “What other key?”

However, the question was unnecessary. His room was not locked with a key; the student was only allowed a deadbolt. The only lock in the room was in a secret desk drawer!

Trix grabbed a candle and sat down under the only narrow window. He looked under the protruding window sill.

At first it seemed to him that there was nothing there. The smoothly planed tree, although dusty and overgrown with cobwebs, did not hide anything. However, when Trix brought the candle closer and the web burned with a crash, he noticed that one piece of wood seemed to be different from the others in color...

Taking out from the table an old feather knife, worn out by time, Trix picked out the piece of wood. I staggered a little. The piece of wood reluctantly fell out, and after it, a real bronze key fell onto the floor - small, but with an intricate beard.

With his heart pounding, feeling the breath of an imminent adventure, Trix rushed to the table. He inserted the key into the keyhole - it went in easily and turned just as easily.

Before pulling out the drawer, Trix licked his lips, which were dry from excitement. Then he pulled the key.

The box was empty. It was a small, almost flat box. Without any secrets...

Not believing his eyes, Trix took out the box and turned it over - was there a parchment glued with resin on the bottom with a powerful ancient spell? I tapped the box from all sides - what if there was a double bottom or a secret in the walls?

Just an empty secret drawer!

Well, that's not fair! - Trix shouted. - It is not right!

All everyday experience, all logic told him that if a wizard’s apprentice, sad alone on a festive evening, finds an ancient key, this key must open something important. A secret door. Secret box. A chest of gold and jewelry, at worst!

And here - nothing.

Trix blew out the candles and gloomily walked to the kitchen.

It was getting dark. The wind intensified in the evening and the tower swayed barely noticeably under its gusts. Trix was busy in the kitchen, preparing himself a festive dinner.

The potatoes were peeled and gurgled merrily in a pan of boiling water. No, the potatoes were probably not happy at all, but for some reason people always enjoy the gurgling sound of food being prepared. Trix stuffed a piece of pork ham with carrots and a few cloves of garlic he found in the vegetable stall, rubbed it with salt and pepper, pierced it with a skewer and hung it to roast over the fire. Trix's mood improved again - perhaps it was the smell of food, or perhaps the empty glass of wine.

A wizard can be as poor as he likes; mice can play leapfrog in his pantry, and a couple of illegal (for a wizard!) copper pennies can jingle in his wallet. But the wizard will definitely have enough of two things - coffee and wine.

A wizard needs coffee so that when he wakes up late in the morning, he can shake off his lethargy and laziness, sit down at his desk and cheerfully come up with new spells all day long.

The turn of wine comes in the evening, when a well-worked wizard needs to relax, relieve stress from work, clear his head and calmly go to sleep.

As soon as you give up at least one of these two components, the wizard’s performance drops sharply, he becomes lethargic, irritable and cannot come up with anything worthy.

Rumor has it that some great wizards of antiquity cast their spells by giving up both coffee and wine. But the idea of ​​such an experiment is so extraordinary that no one has yet dared to repeat it.

So, Trix poured himself another half glass and sat down in front of the fire in order to turn the spit in time and prevent the meat from burning.

(In some worlds and times, it would perhaps be considered reprehensible and reprehensible for a fifteen-year-old boy to simply drink wine before dinner. Three things can be said in vindication of Trix and the world in which he lived. First, when you tasted that wine, you were would be pleasantly surprised by its ease. Secondly, having tried the local water, you would be unpleasantly surprised by the consequences for the stomach. And thirdly, take away from your fifteen-year-old son the colorful tin cans with his favorite soft drinks - and carefully read the composition. You will Are you still sure that a glass of wine is more harmful?)

However, this New Year's evening Trix was really going to drink wine like an adult. He was lonely, he was bored, everyone forgot about him - even Annette stayed to celebrate the Old New Year in the meadow, in the company of other flower fairies.

Now, if... well, for example... parents knocked on the tower door now? We decided to visit our unlucky son and arrived - five carriages, forty guard soldiers, three carts with supplies...

Trix winced. He missed his parents, of course, but not that much!

No, let Princess Tiana knock on the door of the tower... knock! She would come in all frozen, tired, covered in snow, trembling from cold and hunger and say: “Trix, I need your help...” And Trix would sit her down by the fire, give her a glass of hot wine with spices (the only spice was pepper, but surely he would help keep her warm?), would help her take off her snow-covered clothes...

Trix felt himself blushing. Everything that followed appeared before him in a very exciting, but somehow foggy light. Maybe it’s better if it’s not Tiana? And some other princess, or the baron’s daughter, or that pretty red-haired girl, the miller’s daughter... Well, the miller’s daughter is also worthy of help! Here she is knocking on the door...

The blows were so strong that Trix jumped up in his chair, the wine splashed, and the spit danced on the slingshots. Dust flew from the high ceiling of the kitchen and small stones fell.

Trix stood up, instinctively feeling for his trusty spell book on his belt. If anyone's daughter could knock on doors like that, it had to be the giant's daughter. Or the giant himself. Which also somehow didn’t make me happy.

But then a light grinding sound came from the ceiling - and Trix realized that the blows were coming not from below, but from above! From the flat roof of the magic tower!

It was hard to argue with the fact that this was the beginning of an adventure! But at the same time, it’s not quite what Trix wanted. Adventure is good when it knocks on the door and politely invites you to go on a quest, and not when it falls on your head so that the walls shake!

But there was nothing to do. Trix rushed up the stairs - first to his room, for his robe and staff, and then to the roof of the tower...

The small garden, laid out on the flat roof of the tower, surrounded by battlements, was all dusted with snow. Only the Christmas tree, which Sorrel had carefully decorated with colored lanterns two days ago, was darkening like a green cone. The magic lights flickered dimly on it, barely dispelling the darkness.

Trix, trying to knock his staff on the ground as loudly and confidently as possible, walked around the entire roof in a circle. Strange thing... no one and nothing...

But why is the Christmas tree green? Who knocked all the snow off her?

Who is there? Who dared to disturb my peace? - Trix exclaimed loudly and imperiously (at least, he hoped so).

There was silence for several seconds.

And then a loud and clearly muffled voice was heard above Trix’s head, as if they were trying to speak in a whisper:

You are quite old, Radion Imanil Krion Sorrel. I conjure you in your true name and demand you not to commit any evil against me! You have grown quite old, shriveled up, become shorter...

Trix's heart sank to his feet. He began to slowly raise his head.

Come on, Christmas tree, light up! - they whispered loudly above their heads again - and a stream of flame hit the fluffy forest beauty. The Christmas tree burst into flames with a dazzling fire - and even before Trix raised his head up, he already knew what, or rather who, he would see.

About three meters above him, on a sturdy perch made of ironwood, sat a huge orange dragon.

Of course, if you approach the question objectively - for example, take a rope, measure the dragon from the spiky tip of the tail to the twisted horns protruding forward, and then draw an approximate diagram of the dragon and compare it with the table in the Encyclopedia of Dragonology, then the dragon was average. Even small. So-so little dragon, ten meters in length, twenty meters in wingspan. And its flame was weak, not hot - the Christmas tree was lit, but the stones didn’t even think about melting.

But if that little dragon is looming over you, the last thing you'll think about is measuring its length. Moreover, most likely this will indeed be the last thing you think about when you decide to do this.

And... - said Trix. - A-a-a-a-a...

Oh... - the dragon groaned, staring at Trix with round eyes the size of a good plate. - Oh... You are not Radion Imanil Krion Sorrel!