Alexander Belyaev (1884-1942) is one of the founders of Russian science fiction literature and the first of the Soviet writers to devote himself entirely to this genre. In all, he has written more than 70 science fiction works, including 17 novels. For a significant contribution to Russian fiction and his visionary ideas, Belyaev is often called the "Russian Jules Verne."
The Amphibian is a science fiction novel written in 1927 and first published in 1928.
Fishermen and pirates of Buenos Aires are frightened – a mysterious "sea devil" appeared in the sea. However, a cold-blooded businessman Pedro Zurita, the owner of the crew of pearl-divers, decides to catch the mysterious creature and adapt it to his business. This creature with both lungs and gills of a shark is actually a young man named Ichthyander, the result of Doctor Salvator's bold experiments with organ transplantation. One day, Ichthyander rescues a girl drowning in the sea – Gutierrez, the adoptive daughter of Baltasar, one of Zurita's assistants...
Юный Ихтиандр – безусловно, самый знаменитый персонаж беляевской прозы – в результате дерзкого эксперимента, осуществленного некогда его приемным отцом, аргентинским хирургом Сальватором, обрел способность жить в водной стихии, которая дарит ему гармонию с природой и встречу с прекрасной Гуттиэре и одновременно становится его проклятием, навеки разлучая человека-амфибию с возлюбленной и с людским родом.
