Alisa Selezneva or Seleznyova (Russian: Алиса Селезнёва|'''Alisa Seleznyova''', English: Alice Selezneva) is the protagonist of an eponymous series of children's science fiction books by Russian writer Kir Bulychev. The first novel of the series was published in 1965, with further writings continuing until Bulychev's death in 2003. The series is known for a wide range of animated and live-action adaptations,[1] with Alisa named as one of the most recognizable faces of Soviet cinema.[2]
The series is set in the late 21st century. In Alisa's time people learned how to travel in space faster than light. Robots and aliens are common. Time travel is possible, but reserved only for scientific purposes. The society in most of books is shown as a communist utopia: there's no need for money, environment is strictly protected and everything is done for the benefit of humans (some later books of the series contradict with this model at least regarding money).
Alisa is a teenage Russian schoolgirl with a deep interest in biology and a number of hobbies (such as violin playing, "bubble racing" etc.). Her father, Professor Seleznev, is a space biologist and director of Moscow CosmoZoo. The heroine is a curious girl, she's interested in any sort of mystery, either scientific or detective. In the stories, Alisa, her friends, and occasionally her father, travel in space and time, explore distant planets, deal with aliens, fight space pirates and make scientific discoveries.
Alisa's family is formally modelled after that of the author: he actually had a daughter named Alisa, and the heroine's parents are named after real names of Bulychev himself (Igor Vsevolodovich Mozheyko) and his wife (Kira Soshinskaya),[3] however, according to the author, the main character shares only the name of his daughter but not her look at the similar age or her temper:
"Why have you decided that my Alisa Seleznyova is connected with my daughter Alisa? They are not even similar. [My] Alisa hasn't even read all books 'about herself', she prefers a higher class of literature."[4]
The most famous illustrations in the books of the series were made by the graphic artist Evgeni Migunov (however, many of the earlier illustrations are by Bulychev's wife).
Only full-length novels are listed.