​About 20 years ago, while browsing the "Sci-Fi" section of a bookstore, I stumbled upon a novel titled After the End . The author’s name, Yuri Mamleev, meant nothing to me at the time, but flipping through a few pages, I noticed the quality of the prose, and the plot reminded me of the popular "portal fantasy" genre. ​On the very first evening, I realized I hadn't picked up science fiction, but something far more unexpected. Later, I learned that Mamleev is considered the founder of a very specific genre: metaphysical realism . Translated into many languages and a member of dozens of PEN Clubs, his work only began to be published in Russia during Perestroika. In his books, the stakes are not on starships, lasers, or masers, but on the energies of subtle worlds, souls, and the power of thought. And if there is one thing his books have in abundance, it is thought. ​It so happened that quite recently I was discussing the insights of Mo Gawdat, one of the fathers...