ORPHIA BOOKCASE

RECENT SCIENCE FICTION BOOKS IN THE USSR

reviewed by Ivailo Runev

 .,  .  . 
, ISSN 5-280-01290-4, 384 pp, 3. 00 Rb.

DOOMED CITY, by the Strugatsky brothers.

The Strugatsky brothers' fiction has always been a mixture of
hard-core SF and social extrapolation, the latter predominant in
recent years. DOOMED CITY is one of their most serious works,
devoted to an analysis of socialism in the USSR.

People from different times, countries, walks of life and
cultural background, but all living in the 20th century are
gathered in a strange town in order to take part in a mysterious
social experiment supervised by the Mentors. The book focuses on
Fritz Gaeiger, a Wermacht officer, Josif Katzman, a Jew and
Andrei Voronin, a Youth Communist League activist. Fritz Gaeiger
heads a coup against the Mentors and from the anarcho-liberal
republic creates a materially rich but spiritually poor society
of a totalitarian type. His antipode Katzman is an intellectual
whose criticism often stands out against the dogmas of the
moment. He is the character chosen to convey the authors'
viewpoint.

Andrei Voronin is a typical example of a young Russian communist
of the 50s, who deeply believes in the bright communist future of
mankind and has accepted to attend the Experiment with no second
thoughts whatsoever. Honest, active, a man of average intellect,
an ever-searching pragmatist, he gradually rises from a garbage-
collector through an investigator and editor to minister of
science. Voronin leads an expedition in search of the Antitown.
Andrei's incredible adventures and hardships take him across
abandoned lands alive, in both senses of the word, where time
flows in different way when it flows at all.

The end, to cut a short review even shorter, is quite realistic:
assessing his life, he realizes that the so-called Experiment is
a dead end leading to nowhere.

, .      .
 , ISSN 5-7260-0257-1, 160 pp, 2. 60 Rb.

HIS RESPECTABLE MICROBIC HIGHNESS, OR, A GOUSLIAR IN SPACE, by
Kir Boulitchov

Kir Boulitchov is one of the most prolific Soviet writers, and at
the same time one of the most original ones. His works are
masterpieces of humor and playful mystifications. Great Gousliar
is a favorite setting for most of Mr. Boulitchov's works; a
gousliar is the Russian equivalent for a troubadour. The
protagonist of this novel is Cornelius Udalov, a humble citizen
of a town called Great Gousliar, who is ready to sacrifice
himself in the name of interstellar friendship. This contemporary
descendant of Baron Munchausen is designated a delegate to the
Intergalactic Convention of Unusual Creatures. He is kidnapped
and in his flight to freedom visits many planets with various
forms of societies and fates; he finds wise solutions to their
problems, endows them with the benefits of civilization, and more
to the point - saves the Universe from the microbes which are
trying to enslave it.

All in all, should I have to compare Kir Boulitchov to any
western author, I would put him next to Robert Sheckley. Should I
have to give an opinion as to who is funnier or more original, I
would definitely refuse to do so - for they both belong to the
class of genius where humor in SF is concerned, and you just
can't compare between genii!

, .  .  , ISSN 5-265-
00540-4, 448 pp, 1. 50 Rb.

THE EARTH'S SHADOW, by Evgeny Guliakovski.

Evgeny Guliakovsky's favorite topic is the first encounter. This
book comprises 4 variations on this theme, written at different
times.

"Vesta" is a story about a civilization which has slept for
thousands of years in the depths of the ocean. The water
pollution makes it aggressive towards humans.

"Forbidden Zone" is about a galactic station which is actually a
fortress guarding against the chaos of space. The station is
buried deep beneath the surface of a small planet. Unfortunately,
a robot destroys part of the system's brain and it is substituted
by a man's.

"A Planet for Contact" is about an artificial planet prepared by
non-humanoids for their first encounter with humans. Not
understanding the human psyche, they accidentally kill off all
the members of the first expedition as a result of an enormous
information flow, thus posing a test for human logic,
adaptability and the incredible strength of human will-power,
which, when resolved, will open up space and time for mankind.

, . .  , 117 pp, 2. 40 Rb.

THE MOUSE, by Michail Latishev

This is a strange and original book, which will find an audience
amidst the more serious of SF fans. It is in fact an author's
quest for the quintessence of betrayal.

Vasilii Levashov, an ordinary village youth, desperately wants to
turn into a mouse and vanish down a hole, as he is terrified by
battles and violence of any sort. He succeeds for a while, but
the mouse world turns out to be no less cruel and unjust than the
human one. Levashov becomes a collaborator, serves in the Nazi
police, and takes part in many attrocities and massacres. After
Germany's defeat his life becomes a nightmare of endless flights,
fears, murders and man-mouse transformations. The writer holds
the reader enthralled to the end with his deep psychological
insight and detective plot.

, . . , 63 pp, 0. 98 Rb.

DISCOVERY, by Igor Fedorov

A first book by a young author and well-known fan. Not much to
brag about - 10 short stories, only 3 of which merit any
attention: "Butterflies", a story about the dangerous routes in a
future town where everyone hunts down his neighbor, "Labyrinth",
a parable about two men wandering in a labyrinth - the first one
struggles toward freedom with all his might, while the other one
arrives at the conclusion that the Labyrinth rejects the dead and
starts simulating death, achieving the ultimate success at last,
and "A Tram to the Last Stop", dealing with the limits and
freedom of any moral choice.

, . " ".  , ISSN 5-235-
00510-4, 320 pp, 1. 20 Rb.

A COMPANY CALLED "ADVENTURES", by Pavel Bagriak.

A compulsively readable detective story. Commissioner Gard takes
advantage of the rivalry between two gangs to unravel the secrets
of a company called "Adventures", which, with the help of a
special drug, offers its clients any adventure they care to
choose. This turns out to be a secret military operation aimed at
developing a superman, and a lot of mayhem ensues. ,
.   .  , ISSN 5-268-
00267-8, 192 pp, 1. 00 Rb.

CHILDREN OF THE BLUE FLAMINGO, by Vladislav Krapivin.

The invisible island Dvid is ruled by the tyrant Tiho, who
persecutes children, because, according to an old legend, they
will be the reason for his downfall. Evgeny, Elena's knight, is
lured to the island and into the clutches of the gigantic
mechanical Octopus in the tyrant's bid to cheat fate. He manages
to escape through the Bewitched Forest to the Old Castle, where
the rebel children are hiding from the tyrant. With the help of
the giant Blue Flamingo he and another boy succeed in punishing
the tyrant and set the country free.

A nice, readable juvenile fantasy.

Ka . .   . , ISSN 5-212-
00144-5, 349 pp, 1. 90 Rb.

LOOKING AT CREATIVITY, by U. A. Cagarlitskii.

This book is about Herbert Wells' stormy life, his humanism, the
power of his prophecies, and his contribution to science-fiction.
About 30 of his books are analyzed. Cagarlitskii is one of the
best critics of Wells in the world and has received for his
contribution to the understanding of this old master the Pilgrim
Award (1972) and the Grand Award of the Polish Ministry of
Culture.

   . . ISSN 5-7545-0108-0, 280 pp, 2.
00 Rb.

THE RULES OF THE GAME WITHOUT RULES, an anthology.

This collection is edited by A. Siletzkii, and is the third book
in the "Youth creativity and technology" series, dedicated to
heuristics and prognostication. ARIZ-85-V, the algorithm for
inventions, is presented and explained in detail.

Science-fiction readers will be mostly interested in the five
stories by Valentina Zhouravlyova, all closely related to the
subject and all treating original scientific ideas and theories.