Today, Russian authors Arkady and Boris Strugatsky are counted among the
best science fiction writers of the twentieth century, but their
relationship with the late-Soviet literary establishment was often
fraught. By the late 1960s, publishers had become increasingly reluctant
to release their works, but their novels and short stories, retyped by
hand, circulated widely through unofficial channels within the Soviet
Union and occasionally turned up abroad in unauthorized translation.
The nested novels Ugly Swans and Lame Fate offer insight into this
period of enforced silence. Never before translated into English, Lame
Fate tells the story of middle-aged author Felix Sorokin, who is asked
by the Soviet Writers' Union to submit a writing sample to a new
computer program that will scientifically evaluate its "objective value"
as a literary work. Sorokin must choose whether to present something
establishment- approved or risk sharing his unpublished masterpiece.
Sorokin's masterwork is Ugly Swans, previously published in English as
a standalone work but presented here in an authoritative new
translation. Its hero, disgraced literary celebrity Victor Banev,
returns to his hometown to find it haunted by the mysterious
"clammies"--black-masked outcasts with supernatural talents who terrify
the town's adult population but enthrall its teenagers, including
Banev's own daughter.
Together, Lame Fate and Ugly Swans illuminate some of the
Strugatskys' favorite themes--the (im)possibility of political progress,
the role of the individual in society, the nature of honor and courage,
and the enduring value of art--in consummately entertaining fashion. By
turns chilling, uproarious, and moving, these intertwining stories are
sure to delight readers from all walks of life.
