The Ugly Swans

This lost sci-fi classic is intriguing for the obvious reason - it was written by two Russians during the darkest days of Soviet cultural control. The Strugatsky brothers slyly created a society under a dictatorship that is just different enough from the real Soviet regime to avoid reprisals, but similar enough for the non-jackbooted reader to figure out. This book pokes holes in the real world repression known firsthand by the Strugatsky brothers, and does so in a compellingly dark fashion. But this is also a book of missed opportunities. The story is strongly inspired by Arthur C. Clarke's "Childhood's End," as strangely intelligent children become the harbingers of a new society of cold logic and reason. But unlike some earlier reviewers, I don't think the inspiration from Clarke is a real advantage for this novel, and I also don't think it was a good idea for the Strugatsky brothers to leave the sci-fi elements unexplained while focusing on the characters and their reactions to a crisis. That would have worked had the characters been more likeable, but rather than the rewarding ruminations on humanity and leadership inherent in the plot, what we have instead is a washed-up alcoholic slowly deciding to clean himself up and try to save the world with his poorly-drawn acquaintances. The book's copious dialogues and monologues are also rather difficult to follow, which might be a problem with translation. This novel is still a great find for sci-fi aficionados who like books that stretch the boundaries of the genre, but it doesn't quite live up to its potential. [~doomsdayer520~]

This one as well as "Les" is a part of a double novel, so it would be better to read the whole book. What I believe is important to see in "Ugly Swans", as well, as in other Strugatskii books, is not the aliens and another version of future, but people that are all around us and our own world. After all, it's not forseeing the future that the authors were trying to do, but to describe what was going on around them. I also believe that Strugatskii books are universal and go far beyond exploration of any one event in history. Through Science Fiction they make us look into ourselves and open our eyes to some most urgent issues of today. Unfortunately these issues change slowly. The content itself is somewhat dark, but Strugatskii were optimists: in the end the beautiful dream comes true. I think I would really like to live in the kind of future that brothers Strugatskii described in many of thier books.

I was looking for a copy for a friend, since I don't want to loan mine out. I'd never get it back! This is really a wonderful book. I first read it about twenty years ago, and have read it four or five times since. After each read there is more to digest. I can't believe it's out of print.

Out of five stars it deserves at least 10. One of the best books I have ever seen.If you know where can I buy strugatsky's books in english please send me an e-mail.

This strange, ironic, and oddly sweet Strugatsky bros. novel follows the same theme as "Childhood's End," while also providing the (non-Russian) reader with a good appreciation of the different requirements Soviet writers faced in the Brezhnev era. It's a cracker of a novel, with much partying and vodka-drinking, government corruption, and chilling glimpses of an alien race that, in the classic vein, are "stealing" our children for their own unknown (possibly malevolent?) purposes. Of course, there is the standard eye-wash about freeing society from the "cult of personality" (a veiled reference not only to Kruschev but also, I believe, to Stalin's cultural grip), but the slogans don't get in the way of the story. Which story is stunning . Like the best Strugatsky bros.' work, this book reads like a story told to you by a Russian friend, who is somewhat jaded, intelligent enough to know how little he understands, and who personifies the Muscovite spirit of "smoke, drink and eat now, who knows what will happen tomorrow..."