BEETLE IN THE ANTHILL

by Arkady & Boris Strugatsky Strugatsky ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 1980

Maxim Kammerer, who rambled around the universe in Prisoners of Power (1977), is now an earthbound ""Comcon-2 Employee,"" and he is assigned by ""Excellency"" to find one Lev Abalkin--a ""Progressor"" who has illicitly returned to Earth after assorted dealings with other planets and ""rational nonhumanoid races."" Why does Excellency want Abalkin tracked down? Max isn't sure--and his confusion grows as he interviews Abalkin's friends and colleagues. And by the time that Max has met Abalkin's principal nonhumanoid contact--a ""doggo sapiens"" named Schokn who's one of the Golovans now inhabiting Canada--he's sure that Abalkin himself is caught up in a quest for his own secret identity. This is indeed the case, and, while waiting to try and trap Abalkin, Excellency reveals the secret of Abalkin's birth, the fact that he is in fact an automaton of the dreaded Wanderers. . . who threaten all humanity. A provocative scenario, especially for the possible parallels to Soviet politics--but, as narrative, this is (despite Bouis' fine translation) one of the Strugatskys' most demanding, least satisfying efforts: talky, slowly convoluted, with elements of Citizen Kane-ish biography and Le CarrÉ-ish intrigue that mesh poorly. So: more for students of literary/political interaction than for the rank-and-file sf readership.

Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1980

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Macmillan

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1980

Categories: FICTION