Prominent Russian Soviet prose writers, film playwrights, co-author brothers, the undisputed leaders of Soviet science fiction over the past three decades and the most famous Soviet science fiction writers abroad (at the beginning of the 1991s - 321 book publications in 27 countries); classics of modern SF, whose influence on its development, in particular in the USSR, is difficult to overestimate.
Arkady Natanovich Strugatsky was born on August 28, 1925 in the city of Batumi, then lived in Leningrad. Father is an art critic, mother is a teacher. With the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, he worked on the construction of fortifications, then in a grenade workshop. At the end of January 1942, together with his father, he was evacuated from besieged Leningrad. Miraculously, he survived - the only one in the entire carriage. He buried his father in Vologda. I ended up in the city of Chkalov (now Orenburg). In the city of Tashla, Orenburg region, he worked at a milk collection point, and was drafted into the army there. He studied at the Aktobe art school. In the spring of 1943, just before graduation, he was sent to Moscow, to the Military Institute of Foreign Languages. He graduated from it in 1949 with a specialty - translator from English and Japanese. He was a teacher at the Kansk School of Military Translators and served as a divisional translator in the Far East. Demobilized in 1955. He worked at the Abstract Journal, then as an editor at Detgiz and Gospolitizdat.
Boris Natanovich Strugatsky was born on April 15, 1933 in Leningrad, returned there after evacuation, graduated from the Faculty of Mechanics and Mathematics of Leningrad State University with a diploma in astronomy, worked at the Pulkovo Observatory; since 1960 - professional writer. Member of the Writers' Union. He published mainly in collaboration with his brother (he is also known for his translations of American SF - in collaboration with his brother, under the pseudonyms S. Pobedin and S. Vitin). 
Laureate of the State Prize of the RSFSR (1986 - for the script of the film “Letters from a Dead Man”, together with V. Rybakov and director K. Lopushansky). Permanent leader of the seminar for young science fiction writers at the St. Petersburg Writers' Organization. Lives in St. Petersburg.
Wide fame came to the Strugatsky brothers after the publication of their first SF stories, which were examples of good “hard” (natural science) SF and differed from other works of those years by their greater attention to the psychological development of characters - “Six Matches” (1959), “Test of the TFR” ( 1960), “Private Assumptions” (1960) and others; the majority compiled the collection “Six Matches” (1960). In a number of early stories, the Strugatsky brothers successfully tested for the first time the method of constructing their own history of the future - the first and to this day remains unsurpassed in Soviet SF. Unlike similar large-scale constructions by R. Heinlein, P. Anderson, L. Niven and other science fiction writers, the near future according to the Strugatskys did not have a clearly defined chronological scheme from the very beginning (it was later restored by enthusiastic readers from the Luden research group). , but more attention was paid to the creation of “through” characters, moving from book to book and mentioned occasionally. As a result, individual fragments eventually formed into a bright, multicolored, internally evolving and organic mosaic - one of the most significant SF worlds in Russian literature.
1 1 0
Director of NIICHAVO. One in two persons. An administrator slowly becoming a great scientist. Has a habit of starting a conversation with the word: “So.”
0 0 0
Projectionist NIICHAVO.
4 4 0
Born in 1938, Russian, member of the Komsomol. Wear glasses. When we first met him, he was wearing a gray GDR jacket and jeans striped with lightning. Smokes. Drives a car. At NIICHAVO he holds the position of head of the computer laboratory. Lives in the institute's dormitory. Shares a room with Viktor Korneev. While working at the institute, I grew a beard. At the time of the events described, he was not married.
0 3 0
Specialist in nuclear-powered transport vehicles, who worked for many years in the Gobi Desert. Receives an offer to participate in the planned expedition to Venus, agrees and becomes a member of the crew of the experimental photon planetary spacecraft “Hius-2”. After the expedition, he returns to Earth and enters the Higher School of Cosmogation. He goes from a transport specialist to a renowned captain of interplanetary spaceships. One of the main characters in the story “The Country of Crimson Clouds” and other works of the “pre-noon” cycle.
0 0 0
An underground worker, a former psychiatrist professor, a former prisoner, repressed by the regime.
0 0 0
Authorized agent of the Bureau of Emigration. He agitated Harmont residents to leave the vicinity of the Zone.
0 0 0
Freed Ghoul. Caretaker of the vivarium NIICHAVO.
0 0 0
Secretary and mistress of A.M. Voronina.
1 0 0
Doctor of Science, professor. Scientific consultant of Troika. He cuts his hair into a bowl cut so that no one can see his ears.
0 0 0
“A short, slender man, very pale and completely gray-haired, although judging by his face, thin, with clear, regular features, he could not be given more than thirty-five years old.” Commander of the planetary spaceship "Hius" and head of the first expedition to Venus in search of the "Uranium Golconda".
0 0 0
Scavenger, policeman, editor, senator, participant in Operation Zigzag; in real life - a stellar astronomer.
1 0 0
School friend of Anton and Pashka.
0 1 0
Revolutionary and professional rebel, leader of many uprisings. Previously, he was rescued by Rumata using a helicopter. One of the few who know Anton's real identity.
1 0 1
Son of Burbridge the Vulture. Was “begged” by dad from the Golden Ball.
2 1 0
Friend of Don Rumata. His full name is Pampa don Bau no Suruga no Gatta no Arkanara. A wealthy aristocrat from the provinces.
0 0 0
Worker in the glove compartment by Richard G. Noonan.
1 2 0
One of the heroes of the story "The Country of Crimson Clouds".
Pilot, one of the best astronauts in the world. Participant of the first expeditions to the asteroid belt.
0 0 0
The head of all criminal forces across the Strait. He collaborated with both Don Rumata and Don Reba.
0 0 0
Janitor in the City.
3 3 0
Employee of the Department of Universal Transformations. Master. "Big fellow." "Rude". Lives in the institute's dormitory. Shares a room with Alexander Privalov.
1 2 0
Employee of the Inaccessible Problems Department. Works in the laboratory of Roman Oira-Oira. Master. A native of the city of Murmansk. Red-bearded, without mustache. Smokes.
2 6 0
"A remarkable geologist and experienced interplanetary traveler." The hero of the works of the "forenoon" cycle. Planetologist. Bykov's friend.
0 0 0
Senior member of the null transport testing team.
0 1 0
The main character of the Strugatsky brothers' story "The Guy from the Underworld", a resident of the planet Giganda, a third-year cadet of the "School of Fighting Cats" - a military school located in the capital of the Alay Duchy, training special forces soldiers.
5 1 0
One of the heroes of the story "Inhabited Island".
Private of the Battle Guard on Saraksh.
0 0 0
Born in 2104. While studying at the Anyuda boarding school in 2118, he planned a flight to Venus together with his friends: Mikhail Sidorov (Atos), Pol Gnedykh and Alexander Kostylin (Lin), but Teacher Tenin revealed their plan in time. Received a Doctor of Science degree in xenopsychology. In 2133 he was the head of the expedition to Leonida, which established the first contact with the Leonidians. However, having discovered the first signs of intelligent life on the planet, Komov decided to immediately leave the planet and provided the opportunity to establish contact with COMCON workers. Around 2162, he became the head of COMCON, and personally coordinated the project “Golovans in Space.” Participated in the "Big Revelation". In 2199, together with Leonid Gorbovsky, he represented people in negotiations with the people.
0 0 0
Professional boxer in real life, advisor to the President of the Glass House.
0 0 0
Real name is Digga. Senior mentor, officer. The commander of the unit in which Gag serves. Features in the story "The Guy from the Underworld".
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Bug. Inhabitant of the Colony of Unexplained Phenomena at NIICHAVO.
0 0 0
One of the heroes of the story "Inhabited Island".
One of the highest officials of the regime of the Unknown Fathers, the head of the justice system, weaving intrigues against the Traveler.
0 2 0
One of the heroes of the story "The Country of Crimson Clouds".
Bykov's friend, a geologist, had previously worked on expeditions with Bykov, a participant in the first flight to Venus in search of the semi-mythical "Uranium Golconda".
0 0 0
Found in the story "Trainees".
Son of Alexey Bykov.
0 3 0
Red Shewhart's wife and the object of his constant concern.
0 0 0
Negro, Red's friend, coordinator of the Militant Angels society.
0 0 0
Orderly of Colonel St. James, participant in Operation Zigzag.
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A young man from Giganda who is interested in mathematics. Civil. Pacifist. The hero of the story "The Guy from the Underworld".
The Strugatsky brothers, whose books are known and loved not only in our country, but throughout the world, are Soviet writers who created the best examples of Russian science fiction. Many of their novels have been filmed. A whole generation of authors working in the genre of science fiction and fantasy looked up to them. Today they do not lose their popularity. If you want to touch the history of the formation of this genre in Russia, then you should get acquainted with such writers as the Strugatsky brothers; books, a list of which you can find on the website and which have become almost a legend, are a must-read.
The Strugatsky brothers: biography of a creative duo
The Strugatsky brothers, whose biography is no less interesting than their books, were born in Moscow and Leningrad. The first literary experiments of A.N. Strugatsky were undertaken before the war, but his stories were not preserved due to the siege of Leningrad. Therefore, the first work is considered to be the story “How Kant Died,” written by Arkady. Boris began to compose his stories a little later - in the sixties. The brothers' joint book was published in 1959 and was called "The Country of Crimson Clouds."
The work of these writers has always reflected their ever-changing worldview. This is probably why their works are so diverse. Drawing the worlds of the future, they filled them with the best people. Optimism and faith in progress are one of the hallmarks of the Strugatskys' early works. Their novels fully met the requirements of socialist realism, but the authors avoided typical characters and clichéd plots. At the center of their novels are humanists and intellectuals, responsible people devoted to science. By and large, the brothers' novels were replete with original plot twists and bold techniques, which distinguished them favorably from other writers of a similar genre of that time. They also did not neglect the opportunity to expose the vices of society. Among their works are many satirical novels that ridiculed the problems of Soviet life.
The Strugatsky brothers: books on the KnigoPoisk website
If you are interested in the Strugatsky brothers, you can find the best books in this section. This rating is based on reviews from our users, so you can easily choose a novel from which to begin your acquaintance with the works of famous writers. Read with pleasure!
The names of the Strugatsky brothers are Arkady and Boris. Born on August 28, 1925 and April 15, 1933, respectively. The brothers are Russian and Soviet writers who have also dabbled as screenwriters and co-authors with other writers. The Strugatskys are considered classics of modern social science fiction in the world of literature.
Family
The brothers' parents are Nathan Strugatsky and Alexandra Litvincheva, an art critic and teacher. The name of the father of the Strugatsky brothers speaks of his Jewish origin. Alexandra married against the wishes of her parents: because of her marriage to a Jew, her relations with her relatives were severed. The father of the Strugatsky brothers served as a commissar of a cavalry brigade during the Civil War, and later as a political worker for the Soviet commander Frunze. After demobilization, he became a party functionary in Ukraine. There he met his future wife. In January 1942, the commander of a people's militia company and an employee of the Saltykov-Shchedrin Public Library died tragically, while his wife died in old age, shortly after receiving the title of Honored Teacher of the Russian Federation and Knight of the Order of the Badge of Honor.
First attempts
The Strugatsky brothers began creating their first fantasy worlds even before the war. More precisely, Arkady was the first to try the pen. According to Boris, it was a prose work, “The Find of Major Kovalev,” which, unfortunately, was lost during the siege of Leningrad. Arkady's first story that has survived to this day was “How Kang Died.” In the 50s, he continued his writing attempts, and soon the story “The Fourth Kingdom” appeared. Arkady Natanovich's first real publication was the story “Bikini Ashes,” which he co-authored with Lev Petrov while serving in the army. Its author dedicated it to the sad events during the hydrogen bomb tests on Bikini Atoll.
Boris began trying to write in the early 50s. The brothers did not lose contact and shared ideas for works in written correspondence and in personal meetings during Arkady's holidays from military service.
First collaboration
The first common creation of the two Strugatsky brothers was the science fiction story “From the Outside,” which they later reworked into a story. This story was published by the publication “Technology for Youth” in 1958.
In 1959, the brothers published their first book, “The Land of Crimson Clouds.” According to rumors, this work was created as a bet with Arkady’s wife, Elena Ilyinichna. By 1957, a draft of the work was prepared, but the editors delayed publication for a long time. Other works connected with this work by common characters are “The Path to Amltea”, “Trainees” and stories from the debut joint collection of the Strugatsky brothers “Six Matches”. Thus began a long series about the fantastic world of the future, which was called the World of Noon. According to the authors, they themselves would like to live in this universe.
For many decades, the Strugatsky brothers were the best authors of Soviet literary fiction. Their multifaceted creations reflected the gradual development of the writing skills and worldview of the authors. Each work written by the brothers initiated new debates and lengthy discussions. More than once critics compared the world of the Strugatskys with the fantastic world of the future by Ivan Efremov, which he described in his famous work “The Andromeda Nebula”.
Heyday
The brothers' first works corresponded to all the frameworks of socialist realism, but at the same time they retained their unique characteristics: their heroes were not “sketchy” - they were endowed with individual traits and character, and at the same time remained humanists, intellectuals and brave researchers pursuing ideas for the development of the world and scientific and technological progress. In addition, their heroes are distinguished by their individual language - this simple but expressive technique made the heroes alive and close to the reader. Such characters very well coincided with the “thaw” period in the USSR, thereby reflecting desperate hope for a better future and technological progress in science, as well as for a warming in inter-political relations.
A particularly significant book at that time was the story by the Strugatsky brothers “Noon, XXII Century,” which successfully depicted an optimistic prospect for the future of the human race, in which enlightened and happy people, intelligent and brave space explorers, creative individuals inspired by life live.
But already in “Distant Rainbow” tense motives begin to sound: a disaster on a distant planet, which occurred as a result of scientists’ experiments, raised the question of the moral choice of a person in a difficult situation. It is a choice between two bad outcomes, one of which is worse than the other. In the same work, the Strugatsky brothers raise another problem: how will those who cannot think creatively live in the World of Noon?
The characters in the story “An Attempt to Escape” had to confront their own past and think about whether it was possible to get rid of the “Paleolithic in the mind,” and then the authors puzzled the workers of the Institute of Experimental History with this problem in the work “It’s Hard to Be a God.” The brothers also touch on pressing issues of our time, painting a grotesque picture of a futuristic consumer society in the story “Predatory Things of the Century.” This work became the first dystopia within a utopia in Russian literature, which became very specific to Soviet literature.
In the 60s, the brothers wrote other extraordinary works. For example, the work of the Strugatsky brothers, “Monday Begins on Saturday,” sparkling with good-natured but topical humor, was so liked by readers that they soon wrote a sequel, which they called “The Tale of Troika,” where humor had already given way to direct satire. This work turned out to be so scandalous that soon the Angara almanac, where “The Tale” was published, ceased publication, and the story itself was inaccessible to readers for a long time. The same fate awaited the story “Snail on the Slope,” in which the action takes place in the Forest and in the Forestry Administration: the whole situation described in the book was very reminiscent of the bureaucratic situation in the Administration. Soviet criticism did not discern much more important thoughts about the impending progress, which sweeps away everything that prevents it from rushing even faster.
The Second Martian Invasion: Notes of a Sane Man is also a satirical work that was not well received by critics. Even the names of the characters, borrowed from the heroes of Greek legends, could not veil the allusion to the current situation. The authors raise a serious question about the honor and personal dignity of man and all humanity. A similar theme is heard in the story “Hotel “At the Dead Climber”: is a person ready to meet an alien race? The same work became an experiment by the Strugatsky brothers in mixing a science fiction novel and a detective story.
Summarizing
With the beginning of the 70s, the Strugatskys returned to the Noon universe and invent “Inhabited Island”, “The Guy from the Underworld” and “The Kid”. Soviet censorship closely monitored the brothers' work. In preparation for printing The Inhabited Island, they had to make more than 900 edits before the work was published in 1991. In the 70s, the brothers practically did not publish books.
The famous story by the Strugatsky brothers “Roadside Picnic” was published in a magazine, after which it did not appear in book publications for 8 years. The story voiced the theme of the Zone - the territory where, after the Visitation of Aliens, mysterious events began to happen, and stalkers - brave men who secretly climb into this Zone. It was developed in Andrei Tarkovsky’s film “Stalker,” which was filmed in 1979 based on the script by the Strugatskys. Only after the Chernobyl disaster actually happened, history was reflected in the game S.T.A.L.K.E.R., as well as in numerous works based on it. Only in 1980 did the Strugatsky brothers include “Roadside Picnic” in the collection “Unassigned Meetings,” but in an abbreviated format. The strict censorship of that time did not allow young authors to breathe freely.
The main theme of the Strugatsky brothers' work was the problem of choice. It was this that became the foundation for the story “A Billion Years Before the End of the World,” where the characters faced a difficult choice between a peaceful life, abandoning their own principles and beliefs, and the threat of death while trying to preserve their identity. At the same time, the brothers wrote the novel “The Doomed City”, where the authors attempt to create a dynamic model of consciousness typical of wide sections of society, as well as to trace its fate against the backdrop of changing social realities, exploring its changes. The heroes of this novel, like the heroes of the novel “Lame Fate,” are endowed with autobiographical details.
Peak of creative thought
The brothers return to the World of Noon in the novels “The Beetle in the Anthill,” “The Aelita Prize,” and “The Waves Quench the Wind.” These works brought the final line under the utopian theme in the Strugatskys’ works. In their opinion, technological progress is not able to bring happiness to a person if he cannot abandon his animal nature, burdened with anger and aggression. It is education that can turn a monkey into a real Man with a capital “H” - a reasonable and intellectual result of human development, according to the Strugatsky brothers. The theme of self-growth and personal development is heard in the novel “Burdened with Evil, or Forty Years Later.”
The last common work of the Strugatskys was the play “The Jews of the City of St. Petersburg, or Sad Conversations About Candlelight,” which became a kind of warning to the overly zealous optimistic hopes of people of recent times.
Separate works
Arkady, in parallel with his general work, also wrote independently under the pseudonym S. Yaroslavtsev. Among such works are the story “Details of the life of Nikita Vorontsov,” the burlesque fairy tale “Expedition to the Underworld,” and the story “The Devil Among Men.” In every work of Arkady, the theme of the impossibility of changing the world for the better is heard.
After Arkady's death in 1991, Boris continued his literary work. He takes the pseudonym S. Vititsky and publishes the novels “The Powerless of This World” and “The Search for Destiny, or the Twenty-Seventh Theorem of Ethics.” With these books, he continues to explore the phenomena of the future and explores ideas of influence on the surrounding reality.
Other activities
In addition to writing books, the Strugatsky brothers also tried their hand at screenplays. Several films were made based on their works and with their editing.
The brothers also translated from English novels by Hal Clement, as well as Andre Norton and John Wyndham. For translation activities they took the pseudonyms S. Pobedin, S. Berezhkov, S. Vitin. In addition, Arkady Strugatsky translated the stories of Akutagawa Ryunosuke from Japanese, as well as Noma Hiroshi, Kobo Abe, Sanyutei Ente and Natsume Soseki. The medieval novel “The Tale of Yoshitsune” was also not spared from translation.
Boris did not lag behind his brother, also being vigorously active: for the complete collection of their joint works, he prepared extensive “Comments on the Past,” which were later published as a separate book. A video interview was even published on the Strugatskys’ official website in which Boris answers more than 7,000 questions from readers and critics. The brothers were open to dialogue with their reader.
- Fans often use the abbreviation “ABS”, which denotes the names of Arkady and Boris Strugatsky. It is used not only in oral references to brothers, but even in printed publications.
- At Sotskon in 1989, a banknote called “Two Strugatskys” was issued. Shortly before the death of Arkady, “One Strugl” was presented at Volgakon.
- In St. Petersburg in 2014, a square in the Moskovsky district was given the name of the Strugatsky Brothers.
- There are no graves of the Strugatskys, because according to the will, their ashes after cremation were ordered to be scattered over precisely indicated places: Arkady wished for his ashes to be scattered over the Ryazan highway, and Boris wished to remain over the Pulkovo Observatory.
- In 2015, enthusiasts planned to create a museum in the brothers’ St. Petersburg apartment, but discussions on this matter with the authorities of the Moskovsky district are still ongoing.
- The Strugatsky brothers are the only Russian writers whose works are called by abbreviations: for example, “The Land of Crimson Clouds” - SBT.
- The expression “no brainer” became known precisely thanks to the Strugatskys, although its creator was V. Mayakovsky. The expression became widespread after the story “The Country of Crimson Clouds”, and later - in Soviet boarding schools, in which children were recruited into classes A, B, C, D, D - those who study for two years, and E, G, I - those to whom one.
This is what a short biography of the Strugatsky brothers looks like. The brothers' contribution to the fantastic literature of the Soviet Union and Russia is immeasurable: they devoted almost all their free time to creativity and reflection. Each of their works is imbued with subtle thought and deep research not only on technological innovations, but also on the emotional vicissitudes of man.
The Strugatsky brothers, whose biographies were quite different, are talented science fiction writers who were able to tell readers what was not customary to talk about in the Soviet Union. Their biography began in the first half of the twentieth century. At that time the Strugatskys lived in Leningrad. The brothers are eight years apart. But, despite this, the Strugatskys have always been a close-knit family. Brothers who were separated by life invariably returned back again. So, what is the biography of these wonderful playwrights, prose writers, real geniuses of Soviet science fiction? How did they create books to become the most famous Russian science fiction writers, both in the near and far abroad? Why are they called practically the fathers of scientific fiction, especially Soviet and, subsequently, Russian? Why is it difficult to overestimate their works, and even more difficult to imagine the world of science fiction without the Strugatsky brothers.
Elder brother - Arkady Natanovich Strugatsky. He was born on August 28, 1925 in the city of Batumi. Soon his parents moved to Leningrad, where they remained for the rest of their lives. The parents of the Strugatsky brothers were educated and intelligent people. My father was an art critic by profession, and my mother was a teacher. When the war began, Arkady was already a teenager, so he worked on the construction of fortifications that were supposed to protect the city from German invaders. Then the guy repaid his debt to the Motherland in a grenade workshop. In 1942, when Leningrad was under siege, Arkady managed to evacuate with his father, but a discharge hit the carriage and he was the only one to survive among all those who were there. Of course, it was a blow for the guy, but at that time there was no time to cry and worry for a long time. He buried his father in the city of Vologda. Then I went to Chkalov (modern Orenburg), and then ended up in Tashla. There he worked at a milk collection point, and in 1943 he was drafted into the army. Arkady graduated from the Aktobe artillery school, but never got to the front. The guy was very lucky, because instead of fighting, in the spring of 1943 he was sent to Moscow, where he was supposed to study at the Military Institute of Foreign Languages. The guy graduated from this educational institution in 1949. He was a translator from English and Japanese. Then he became a teacher at the Cannes School of Military Translators. Thanks to his specialty, the eldest of the Strugatsky brothers had to travel a lot. He managed to serve as a military translator in the Far East and was demobilized only in 1955. Since that time, Arkady took up writing. In addition to creating novels and stories, co-authored with his brother, he also worked at the Abstract Journal, and then became an editor at Detgiz and Gospolitizdat. Unfortunately, Arkady Strugatsky lived only sixty-six years. For such a talented writer, this is a fairly short period of time, during which it is impossible to bring to life all the ideas and topics that come to mind. Of course, Arkady, together with his brother, created many unique stories that have been read for several generations. But, nevertheless, it is worth noting that we would have had even more wonderful examples of science fiction if the life of Arkady Natanovich Strugatsky had not been cut short on October 12, 1991.
But his younger brother, Boris Natanovich Strugatsky, is alive and well to this day. Boris was born on April 15, 1933. The brothers’ parents already lived in Leningrad at that time, so Boris could consider himself a native resident of this city. He, like his brother, was evacuated from besieged Leningrad, but only by another train, together with his mother. As a child, he managed to see the most terrible winter of besieged Leningrad. After the war ended, he returned to his hometown. There he entered Leningrad State University Faculty of Mechanics and Mathematics and received a diploma in astronomy. At one time, Boris worked at the Pulkovo Observatory. But, after their brother returned from the Far East, the Strugatskys put their careers on the backburner and began to actively engage in creativity. Therefore, already in 1960, Boris was a member of the Writers' Union. By the way, the brothers not only wrote their own stories and novels, but also translated American science fiction. But they signed the translations not as the Strugatskys, but as S. Pobedin and S. Vitin. Today Boris Strugatsky is the leader of the seminar young science fiction writers at the St. Petersburg Writers' Organization. He passes on his knowledge and skills in this area of literature to the younger generation, so that modern science fiction writers can create works as strong and interesting as they did with their older brother.
By the way, success came to the Strugatskys quite quickly. Already in 1960, such works as “Six Matches” (1959), “Test of the TFR” (1960), “Private Assumptions” (1960). A special feature of the Strugatskys was the deep psychologism of the characters. Previously, Soviet science fiction writers didn’t think much about creating full-fledged characters with their own problems and experiences. And the Strugatskys endowed them with feelings and emotions, gave them the opportunity to explain why they act this way and what they like or don’t like in their world. In addition, the Strugatskys began to predict the world of the future, which Soviet science fiction writers also did not think about, unlike foreign ones. They wrote such masterpieces as Roadside Picnic and Inhabited Island. These somewhat dystopian books can safely be called masterpieces. And the Strugatsky brothers are rightfully called the kings of science fiction.
