Soviet Science Fiction

I picked this up at a used bookstore based on the cover alone, and for the chance of a glimpse into the Soviet mindset. From a literary perspective, there's not much to recommend these stories. They're fairly standard Golden Age scifi, with all the clumsiness that that entails, plus the added awkwardness of being a work in translation. Sadly, of the six stories only two are of any interest; a pair of linked stories theorizing that the Tunguska explosion was a spacecraft from Mars. The theory that the Martians must be advanced Socialists come to peacefully trade for Greenland's icecap is a rather nice antidote to the standard alien invasion story, but aside from the names, there's little that's particularly "Soviet" about these stories. show more The only recognizable name in collection are the Strugatsky brothers, and they're wasted with a bog standard 'robot gains self-awareness/goes berserk' golem fable.

On the other hand, as a historical artifact this collection is quite neat. Released in 1962, at the height of the Cold War, and with a decent introduction by Isaac Asimov, it serves a reminder of an attempt to build international bridges at a time of immense paranoia. show less

Published in 1962, this collection is surprisingly light on blatant political commentary. Only one story mentions the present Soviet system, and then as a model system. Overall, the stories were OK. All had a strong emphasis on describing the science behind whatever endeavor the story was about. "Hoity-Toity" was the least interesting story, in my opinion. It tells of a man, whose brain is transposed into an elephant's and his experience of being an elephant, both in Africa and then in a circus after he was captured.
The Strugatsky brothers' story "Spontaneous Reflex" is about a robot who is designed to learn and adapt. When it does, it goes amok. The next two stories are really one story by Kazantsev. A group of scientists from various show more fields go on a mission. During the long voyage, one scientist tells his theory about what had really happened in Siberia in 1908, which he believes was not a meteor hitting the earth, but a Martian vessel landing. In the second story, a different scientist tells the group of a man he met, whom he believes to be a survivor of that same Martian vessel "Infra Draconis" by Gurevich is about the crew of a 30 year voyage to deep space, and the last story, "Professor Bern's Awakening" by Savchenko, is a scientific Rip Van Winkle story. show less