The Doomed City
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4.5 • 10 Ratings
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
A chilling masterpiece of Soviet-era science fiction, never before published in English.
In an experimental city where the sun is switched on and off on a whim, citizens plucked from different eras of Earth's history are left to govern themselves. Andrei, a young astronomer from 1950s Leningrad, clings to his belief in the Experiment, even as the city descends into chaos.
As Andrei rises through the ranks, he confronts the chilling truth of his world: a place where free will is an illusion, and the search for meaning can lead to madness. For readers of philosophical science fiction, and those seeking a glimpse into the anxieties of Soviet life, The Doomed City is a haunting and unforgettable journey.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Mysterious idealists trample individuality in a Kafkaesque world where disillusioned humans are taken from the 20th century and brought to a strange city where they're reduced to components in a maddeningly undefinable system. In a city where the sun is controlled by the rulers' whim, garbage collectors Andrei and Donald are forced by the possibly alien Overseers to obey the daily demands of the Experiment, run according to a dictatorial philosophy demanding complete faith. This is a world without food, logic, or identity. Restless Donald's suicide pushes Andrei to brave vicious animal uprisings, human rebellions, and abandoned ghost towns on a quest to discover the origin (and sinister motives) of the Overseers. The Strugatsky Brothers (Roadside Picnic) criticize not only Communism but all tyrannical governments in a startlingly original microcosm that captures humanity's despair and resolve. Andrei is the novel's heart's blood, embodying both maddening trust and relentless questioning. The City is the novel's greatest character, breathing misery and distortion upon its inhabitants. This unsettling and intelligent novel's chief terror resides in its underlying ideas.
