I picked up a copy of Polar Star when I was 12 and now, 2 years later, I still think it's one of the best book I've ever read. As I had not read Gorky Park, I found the concept completely unique. The main character's past, up to the events on the Polar Star, were helpfully refreshed by the superb literary skills of the author. I was able to quickly understand the story (and misfortunes) of Arkady Renko. In short, a body is pulled out of the sea by a Soviet fishing ship called the Polar Star. Captain Marchuk calls upon Renko to investigate into the case. He soon finds his superiors bullying him inot wrapping up the case, and sees something sinister is afoot. The story kept me enthralled right until the final confrontation in the frozen waters of the Bering Straits. Martin Cruz Smith is a genius of thriller writing. I also recommend Red Square (which I thought was the final Arkady book until I saw the Havana Bay reviews on this very site.)

Besides some books by my favourite authors, this is one of the two best books I've read in 1995. (the other one is Lionel Davidson's Kolimsky Heights)(O.K., now Martin Cruz Smith and Lionel Davidson are also some of my favourite authors). I didn't find Gorky Park overwhelming (well, I read a German edition first, and later found out that the text was shortened, so there was something lost), and I don't generally read lots of these kind of thrillers but this one I enjoied for two reasons: the kind of 'Murder-in-a-closed-community'-plot did apply to my normal favourite themes, and it's simply written extremely well. Oh, yes - I did like Arkady Renko very much, I'm quite bored of all these heroes, and he's a nice change. Another reason I enjoied this book is all the subtle humour in it, I never laughed as much about a serious thriller as about this one (or any thriller at all).

I have just read the first three Arkady Renko novels (Gorky Park, Polar Star, and Red Square) by Martin Cruz Smith, and am currently enjoying his fourth featuring the Moscow investigator (Havana Bay). I found Polar Star to be an extremely enjoyable read. It is uniquely set on a factory ship on the Bering Sea which consequently infuses a claustrophobic atmosphere into every page. In Arkady Renko, Cruz Smith has created an intriguing and realistic hero. Never before has a leading character been so easy to identify with and warm to. And in Polar Star, Cruz Smith has, in my view, exceeded the standard set by the brilliant Gorky Park. It is extremely well written, with an absorbing plot that gathers momentum as it hurtles towards a gripping climax. In summary, unputdownable.

{Based on the English translation from the Russian original, which several reviewers have said is a quite credible representation...} A friend insisted we get out of our mystery thriller rut and read a book he described as science fantasy. Having never read anything sci-fi, this was quite an adventure! Things get going quickly with an interesting premise: extra-terrestrials have apparently visited earth (for a picnic) and left behind many unusual items, of which the earthlings have little or no clue of their origin or intended purpose. The items become hot commodities, and despite the danger in retrieving them from "The Zone", a massive black market arises, enough to propel the lives of the characters in the story.

The plot mostly traces the life of one "stalker", Red Schuhart, who goes after this stuff at various periods over several years. While the storyline is not really a nice tidy recounting of how he starts out and how he ends up, it provides a very allegorical account of the oppressive conditions in Soviet Russia (early 1970's). Indeed, the real meat of the book is the discussion of issues about life and freedom expressed indirectly through tracing the development of the lead characters.

The book is not really a typical sci-fi thriller that entertains with weird beings, strange places, and made-up gimmicks. Rather, this is a thought-provoking probe of a (to us) foreign way of living and a controlling society that governs everyday social interaction. That the authors could pull this off 30-some years ago, in a tightly censored environment, makes the book all the more amazing. For sure not a light reading session, "Roadside Picnic" may not entertain as much as some might like, particularly with the fairly abrupt ending, but insight into the human condition awaits.

It was the first book of A.& B.Strugatsky I've read when I was 16. After that I have re-read it 5 or 6 times... Brilliant thing about the meaning of life, about the place of human being, about happiness and despair. We, Russians, use to call this style "social phantasy", not SF. You can understand this, if you understand in what country this book was written. Developing the theme of postcommunist society, authors have created their own world, and you can find a lot of analogies and heroes that are common for some other books of them. Yes, Picnic is one of the best, but don't stop - there are other exciting works...

If you know how to read, read this. If not, have someone read it to you. In the everspreading ocean of modern day sci-fi, this stands out on too many levels to mention here. Its more than great sci-fi, more than a skillfully and wonderfully written book, more than an amazing adventure, more than a deep insight into the very depths of human nature. Its just more. Believe someone who has read a lot of sci-fi in several languages: this is the ultimate of world science fiction. If you can read it in Russian, obviously do so; if you can't, read it in English or any other language you understand. And if possible, make it a point to find other books by these wonderful people, for these books belong to the rare category of books that will change the way you perceive the world forever.

Geneticly different, they can not live without reading. As you might expect, some hate, some despise them for that. Those that "have a life" pitty them...

The book's style resembles the "traveling writer" style of some of the Hemmingway (sp?) books.

This book is part of another one by this authors: "Hromaja Sud'ba", but I'm not sure if it's already translated.

brilliant.best thing ever written.Ihave no words to describe it.humour...the humour in this book is sharp,wery sharp.and if you know the stupid life in the soviet union you will get the humour.

This is not an easy reading. There are no space battleships either... A great book about humans and their place and relationship with Nature.

I read it in Russian, and can not speak about this translation...

Amazon is incorrectly displaying only a single author -- the book was written by both brothers Arkady and Boris Strugatskij.

This is a good book that has some very interesting points that just keep coming back to haunt the American Presidents. Substitute the USSR with Islamic Fundamentalists. There are a good deal of tradecraft details in the book and a number of reviews of operations run against the US. This book reads well, and if you are a fan of cold war personalities then you should find a copy of this book. It is one of the better books to come from the group of defectors that all seem to get a book deal roughly 25 minutes after they enter the states.

I didn't realize this book had become "hard to find." It is a fascinating study of how one person decides to leave the oppresive Soviet regime and start working for the other side. It is detailed and personal.

Definitely a good book for anyone interested in the cold war and the players in it.

Arkady N. Shevchenko was the highest-ranking Soviet defector ever: he was Under Secretary-General of the United Nations at the time. Moreover, his book was a sensational number one best seller, highly acclaimed throughout the media, and even serialized in Time Magazine.

Sadly, the same liberals who were praising Shevchenko didn't seem to be reading what he'd written.

Shevchenko wrote a real-life spy thriller, as good as any fiction available; but he also delivered an extremely timely warning. The Soviet Union was dangerous, he said, bent on world conquest, sooner rather than later. It was fully willing to fight a nuclear war, or a conventional war, or any kind of war that would advance its "inevitable" victory. It was corrupt, its economy was failing, its leaders were desperate. A West which was not both resolute and strong would be annihilated, sooner or later, probably sooner.

In 1984 and 1985, conservatives believed those things already, while liberals believed that even the mention of such was at best mindless palaver, at worst reckless war-mongering. Five years later, as glasnost and the fall of the Soviet Union opened the "evil empire's" archives, it became clear that everything Shevchenko (and Reagan) had said was true (or even less severe in some cases than might have been warranted). Yet though the Left refused to hear the message, they could not ignore the stature of the messenger, and Shevchenko had his day in the sun, as well as his reward for his service to the cause of freedom: freedom not merely for our people, but for his own.

While this book may be hard to find, it is well worth the hunt. Shevchenko's testimony is vital to a solid understanding of the latter years of the Cold War, and his story-telling is riveting. Don't miss either.

Summary: Two young guys (linguist and pilot) are planning to go for a hunt to an Exotic Planet until a stranger in whit pants and cap shows up and asks them for a favor: Fly him to an uninhibited planet anywhere in the Universe. That sounds like a swell plan to spend a vocation until the arrive to the planet and find it in the middle of Dark Age. They fill an obligation to interfere...but should they?

Personal Thoughts: the story is intriguing, the characters ar well developed and as always in Strugatskys' books there is a certain philosophical twist with some thoughts about social structure and marality of the individual. However the ending confused me quite a bit. i just finished the book and didn't have time to think about it but it does leave you a little bit puzzled. Over all an excellent read.

I was awarded this book when I was back in elementary school. I remember reading it with great interest and I was excited to learn the things that the book mentions. I strongly reccomend it for young readers who are willing to learn about real life.

A carefully written overview of the main concepts of telephony networks (including mobile ones) and of how to design 'seamless' networks, i.e. networks that allow users to navigate among them without seeing service differences.

Areas covered are: Intelligent Networks, Wireless Intelligent Networks, GSM networks, Universal Personal Telecommunications, connection of networks, convergence of network architectures, network access issues, network management. Several standards are explained carefully.

The emphasis is on concepts, and these are introduced didactically step-by-step, with many simple but informative figures. This is a book of lasting value in an area where we are swamped by books that insist on technical details that have a brief life.

The book is ideal as a textbook for undergraduate or graduate courses in telephony networks, and in fact this is how I am using it now. I am not aware of any other book that covers this area with such nice explanations and conceptual insight.

I hear that the book is now out-of-print, but I hope that the publisher can be convinced to keep it in its catalogue, possibly with some updates by the author.

This book is the story of the mistress of a high-rank Soviet defector (Arkady Shevchenko). It is rather amusing to read especially if you read Shevchenko's "Breaking With Moscow" first. Somehow the two of them seem to disagree on the kind of relationship they had :)

A Hiker's Guide to Almaty is a comprehensive review of some very interesting (and likely spectacular!) hikes in the Tien Shen mountains in the vicinity of Almaty, Kazakhstan.

The main shortcoming of the book is that it contains too few maps (two of poor quality) and will likely have to be supplemented by additional more detailed maps before one could actually make the hikes. Having said that, the author has provided excellent reviews of the hikes (likely from extensive personal experience) and includes information about interesting sights, local history, flora and fauna and safety considerations. The introduction to the book is especially informative for those wishing to travel to the area. The translation from the Russian does not generally affect comprehension although you will notice some strangely worded sections.

I do intend to use this book, in an upcoming trip to Kazakhstan, and it will certainly be a useful and practical addition to the intelligence I will carry with me. After the trip, I'll be better able to evaluate the book's accuracy.