Prisoners of Power
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| Author | Arkady and Boris Strugatsky |
|---|---|
| Original title | Обитаемый остров |
| Translator | Helen Saltz Jacobson |
| Country | Soviet Union |
| Language | Russian |
| Series | Noon Universe |
| Genre | Science fiction novel |
| Publisher | Macmillan |
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Publication date
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1971 |
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Published in English
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1977 |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover) |
| ISBN | |
| Preceded by | Disquiet |
| Followed by | Space Mowgli |
Prisoners of Power also known as Inhabited Island (Russian: Обитаемый остров, pronounced [ɐbʲɪˈtaɪmɨj ˈostrəf]) is a science fiction novel written by Soviet authors Arkady and Boris Strugatsky. It was written in 1969 and originally published in 1969 in the literary magazine Neva (1969, No. 3, 4, and 5, publication of the Leningrad Division of the Union of Soviet Writers); in book form in 1971, with a number of changes requested by the state censor; the English translation was released in 1977. The protagonist is a young adventurer from Earth of Strugatsky's universe — Maxim Kammerer who gets stranded on an unknown planet Saraksh.
The book is set on one such war-torn post-nuclear war planet, Saraksh, where a space-exploring Earth youth gets stuck after his rocket is first damaged and then blown up, forcing him on his journey of discovery and contact within a fascist society of one of the planet's countries.
The story describes the adventures of Maxim Kammerer. Kammerer is an amateur space explorer from Earth. This occupation is not considered serious and Kammerer is regarded as a failure by his friends and relatives. The novel starts when Kammerer accidentally discovers an unexplored planet Saraksh inhabited by a humanoid race. The atmospheric conditions on Saraksh are such that the inhabitants believe that they live inside a sphere. The level of technological development on the planet is similar to mid-20th century Earth. Recently, the planet had a nuclear and conventional war and the predicament of the population is dire. When Kammerer lands, the natives mistake his spaceship for a weapon and destroy it.
At first, Kammerer does not take his situation seriously. He imagines himself a Robinson Crusoe stranded on an island inhabited by primitive but friendly natives. He is looking forward to establishing contact and befriending the population of the planet. However, the reality turns out to be far from glamorous. Kammerer finds himself in the capital of a totalitarian state, perpetually at war with its neighbors. The population is governed by an anonymous oligarchy of Unknown Fathers, with police and military omnipresent. The city is grim and polluted. The ordinary populace leads the life of privation and misery. What goes on around Kammerer does not make sense to him, since his own society is free from war, crime and material shortages.
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