Arkadi Strugatski

The novel is set in the 22nd century of the Noon Universe. Mankind is capable of near-instanteneous interstellar travel. Earth social organization is presumably Communist, and can be described as a highly technologically advanced anarchistic meritocracy. The story describes the adventures of Maxim Kammerer. Kammerer …

Red Schuhart is a stalker, one of those young rebels who are compelled, in spite of extreme danger, to venture illegally into the Zone to collect the mysterious artifacts that the alien visitors left scattered around. His life is dominated by the place and the thriving black market in the alien products. But when he …