A summary of "The Beetle in the Anthill" by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky

This book is the author’s collection of social science fiction, published in 1983 and bringing together works from various years. It includes the stories "Inhabited Island" (1968), "The Beetle in the Anthill. Stories" (1979), "The Second Invasion of the Martians" (1966), and "Predatory Things of the Century" (1965), introduced by A. Zerkalov’s critical article "The Duty of Thought." The collection charts the evolution of the co-authors’ views from a fascination with cosmic romanticism to an exploration of complex ethical conflicts, moral choice, and the problems of human responsibility for the fate of society.

The story "The Beetle in the Anthill" won the prestigious Aelita Prize in 1981. "Inhabited Island" and "The Beetle in the Anthill" are part of the Noon World cycle and form the first two parts of the Maxim Kammerer trilogy, which culminated in "The Waves Extinguish the Wind" (1984). "The Inhabited Island" was adapted into a acclaimed two-part film in 2008–2009.

The concept of ethical choice

The collection’s opening article, "The Duty of Thought," by A. Zerkalov examines the writers’ creative methods. The critic noted that the authors transfer conflict from the scientific and technical realm to the ethical. The Strugatskys’ characters choose between honor and dishonor, duty and betrayal. The focus is on conscious thinking, without which it is impossible to take the right moral step.

Inhabited island

Twenty-year-old explorer Maxim Kammerer crashed on the planet Saraksh. His spacecraft exploded, leaving the pilot stranded. Maxim encountered the totalitarian state of the Unknown Fathers. This regime keeps the population in line with the help of towers, whose radiation induces fits of blind rapture and government fanaticism.

Only a few residents, known as "degenerates," suffer excruciating headaches from this radiation. They are hunted by the Combat Guard. Maxim met guardsman Guy Gaal and his sister Rada, became a candidate for the Guard, but soon realized the criminal nature of the regime. Refusing to execute the arrested "degenerates," Maxim was shot several times by Captain Chachu.

Thanks to his incredible regeneration, Maxim survived and joined the underground. Along with fellow underground fighters Zef, Vepr, and Ordi Tader, he participated in the bombing of one of the towers, and then traveled south to join the mutants. On the southern border, Maxim met Guy Gaal, took him away from the radiation zone, and helped him overcome his mental addiction.

Returning to the capital, Maxim captured the Radiation Center and destroyed it with a thermal bomb. In the ensuing chaos, he encountered the Wanderer, the secret head of counterintelligence. The Wanderer turned out to be Rudolf Sikorski, an earthling who had been plotting a bloodless rescue of Saraksh for years. Upon learning of the environmental crisis, inflation, and the threat of famine, Maxim refused to return to Earth and remained to assist Sikorski.

A beetle in an anthill

The events unfold twenty years later. Forty-five-year-old Maxim Kammerer works for the COMCON-2 commission under Rudolf Sikorsky (Excellenza). Sikorsky tasked Kammerer with a secret search for the progressor Lev Abalkin. Abalkin left Saraksh without permission, failed to register on Earth, and went into hiding.

Kammerer reviewed case number 07. He learned that Abalkin had worked extensively with the intelligent Golovan race, but had been transferred to residency work against his will. While reviewing Abalkin’s contacts, Maxim visited his school teacher, Fedoseyev, and his lover, Maya Glumova, and also flew to the Golovan residence at Shchekn-Itrch.

From Sikorsky, Kammerer learned the secret of Abalkin’s origin. In 1937, an expedition found detonators and a sarcophagus containing thirteen human fetuses, left behind by the Wanderers. The children, born in 1938, were raised in secret. The leadership feared that they carried some hidden alien mission.

Abalkin sought the truth about his birth. He found the historian Bromberg and learned about the sarcophagus and the detonators. Realizing his true nature had been concealed from him, Abalkin went to Sikorsky’s office and then went to the Museum of Extraterrestrial Cultures, where the detonators were kept.

Sikorsky set up an ambush in the museum. He was convinced that Abalkin’s touch to the detonator would activate the Wanderers’ dangerous program. When Abalkin reached for the detonator bearing his insignia, Sikorsky shot him. The dying Abalkin only managed to whisper a nursery rhyme: "The animals stood near the door…"

The Second Invasion of the Martians

The story is written in the form of a diary by a retired astronomy teacher named Apollo. Strange events occur in a provincial town: nightly flashes, humming sounds, rumors of burned cities. Aliens, whom the locals call Martians, seize power in the country without bloodshed.

The new authorities don’t resort to violence. They buy gastric juice from the population for a good price, distribute blue grain seeds to farmers, and buy the standing crop. Residents receive blue bread and blueberries. Apollo is genuinely pleased with the opportunity to earn a steady income from selling the gastric juice.

Apollo’s son-in-law, newspaper editor Charon, attempts to organize resistance. However, the townspeople do not support the rebels. Their patriotic impulses fade in the face of profit and comfort. The city’s residents choose a comfortable, silent existence, turning into willing collaborators.

Predatory things of the century

Former space engineer and current Security Council expert Ivan Zhilin arrives in a thriving resort town. His goal is to investigate the spread of a new, deadly drug that’s killing tourists.

The city is awash with material abundance. Residents work four-hour shifts, devoting the rest of their time to entertainment — driving, bar crawls, and dangerous amusement rides. Zhilin discovered that the secret crime syndicate doesn’t exist.

The substance they were looking for turned out to be "sleg." It’s a common vacuum tube from a radio, used in a hot bath along with Devon tablets. Sleg affects the brain, freeing the subconscious and immersing the user in an illusory world. Users of sleg escape reality and die of nervous exhaustion.

Zhilin experienced the effects of the disease firsthand and understood its destructive power. The leadership proposed isolating the city. However, Zhilin decided to stay, to fight for the people’s spiritual awakening and save the Unmanned Man from spiritual degeneration.