Retelling Definitely Maybe by Strugatsky Brothers - A Soviet Sci-Fi Classic

So I picked up this book called Definitely Maybe by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky, and I want to walk you through it chapter by chapter. Think of this as me retelling the story to a friend over coffee. No spoiler-free zone here. We’re going all in.

What’s This Book About?

The original Russian title is “One Billion Years to the End of the World.” That alone should tell you something. The Strugatsky brothers wrote it in the mid-1970s in the Soviet Union, and it’s one of those books that works on two levels. On the surface, it’s about a group of scientists who suddenly find their research being sabotaged by mysterious forces. On a deeper level, it’s about what happens when something bigger than you wants you to stop doing what you’re doing.

The ISBN is 978-1-61219-282-6 if you want to grab a copy. The English translation is by Antonina W. Bouis, published by Melville House.

Who Were the Strugatsky Brothers?

Arkady (1925-1991) and Boris (1933-2012) were the biggest names in Soviet science fiction. They grew up in Leningrad, survived World War II, and wrote 25 novels together. You might know them from Roadside Picnic, which became the basis for Tarkovsky’s film Stalker. They were masters at writing stories that looked like sci-fi but were really about living under a system that tries to crush independent thinking.

Why This Book?

I grew up reading Soviet sci-fi. It was everywhere in the libraries. And the Strugatsky brothers were the best at it. Definitely Maybe is special because it’s not about space travel or alien planets. It takes place in a regular Leningrad apartment during a heatwave. The horror comes from something much more subtle. Something that feels very real even today.

How This Series Works

I’ll go through each chapter, one post per day. I’ll retell what happens in my own words, share my thoughts, and point out the things I think are worth noticing. There are 11 chapters plus a translator’s note and an afterword, so we’ll be at this for about two weeks.

Here’s the full series:

1. You are here - Introduction
2. Chapter 1 - Heat Waves and Wrong Numbers
3. Chapter 2 - Wine, Neighbors, and Warnings
4. Chapter 3 - The Investigation and the Disappearance
5. Chapter 4 - Coffee with Vecherovsky
6. Chapter 5 - Weingarten’s Alien Story
7. Chapter 6 - Gubar’s Nightmare
8. Chapter 7 - A Debate with No Answers
9. Chapter 8 - The Homeostatic Universe
10. Chapter 9 - Choices and Consequences
11. Chapter 10 - Surrenders and Storms
12. Chapter 11 - Fire and Farewells
13. Afterword and Translator’s Note
14. Closing Thoughts

Let’s get started.

Next post: Chapter 1 - Heat Waves and Wrong Numbers