Hard to Be a God
A self-contained major novel and one of the brothers' most accessible works.
Author guide
Boris Strugatsky Books in Order
Boris Natanovich Strugatsky (1933–2012) was a Russian writer, astronomer, and computer mathematician. From the late 1950s through the 1980s he co-authored novels, novellas, stories, screenplays, and plays with his brother Arkady, producing a major body of Soviet social science fiction. After Arkady's death, Boris published two novels as S. Vititsky and later issued Comments on the Past, a memoir about the brothers' literary work.
science fictionsocial science fictionspeculative fictionsatirefantasydystopian fictiondramamemoir
Not sure where to begin?
Start with one of these
Roadside Picnic
A concise, influential standalone novel that introduces their social and philosophical science fiction.
Monday Begins on Saturday
A lively standalone fantasy novel and the clearest entry to the NIICHAVO works.
Read in order
Books by series
shared universe · complete
Noon Universe
A shared future-history universe created by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky, depicting humanity's expansion through space and its changing ethical and political dilemmas.
- 1 From BeyondAmazon ↗
Book 1 · novella · 1958
- 2 The Land of Crimson CloudsAmazon ↗
Book 2 · novel · 1959
- 3 Six MatchesAmazon ↗
Book 3 · short-story collection · 1960
- 4 The Way to AmaltheaAmazon ↗
Book 4 · novella collection · 1960
- 5
Noon: 22nd CenturyAmazon ↗Book 5 · linked-story collection · 1961
- 6
Space ApprenticeAmazon ↗Book 6 · linked-story collection · 1962
- 7 Escape AttemptAmazon ↗
Book 7 · novella · 1962
- 8
Far RainbowAmazon ↗Book 8 · novella · 1963
- 9 Hard to Be a GodAmazon ↗
Book 9 · novel · 1964
- 10
The Inhabited IslandAmazon ↗Book 10 · novel · 1969
- 11 The KidAmazon ↗
Book 11 · novella · 1971
- 12 The Guy from HellAmazon ↗
Book 12 · novella · 1973
- 13
Beetle in the AnthillAmazon ↗Book 13 · novel · 1979
- 14
The Waves Extinguish the WindAmazon ↗Book 14 · novel · 1985
trilogy · complete
Maxim Kammerer Sequence
The Noon Universe sequence following Maxim Kammerer and the institutional and ethical crises he encounters across three stages of his career.
duology · complete
NIICHAVO
The comic-fantasy works set around the Scientific Research Institute for Sorcery and Witchcraft.
Outside the series
Bibliography by category
Novels (14)
-
The Final Circle of ParadiseAmazon ↗novel · 1965
- The Second Invasion of MarsAmazon ↗
novella · 1967
-
The Snail on the SlopeAmazon ↗novel · 1972
- The Dead Mountaineer's HotelAmazon ↗
novella · 1970
- Roadside PicnicAmazon ↗
novel · 1972
-
The Ugly SwansAmazon ↗novel · 1972
-
One Billion Years to the End of the WorldAmazon ↗novel · 1976
- A Tale of Friendship and EnmityAmazon ↗
novella · 1980
- Lame FateAmazon ↗
novel · 1986
- The Burdened by Evil, or Forty Years LaterAmazon ↗
novel · 1988
-
The Doomed CityAmazon ↗novel · 1989
- DisquietAmazon ↗
novel variant · 1990
- Search for Designation, or The Twenty-Seventh Theorem of EthicsAmazon ↗
novel · 1995
- The Powerless Ones of This WorldAmazon ↗
novel · 2003
Nonfiction (1)
- Comments on the PastAmazon ↗
memoir · 1998
Plays (4)
Other (1)
- The Ninth Planet of TayaAmazon ↗
graphic work · 1964