Maxim Kammerer - one of the most beloved heroes of the fans of the Strugatsky

The land of the future, described by the Strugatsky brothers, is pure and prosperous. Mankind has got rid of teenage complexes, on a planet there are no more wars, illnesses and acts of nature. Earthlings won hunger, learned to control the weather and live in harmony with nature, they made a conclusion from the mistakes of previous generations and now know exactly what the planet and society need. Conquering the boundless expanses of the cosmos, perfect people are now ready to come to the aid of other, younger worlds, to rid them of the wrong ways traversed by earthlings.

But can a person take responsibility, changing the course of the history of the development of society, because, as you know, good intentions pave the way to hell? The trilogy about Maxim Kammerer, consisting of the books "Inhabited Island" (where the reader meets a very young hero), "The Beetle in an Ant Hill" (in which Maxim is already an experienced fellow of COMCON-2), and "Waves quench the wind" (filed as diaries And Kammerer's records) raises this and other eternal human questions.

People of the future

Civilization on the planet Earth has reached the highest level. Humanity has learned to fully use the capabilities of its brain and eradicated such atavisms as cruelty, greed and aggression. People are now engaged in science, research, and, trying not to harm, are kind and bright to other civilizations.

Maxim Kammerer is a typical representative of the Earth of the future. He has a kind heart, a sharp mind, excellent health, excellent external and physical data and a complete set of other positive qualities. Maxim was brought up in a happy and loving family, however, like all other earthlings. His father is a nuclear physicist, but the young man always attracted space, so, not being definitively determined to choose a specialty for his 20 years, he joins the group of free space search.

"Inhabited Island"

In one of the expeditions of free search on the spaceship of the young researcher, serious malfunctions are found, as a result of which Maxim Kammerer is forced to make an emergency landing on the planet Saraksh. The young man himself can not make repairs himself, besides, the transmitter is broken, and the remaining members of the expedition do not know the landing coordinates. Maxim will have to solve the problem on his own, but first he must understand how to do this and get acquainted with the planet. From the first steps, the Earthman becomes clear that there is a reasonable life in Saraksh and, apparently, cruel wars have been waged. With their legacy in the form of an abandoned and rusty but combat-capable weapon, he collided in the woods near his spaceship. Further studies by Maxim showed that people live on the planet, and wars do not remain in the past, but continue to tear society and destroy the planet.

Approaching local - Rada and Guy Gaal, Maxim Kammerer is involved in political intrigues of a totalitarian state led by the organization "Unknown Fathers." Deceiving and subordinating their people with the help of special radiators, the country's leadership blames the mutants for all the troubles, the state is torn apart by internal and external military and political conflicts with the Island Empire. The young man does not fit into the local order: his friendliness and a broad smile arouse the suspicion of the authorities, and they begin to watch him closely. Particularly interested in the Earthman is a Wanderer - a very influential member of the government.

Having dealt with the situation, Maxim wants to help the deceived people. He falls into the Resistance and, with the activity characteristic of civilized earthmen, is included in the struggle. In the country, a mutiny begins, and military encounters with the Island Empire develop into a full-fledged war. In the course of these events, Maxim meets Rudolf Sikorski (also Wanderer - conspirator of the Galactic Security Committee). It turns out that on Earth they have long been aware of the problems in Saraksh and are trying to gently guide the course of events for the better without imposing, however, on the people of the planet their methods. Maxim, however, with his desire to help put all the Committee's many years of work under attack, and now the country and the planet are threatened by a world war and chaos.

"The Beetle in an Ant Hill"

He has many years of experience behind the shoulders, he is a mature man of 40 plus years, is an employee of the Contact Committee (COMCON-2). His duties include not only contact with representatives of extraterrestrial civilizations, but also the identification of a possible threat to humanity, coming from them. Learned on his own mistakes, Maxim Kammerer now listens to his teacher and leader Rudolf Sikorski. Earthlings did not leave Saraksh, and the people of the planet are still helped by progressors. To find one of them, Lev Abalkin, is the task assigned to Kammerer.

It is known that Abalkin was working undercover in the counterintelligence of the Island Empire, but after the death of his friend Tristan got a nervous breakdown and, having betrayed himself, was forced to flee. He left Saraksh without a proper order, so he hides on Earth. In the process of searching Maxim reveals the true reasons for the alarm about the disappearance of Abalkin. It turns out that he belongs to a group of people, the so-called foundlings, grown from embryos found in a sarcophagus on a remote planet in 2137.

COMCON-2 is suspicious of these people, because the Wanderers are clearly involved in the history of their origin (a highly developed civilization that supposedly worked on progress on many planets). Despite the humaneness of human society, which grew out of the found embryos of full-fledged earthlings with all the rights, the contact committee nevertheless closely followed them, believing that these people can carry a hidden threat to humanity. There is a theory of how exactly the foundlings can harm the earthlings. The flight of Abalkin and the attempt to escape is regarded by Sikorski as a confirmation of this theory.

Rudolph considers it impossible to be soft, he is a supporter of tough measures and intends to eliminate the possible danger by any means. Maxim does not approve of this, especially since the threat from the foundling is not proven, he is trying to protect Abalkin. But all efforts are in vain, the Lion, having learned about his origins, wants to get to the bottom of the truth, and Sikorski, perceiving this as a direct threat, kills him. So Maxim thinks about the advisability of progression and COMCON with his secret power, and the committee's practice includes the notion of "Sikorski syndrome" (fear of Progressors from the Wanderers).

"Waves quench the wind"

Many years later. Maxim is already at the venerable 89-year-old age. About his life and work for almost half a century tells a diary that Kammerer has been leading all this time. After the events related to Sikorski, Maxim seriously thought about the activities of the Wanderers on Earth and the consequences they could lead to. After all, scientists have discovered in some people hidden supernormal powers and superintelligence, which earthlings do not possess. After activating, their person turns into a luden, almost a new kind. There are more such people, they do not have human emotions and can not live in a society of people. This threatens humanity, and Maxim is busy exposing the secret organization of the people on Earth. In the end, he achieves success with like-minded people. After the publication of the facts of interference in the development of humanity, people leave the Earth.

History of character creation

The World of Noon, created by the authors in 1962, showed the allure of a bright future that was promised to the Soviet people. The heroes of this world are bright and highly moral people, humanists, intellectuals, scientists and conquerors of the cosmos. They are busy improving themselves and the planet, so they are trying to help other civilizations to reach the same level. Having played on the contrast between the Earth of the XXII century and Saraksh, Arkady and Boris Strugatsky clearly demonstrated the futility of the totalitarian regime. They also raised the eternal theme of the creation of organizations that, for the good of mankind, decide how to live, and thereby lead them to perish.

Therefore, the trilogy of the adventures of Maxim Kammerer was focused on censorship. The original name of the protagonist was Rostislavsky, but to avoid association with events that occurred during the repressions in the Soviet Union, the censorship demanded to replace it with German. Later Arkady and Boris Strugatsky had the opportunity to return the first name to the hero, but after thinking, they abandoned this idea. Speaking about the adaptation of the book "Inhabited Island", Boris Strugatsky noted that the picture was a success, and the performer of the main role - Vasily Stepanov - corresponds to the image of Maxim Kammerer.