hard to be a fraud

29 May, 2026

In only six days i managed to read Hard to be a God¹ by the Strugatzki Brothers—400 pages, i'm a very slow reader. My plan was, to buy the blu-ray that german label Bildstörung; which was foiled by the blu-ray going out of print and prices raising almost immediately. So i put that on the back burner, and decided to read the book the movie is based on.
In short: it's an almost Star Trek prime directive story with a twist. Earth sends out teams of people to observe human-like civilisations on other planets; and in some cases, interfere with their natural development to advance it. The book follows Anton, who under the guise of nobleman Don Rumata, is observing a medieval society, that is in the process of ending chances for the renaissance. Anton is struggling with his role in the proceedings, he does rescue a few people, sets up bribes and systems to keep others safe, and tries to enlighten the people in his vicinity to no avail; he also enjoys his role as a nobleman with a reputation of being a ladies man, who've never killed an aggrieved duellist.
I came for the sci-fi, i stayed for the drama. A lot of people probably are currently in a similar position; not the part of being a secret agent from another planet tasked with subtly steering history—, rather, feeling like no matter how much they try, they can't change things for the better.
The book gives the reader a feeling for it's setting; this is a society without base hygiene, that is getting rid of the people who are able to read and write—while enabling their policing forces to fix some personal grudges in the process. And then you pull away from the page and find out, there are places on this world, with working plumbing, that is working through the same process…
I also grabbed a copy of Roadside Picnic which i plan on reading next—while having a copy of the movie Stalker² on the shelf.
Wonder how that book will relate to my reality.

+++

Got Kirby a copy of Young Shadow & The Watchdogs by Ben Sears³, and they dug it after i translated the text. I thought the yellow paper it's printed on might be a cause for dismissing it outright; so far, it hasn't even been mentioned. And since the story focuses on a baseball exercise escalating, Kirby's on board by topic alone. Wonder if they really take it to school to show it to their pals. The art style might not be a favourite for everyone, i certainly dig it.

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