This is a beautiful and ENDLESSLY GOOD fantasy. Science fiction, in its purity and sincerity, can be compared, perhaps, for the Russian reader only with the early works of the Strugatsky brothers and Kir Bulychev. These are novels in which incredible and fascinating space adventures become the frame for serious humanistic thought. A man in space is capable of performing miracles of courage and heroism - however, according to Karsak, he remains a man only to the extent that he is able not only to fight and win, but to trust and love...