I am a big fan of the Brothers Strugatsky, and was happy to run across this collection of two relatively obscure short novels at the used books store. Their writing is always intelligent, often funny, and laced with a wonderful appreciation for the absurd. They often seem to draw tension from their protagonist's struggle against an inexorable fate (that is certainly the case, in very different ways, for the two stories included here).

I loved Far Rainbow, a short novel about the tragic fate of a group of scientists whose experiments unleash destruction on their colony planet. The characters were beautifully drawn, and their largely futile struggles to decide who and what should be saved rang true. This is beautiful storytelling that packs an emotional wallop.

In The Second Invasion from Mars our neighbors have learned a few lessons since the ill fated efforts that were so famously chronicled by H.G. Wells. A little study of human nature is all that is needed to plan a relatively bloodless take-over of Earth, with mankind rather passively embracing his newfound place in the solar system. This is cutting satire, at times funny, but more effective than enjoyable. The characters are largely one dimensional. ( )