View source for Escape Attempt

{{Short description|1962 novel by Arkadi and Boris Strugatsky}}
{{Infobox book  | <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject_Novels or Wikipedia:WikiProject_Books -->
| name           = Escape Attempt
| title_orig     = Попытка к бегству
| translator     = Roger DeGaris
| image          = File:Popytka k begstvu.jpg
| image_size = 
| caption  = First edition (Russian)
| author         = [[Arkady and Boris Strugatsky]]
| illustrator    = 
| cover_artist   = 
| country        = [[Soviet Union]]
| language       = [[Russian language|Russian]]
| series         = [[Noon Universe]]
| genre          = [[Science fiction]]  
| publisher      = [[Macmillan Publishers]]
| release_date   = [[1962 in literature|1962]]
| english_release_date = [[1982 in literature|1982]]
| media_type     = Print ([[Hardcover]])
| pages          = 
| isbn = 0-02-615250-9
| isbn_note = (Hardcover edition)
| dewey= 891.73/44 19
| congress= PG3476.S78835 A23 1982
| oclc= 8170725
| preceded_by    = [[Noon: 22nd Century]] 
| followed_by    = [[Far Rainbow]]
}}
'''''Escape Attempt''''' ({{langx|ru|Попытка к бегству|translit=''Popytka k begstvu''}}) is a 1962 [[science fiction]] novel by Soviet writers [[Boris and Arkady Strugatsky]], set in the [[Noon Universe]]. The English translation was published in a single volume with the other Noon universe stories ''[[Space Mowgli]]'' and ''[[The Kid from Hell]]''.

== Plot summary ==

The novel tells a story of two young men from Earth, ''Anton'' and ''Vadim'', who decide to go for a trip to [[Minor Planets of Noon Universe#Pandora|Pandora]], but are persuaded rather to travel to an uncharted planet by a mysterious man whom they know Saul Repnin. Their choice is an unnamed planet in EN-7031 system, because that's where [[Leonid Gorbovsky|Gorbovsky]] and [[Minor personalities of the Noon Universe#Bader, August-Iogann-Maria|Bader]] predicted that [[Wanderers (Noon Universe)|Wanderers]]' traces could be found.

After landing successfully on the planet (which they named [[Saula (fictional planet)|Saula]] after Repnin), the explorers soon discover a local human civilization, as well as the predicted Wanderers' traces. The latter appear as a phenomenon later called "[[Saula (fictional planet)#Everlasting machines|everlasting machines]]" and largely influence the entire local population. Despite the fact that it is strictly forbidden for them to initiate a contact with any human or alien civilization without an authorization from [[COMCON]], they try to do just this - and fail, having misinterpreted the situation. What Anton and Vadim (who lived in [[Anarcho-communism]]) see as catastrophic is just a routine life in an early [[feudalistic]] society of Saula.

Saul Repnin, who, as it was later uncovered, was from 20th-century Earth (a [[Prisoner of war|prisoner]] in a [[Nazism|Nazi]] [[concentration camp]], but originally in drafts he was a [[Political repression in the Soviet Union|Soviet political prisoner]]) but shifted into the future (s.c. ''time guest''), is so shocked to see a local civilization (even though it is not the Earth's one) commit just the same cruelties he saw in his time, that it causes a severe psychological crisis in him. Anton and Vadim decide that it's the best to leave the planet immediately. On arriving back to Earth, they discover that Saul has disappeared, leaving a short note, which partly explains who he was and that he wants to go back to continue his fight against the Nazis (he is armed with a guard's machine-gun).

Saul Repnin was killed in a firefight soon after he returned to his time.

== Sources ==
*S.L.N. The Prisoner of Zhamanak (Book). Library Journal. 1982;107(10):1013. Accessed May 29, 2025. https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=7583010&lang=ru&site=eds-live&scope=site
* Strugatsky, Arkady and Boris. ''Escape Attempt (Best of Soviet Science Fiction)'' translated by Roger DeGaris. New York: Macmillan Pub Co, May 14, 1982, 321 pp.&nbsp;{{ISBN|0-02-615250-9}}. LCCN: 82000029.

{{Noon Universe}}

[[Category:1962 science fiction novels]]
[[Category:1962 in the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Noon Universe novels]]

{{1960s-novel-stub}}