Момент бури

by Roger Zelazny, Fredric Brown, Clifford D. Simak

Excellent novella by Zelazny shows off his contemplative writing style; this story was nominated for both the Hugo and Nebula awards for its year. A newly settled planet is violent and capricious; Hellcops use surveillance drones to keep an eye on a fragile human habitation.

Genres: Short Stories, Science Fiction

351 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1966

About the author

Roger Joseph Zelazny was an American fantasy and science fiction writer known for his short stories and novels, best known for The Chronicles of Amber. He won the Nebula Award three times (out of 14 nominations) and the Hugo Award six times (also out of 14 nominations), including two Hugos for novels: the serialized novel ...And Call Me Conrad (1965), subsequently published under the title This Immortal (1966), and the novel Lord of Light (1967).

Reviews

[mirba · Rating 5 out of 5]

This short story is just amazing. The story builds and grows in a wonderful rhythm. At times it feels like reading poetry by how well the words are chosen and the phrases are put together. It is so emotionally intense that I feel exhausted after reading it.

[Goran Lowie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Way more philosophical than I was expecting. The final passage is beautiful in its melancholy:

"Years have passed, I suppose. I'm not really counting them anymore. But I think of this thing often: Perhaps there is a Golden Age someplace, a Renaissance for me sometime, a special time somewhere, somewhere but a ticket, a visa, a diary-page away. I don't know where or when. Who does? Where are all the rains of yesterday?

In the invisible city?

Inside me?

It is cold and quiet outside and the horizon is infinity. There is no sense of movement.

There is no moon, and the stars are very bright, like broken diamonds, all."

[Tony P · Rating 5 out of 5]

This novella, or long short story, shows what Zelazny can do as a writer without the fantastic fireworks of the Amber series. It should be required reading in English Lit. courses for the marvellous descriptive passages, and the restrained, low-key style. The story, set on a far planet, is one of character and human relationship; the storm itself is important, and vividly described — albeit in simple, understated prose — but at the end what I take away is the snapshot of a life. I consider it a long short story, as it has (apart from flashbacks) unity of place, time and character. The mood is reflective, almost elegiac. A beautiful story that I re-read almost once a year.

[Jack Miller · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read in The Very Best of Fantasy & Science Fiction: Sixtieth Anniversary Anthology

Godfrey Justin Holmes, God for short, is a hellcop on a planet he calls Betty. As a hellcop he observes the planet through tiny little eyes that reach every corner of the world. He watches as a storm tears through the populace and unleashes a plethora of murderous, indigenous creatures on the city he has sworn to protect.

The world and the characters were very well written and engaging but the story dragged on for me through the middle, specifically Godfreys interest and interaction with the mayor. I most enjoyed the idea that the story was framed around, and the question of whether or not there is a perfect time and place for every man, a personal renaissance.

[Barbara Lock · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely magnificent form, length, with full character development and wonderful world-building and language! A Sci-Fi novella that explores the worldview of a man who has done so much space travel that he is now far out of synch with both the time and place of his birth, the ultimate outsider, grounded with stunning detail and an engaging plot. This story is hard to find, but it is in the Best from Fantasy and Science Fiction Sixteenth Series, edited by Edward L. Ferman.