Far Rainbow

Far Rainbow (Russian: "Далёкая Радуга", alternate translation: Distant Rainbow) is the third novel by the Strugatsky Brothers to be set in the Noon Universe. It is extremely depressing and was directly inspired by the 1959 film adaptation of the Post Apocalyptic novel On the Beach, which the Stugatskys saw in 1962 and were devastated by.

Rainbow is a lush green planet far away from Earth, which is one big test ground for physicists. Their recent research is about 0-T, a teleportation technique. Besides them, the planet is inhabited by their families, a couple of escapists, and few artists. When one of the experiments backfires, the whole planet is threatened by the deadly Wave...

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Tropes found in the novel:

• Advancing Wall of Doom - the Wave
• Apocalypse How - Class 5: all organics on the whole planet are going to die!
• Apocalyptic Log - The protagonists make one, so the tragedy won't be repeated.
• Children Are Innocent - And thus deserve to be saved.
• Cybernetics Eat Your Soul - Camillo.
• Do Not Go Gentle - People continue to do useful things during the Wave's approach.
• Face Death with Dignity - The entire adult population of the planet ends up doing it in the end. The cake definitely goes to the intended first human 0-T tester team, who swim into the Wave of their own accord while singing.
• Failsafe Failure - "Charibdas"
• For Science! - Motivates many of the protagonists.
• Gone Horribly Wrong - The Wave.
• Ignored Expert - Camillo.
• Immortal Life Is Cheap - Camillo+.
• Immortality Hurts - Camillo (both literally and emotionally - "I have risen from the dead thrice today. It hurt a lot every time. [...] Soon, I will raise from the dead for the fourth time, all alone on a dead planet covered by ash and snow.")
• Love Makes You Evil - Robert, who leaves a couple of children behind.
  • Robert was aware of this but he knew that he cannot save all the children anyway, having only a tiny airplane. (Gaba: "But they are children!" Robert: "And those that stay here - they are not children? Who will choose the four of them who will fly to the Capital and to Earth? You will? Go and choose them!")
• Sadistic Choice
• Shoot the Shaggy Dog - Robert. Neither his heroics nor his betrayal of children matter, since everyone is going to die anyway.
• Teleporters and Transporters - The research is about them.
• You Shall Not Pass - Done by Robert (and Patrick) with regards to the Wave.
• What Could Possibly Go Wrong? - They know about the Wave, yet the planet has no escape ships ready? Were it not for "Tariel", nobody would survive!
  • A partial excuse is that the 0-T scientists, according to their theory, never expected the Wave to be so strong; their calculations were flawed but they did not bother to check them because they considered the Wave to be only a bothersome side effect.
• You Are Too Late - The "Strela".