Noon Universe
The Noon Universe (Russian term: "Мир Полудня" or "Мир Полдня" – "World of Noon"; also known as the “Wanderers’ Universe”) is a fictional future setting for a number of hard science fiction novels written by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky. The universe is named after "", chronologically the first novel from the series. According to Arkady Strugatsky, at first, the brothers did not make a conscious effort to create a fictional universe. Rather, they reused characters and settings from prior works whenever they found it convenient. It wasn't until later that they began drawing on common themes and plot threads  from various novels to create newer works. Description. The victory of communism and the advance of technological progress on the Earth of the Noon Universe has resulted in an over-abundance of resources and eliminated the need for most types of manual labor. Mankind is capable of near-instantaneous interstellar travel. Earth's social organization is presumably communist, and can be described as a highly technologically advanced anarchistic meritocracy. There is no state structure, no institutionalized coercion (no police etc.), yet functioning of the society is safeguarded by raising everyone as responsible individuals, with the guidance of a set of  High Councils accepted by everyone in each particular field of activity. One of the controversial occupations is that of the progressors - agents embedded in less-advanced humanoid civilizations in order to accelerate their development or to resolve their problems. Progressors' methods range from rescuing local scientists and artists to overthrowing local governments. The main governing body is the World Council, composed of the brightest scientists, historians, doctors and teachers. Local matters are handled by the regional versions of the council. Planetary councils are present on each Earth colony (e.g. Rainbow), as well, although "colony" in this context refers to a  planet that wasn't home to any sentient life before the arrival of Terran settlers. In the Noon Universe, Earth has never attempted to seize permanent control over any other civilization. The universe is populated by a number of sentient races. Some of them are humanoid, while others are so alien that humanity didn't realize that they were sentient for decades. Several sentient races maintain diplomatic relations with Earth's society. Many planets in the Noon Universe are inhabited by races identical to humans in all but minor genetic differences. It has been speculated that they were humans who  wound up on other worlds due to the manipulations of the Wanderers (as "Beetle in the Anthill" shows, that is hardly unprecedented). The Wanderers are the most mysterious race in the Noon Universe. Technologically advanced and highly secretive, the Wanderers are suspected of manipulating sentient beings throughout Noon Universe for their own purposes. While those purposes remain unclear, it is hinted that they try to "progress" various sentient beings, including the human race. Works. These works by the Strugatsky brothers are set in the Noon Universe (listed chronologically): There are loose connections to early stories "The Land of Crimson Clouds  ("Страна багровых туч")", "The Way to Amalthea ("Путь на Амальтею")", "Space Apprentice ("Стажеры")", "The Final Circle of Paradise" (through "Ivan Zhilin"), "Ispytanie SKIBR", "Chastnye predpolozheniya", mainly through "Bykov"'s family. In the early 1990s the Strugatsky brothers began writing what they intended to be a final Noon Universe novel. It would have tied up some of the plot threads that were left unresolved in previous novels. However, following the death of Arkady Strugatsky, the surviving brother, Boris, felt that he could not bring himself to finish the novel. The book should have been named "White Ferz" (). "Ferz" or "Vizier" is  the Russian term for a Queen in chess. The Strugatsky brothers planned the book as a direct sequel of "Prisoners of Power" following the story of infiltration of the progressor Maxim Kammerer into the elite of the Island Empire. In the late 1990s, a collection of fiction by notable Russian scifi writers, titled "The Time of the Apprentices", was published in Russia (with an endorsement of Boris Strugatsky). The pieces in the collection build upon Strugatskys' ideas and works, and many of them are set in the Noon Universe. The same period saw the re-release of all Noon Universe  novels as part of the "Worlds of Strugatsky Brothers" series. This re-release is notable for introductory articles written by literary critics from the perspective of Noon Universe historians looking back on the events of the said novels several decades later. Races. The following sentient species are depicted: Other possibly sentient species mentioned in the books are "septoids" (see "") whose sentience is not really confirmed, semi-sentient prehistoric molluscs "katapumoridako" (see "The Time Wanderers") and the unidentified sentient creature killed by "Pol Gnedykh" in the Kroox solar system ("Noon: 22nd Century"). Reception, analysis and influence. The setting is a future  utopia that gets gradually deconstructed as the authors become disillusioned with the Soviet Union, moving away from the "technological optimism... depicting a quasi-Marxist perfection" to address the failures of the Soviet society. In writing about the Noon Universe, Strugatsky brothers have been argued to have created their own utopian ideology, or "amateur personal metaphysics", based on the primacy of science, not unlike more modern view of transhumanism. It has been suggested that James Cameron's "Avatar"'s lush jungle planet has been inspired by Noon Universe's planet Pandora. The Noon Universe human civilization has been described as techno -patriarchal, and some of the antagonists as eco-matriarchal.