A blend of science fiction and social satire: a struggle for resources, adventures on world markets, and a clash between a visionary engineer and cynical billionaires.
Talented but vain engineer Pyotr Garin invents a hyperboloid—an apparatus capable of emitting a heat beam of unprecedented power. After fleeing abroad and securing support from a ruthless American billionaire, Garin tries to use the hyperboloid to achieve absolute power over the world. But a seasoned operative of the criminal investigation division, Shelga, intends to stop him.
Accepted by skeptical contemporaries, “The Hyperboloid of Engineer Garin” easily passed the test of time. The novel has been reissued multiple times and adapted for film twice.