Under the Comet: An Eyewitness Account of the Death and Destruction of the Earth

Russia, 1910. A sinister comet appears in the sky, bringing the planet imminent destruction. The authorities, the press, and scientists are busy with anything but rescue: everywhere there is corruption, scientific disputes have degenerated into shamanism, theatre and music have turned into absurdity, and newspapers manipulate the crowd. When the comet finally strikes Earth, the survivors don’t hurry to unite. They settle old scores, and it becomes clear that even the physical destruction of the world cannot kill human vices.
A sharp social science-fiction novel by the Russian journalist Simоn Bеlsky (1910) — one of the first homegrown anti-utopias, where the true catastrophe lies not in outer space, but in ourselves.