Prisoners of Power, also known as Inhabited Island (, ), is a science fiction novel written by Soviet authors Arkady and Boris Strugatsky. It was written in 1969 and originally published in the same year in the literary magazine Neva (1969, No. 3, 4, and 5, publication of the Leningrad Division of the Union of Soviet Writers). It appeared in a book form in 1971, with great number of changes as demanded by the state censor; the English translation was released in 1977. The protagonist is a youngster, Maxim Kammerer, who comes from the version of Earth that exists in the Noon Universe and gets stranded on an unknown planet named Saraksh. Plot summary Maxim Kammerer is a young amateur space explorer from Earth, regarded as a failure by his friends and relatives because this occupation is not considered to be a serious pursuit. The novel starts when he accidentally discovers an unexplored planet Saraksh inhabited by a humanoid race. The atmospheric conditions on Saraksh are such that the inhabitants believe that they live inside a sphere. The level of technological development on the planet is similar to mid-20th century Earth. The planet recently came through big nuclear and conventional war and the predicament of the population is dire. When Maxim lands, the natives mistake his small spaceship for a weapon and destroy it. At first he doesn't take his situation seriously, imagining himself a Robinson Crusoe stranded on an island inhabited by primitive but friendly natives. He is looking forward to establishing contact and befriending the population of the planet. However, the reality turns out to be far from glamorous. After being captured by armed natives and initially taken to what appears to be a concentration camp, Kammerer is sent to some governmental research institute which treats him as a mental patient. He escapes and finds himself in the capital of a totalitarian state, perpetually at war with its neighbors. The city is grim and polluted, with police and military omnipresent. He makes friends among the ordinary people that lead the life of privation and misery, while twice daily everyone is overcome by sudden an unexplained bouts of ecstatic enthusiasm, proclaiming their total allegiance and undying gratitude to the country's hidden rulers, known as the Unknown Fathers (in the censored versions Fire-bearing Creators), who are said to have the best interests of the people at heart, serving as bulwark