Spectrum (Russian novel)

infobox Book |
name = Spectrum
title_orig = Spectr, Спектр (Russian)
translator =


author = Sergei Lukyanenko (Сергей Лукьяненко)
cover_artist =
country = Russia
language = Russian
series =
genre = Science fiction novel
publisher = AST
release_date = 2002
media_type = Print (Hardback)
pages = 490 pp
isbn = ISBN 5-17-014364-8
preceded_by =
followed_by =

The novel takes place in near-future. Contact with aliens allowed humanity to travel between planets through portals. The Keymaster civilization not only provides new technologies to the world but also makes sure that their conditions are fulfilled to the letter: unrestricted access to the Gates for all who are willing. Payment for their use is an unusual story told to a Keymaster by the traveller. The main character of the novel is a private investigator who solves his clients' problems on other planets.

His main strength is his ability to make up the necessary stories needed to gain passage to alien worlds. This earned him the nickname "the Walker" from those who know of him.

Plot summary

His life changes when a wealthy man walks into his office and asks him to find his missing daughter. After a short investigation, the Walker finds her on Library - a world full of ancient ruins. Before he can bring her back, however, she dies in a freak accident. A clue leads him to another alien planet where he finds her alive and well. Soon he discovers that the same woman exists on several other worlds, each is connected to the other. One by one, they are killed in seemingly random, totally unrelated events. It is to the Walker's great surprise when he finds himself becoming attracted to his client's daughter. It's a race against time, as the Walker desperately tries to save the identical copies of the woman, only to have them die in his arms. Can he save the last one before she perishes and, in the process, uncover a massive conspiracy going back thousands of years with the Keymasters in the middle?

Interesting features

Each of the 7 parts of the novel starts with a word of the Russian phrase which helps to remember the spectrum colors: "Kazhdy Okhotnik Zhalaet Znatj Gde Sidit Fazan" (Every hunter wants to know where a pheasant sits; K - Krasny, red; O - oranzevy, orange; Zh - zholty, yellow; Z - zelyony, green; G - goluboy, light blue; S - siniy, blue; F - fioletovy, purple). Each part includes something on food, cooking and gourmet ideas. Each planet has something of the corresponding color (e.g., the Preria features orange sky and the first human met by the Walker, is a red, even orange-covered kid). In the Orange part, there appears a "cowboy" whose name is not revealed but it's hidden in the parargaph describing him; by reading only capital letters you get the name "Semetskiy" (for several years, Russian and Ukraininan SF writers included a character of this name who had to be killed in this or that way. The real Semetskiy is a well known Russian SF fan, works in book selling business and a good friend of Sergey Lukianenko and many other writers.)