This collection introduces a brilliant new talent to American science fiction readers. Meet Victor Kolupaev, one of the blazing young stars of Soviet sf. Hermit’s Swing features tales of a forbidding future, glimpses of a fantastic technology, and visions of a breathtaking cosmic logic. Most of all, here are stories of human triumph over incredible adversity, whether spawned by man or machine: • Interstellar explorers in an alien world are terrorized by a menace beyond the laws of space and time. • One man’s unusual, life-sustaining hobby challenges our ordinary dimensions of reality—he collects smiles. • Through the paranormal powers of his will, a man thinks entire industries into full production, only to fall victim to a greedy, stultifying bureaucracy. • A prisoner of luxury, tucked away in a secluded mountain resort, whiles away his time monitoring the oceans, forests, and cities of the Earth on 3-D TV, all memories of his past mysteriously obliterated. • A little girl embarks on a fabulous quest of body and mind. • A young woman in a glass newsstand sells tomorrow’s newspapers, jolting the life of a famous explorer—and an entire city. • An alien’s-eye view unmasks the strange ways of a planet that is savage and exotic—yet oddly familiar. In recent years, Soviet writers have added their own fascinating brand of genius to sf literature. Here is a stunning sampling from one of the most original practitioners of the art, Victor Kolupaev.