I’m not sure when I first heard of Chingiz Aitmatov, but coming from Kyrgyzstan and writing science-fiction, how could I not be seduced? It may be that his death in 2008, which was written about on several blogs I read, was the moment I first heard his name. Nonetheless, this has been on my list for some time, and I was happily surprised to find it on the shelves today – marked ‘rare’ – while aimlessly foraging.