Chekhov's Journey

In present-day Russia, a movie production team uses an experimental technique to hypnotize an actor into thinking he is Anton Chekhov. While he is in a trance, they plan to question him about Chekhov's 1890 trek into Siberia, as background for the film they are making. To everyone's astonishment, the actor, transported into Chekhov's body, relives the author's experiences relating to the possible crash of a comet in the Tunguska region in 1908, the incident somehow relocated to 1888. Meanwhile, he is also tapping into the life of Anton Astrov, captain of a future spaceship which might be responsible for the Tunguska explosion. Watson ( Alien Embassy ) continues his speculations into the nature of reality in this highly readable tale, enhanced by believable characters and authoritative plotting, and remarkable for the realistic detail he brings to each of the timelines. Originally published in the U.K. in 1983, this book's appearance in the U.S. is long overdue. (Nov.)