In your discussion of this action-driven, yet deeply allegorical novel, you may wish to consider the following questions: 1. How do you evaluate Rumata's acts of insubordination against the policy of non-intervention in Arkanar?

2. How do the Prologue and Epilogue relate to the main story?

3. Is Don Reba evil incarnate or merely a typical product of his historical place and time?

4. In what ways are the social and material conditions on the future Earth better than those on the alien planet or on earth A.D. 2000?

5. In what respects does Baron Pampa stand out from the rank-and-file aristocrats on Arkanar?

6. What developments on the planet link it symbolically to the Nazi and Stalinist regimes?

7. Why can't Earth simply remove the tyrants and their militia and thus foster lasting peace and affluence?

8. What typical elements of science fiction, espionage story and a historical romance feature in the novel...