Sales of books by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky rose after the September premiere of the TV adaptation of “Hard to Be a God,” according to streaming service Wink and bookstore chain Chitai-Gorod.
The companies said sales of the brothers’ print books from Sept. 3 to Oct. 3 were 76% higher than in the same period a year earlier. Sales of “Hard to Be a God,” the novel behind the series, quadrupled.
The series premiered on Sept. 3. Wink described it as the first multi-episode adaptation of the novella. Serbian actor Aleksandar Radojicic played Don Rumata Estorsky. Sergey Bezrukov, Fyodor Bondarchuk and Fyodor Lavrov also appeared in the production.
The best-selling Strugatsky print books from January through September 2026 included “Roadside Picnic,” “Hard to Be a God,” “Monday Begins on Saturday” and “One Billion Years Before the End of the World.”
Wink and Chitai-Gorod also reported that sales rose 35% after the premiere compared with Aug. 16 to Sept. 2. That figure compares sales before and after the series’ release.