Definitely Maybe (novel)

An astrophysicist, Dmitry Aleskeevich Malyanov, is working on his thesis on stellar interaction in his apartment, when strange events start happening. An attractive woman apparently sent by his wife arrives, people who have never been interested in astrophysics start probing him about his work, and he's visited by unpleasantly manic government security forces. What do all of these events mean?

Definitely Maybe (За миллиард лет до конца света, literally translated A Billion Years Before the End of the World) is a short 1974 novel by the Strugatsky Brothers about the nature of scientific progress.

Definitely Maybe contains examples of:

 * Ancient Conspiracy: The Order of Nine
 * The Casanova: Zakhar
 * Creepy Child
 * Random Events Plot
 * Running Gag: The joke about two roosters.
 * Unwanted Harem: Zakhar Gubar is more or less gang-raped by his mind-controlled exes.