Far Rainbow

Far Rainbow (Russian: "Далёкая Радуга", alternate translation: Distant Rainbow) is the third novel by the Strugatsky Brothers to be set in the Noon Universe. It is extremely depressing and was directly inspired by the 1959 film adaptation of the Post Apocalyptic novel On the Beach, which the Stugatskys saw in 1962 and were devastated by.

Rainbow is a lush green planet far away from Earth, which is one big test ground for physicists. Their recent research is about 0-T, a teleportation technique. Besides them, the planet is inhabited by their families, a couple of escapists, and few artists. When one of the experiments backfires, the whole planet is threatened by the deadly Wave...

Tropes found in the novel:

 * Advancing Wall of Doom - the Wave
 * Apocalyptic Log - The protagonists make one, so the tragedy won't be repeated.
 * Children Are Innocent -
 * Cybernetics Eat Your Soul - Camillo.
 * Do Not Go Gentle - People continue to do useful things during the Wave's approach.
 * Face Death With Dignity - ends up doing it in the end. The cake definitely goes to the intended first human 0-T tester team, who swim into the Wave of their own accord while singing.
 * Failsafe Failure - "Charibdas"
 * For Science - Motivates many of the protagonists.
 * Gone Horribly Wrong - The Wave.
 * Ignored Expert - Camillo.
 * Immortal Life Is Cheap - Camillo+.
 * Immortality Hurts - Camillo (both literally and emotionally - )
 * Love Makes You Evil - Robert, who
 * Robert was aware of this but
 * Sadistic Choice
 * Shoot the Shaggy Dog - Robert. Neither his heroics nor his  matter, since everyone is going to die anyway.
 * Teleporters and Transporters - The research is about them.
 * You Shall Not Pass - Done by Robert (and ) with regards to the Wave.
 * What Could Possibly Go Wrong - They know about the Wave, yet the planet has no escape ships ready? Were it not for "Tariel", nobody would survive!
 * A partial excuse is that the 0-T scientists, according to their theory, never expected the Wave to be so strong; their calculations were flawed but they did not bother to check them because they considered the Wave to be only a bothersome side effect.
 * You Are Too Late - The "Strela".
 * You Are Too Late - The "Strela".