Roadside Picnic - Boris and Arkady Strugatsky

Roadside Picnic by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky, translated by Olena Bormsahenko / ISBN 9781399617208 / 209-page paperback (first published in 1972) from Orion's SF Masterworks series

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The Strugatsky brothers’ poignant and introspective novel of first contact that inspired the classic film Stalker

Red Schuhart is a stalker, one of those strange misfits who are compelled by some unknown force to venture illegally into the Zone and, in spite of the extreme danger, collect the mysterious artefacts that the alien visitors left scattered around. His life is dominated by the Zone and the thriving black market in the alien products. Even the nature of his daughter has been determined by the Zone. And it is for her that Red makes his last, tragic foray into the hazardous and hostile depths.

Arkady and Boris Strugatsky are the most famous and popular Russian writers of science fiction, and the authors of over 25 novels and novellas. Their books have been widely translated and have been made into a number of films. Arkady Strugatsky died in 1991. Boris Strugatsky died in November 2012.