I see now why this book inspired so much other art! From the classic Tarkovsky movie Stalker, to the STALKER video game franchise, to Metro 2033 – the Strugatsky brothers have left an awfully big legacy with this one.
Here’s the setup (no spoilers, but inside tags just in case you want a blank slate):
>!Red Schuhart is a stalker, one of the young rebels who venture illegally into the Zone to collect mysterious artifacts left behind by aliens after their visit. But when he and his friend Kirill go in together to pick up a “full empty,” something goes wrong. Despite the danger, Red keeps getting pulled back to the Zone, again and again, until he finds the answers he’s looking for, or his luck runs out.!<
The book is a masterpiece of world-building and suspense. The Zone itself is a character, a constantly shifting landscape that both repels and compels those who enter. I won’t say too much more about it, and the specifics of the danger lurking there, or the power of the artifacts inside, because seeing it alongside Red, piecing together its secrets through his experiences, is a hugely fun part of the book.
Red is a complex and fascinating protagonist, a man hardened by his experiences but not without compassion. He’s tough, cynical, and incredibly competent, but also has a huge soft spot when it comes to his family and the people he knows. Absolutely one of the best, most fun, and complex characters I’ve come across in all of sci-fi, and he’s what makes this book so special. My only complaint about the book is that it’s four parts long, and in one of the parts, Red is mostly offscreen – we could have had a few more pages with Red Schuhart!
PS: Part of an ongoing series of posts about the best sci-fi books of all time for the Hugonauts. If you’re interested in a deeper discussion about Roadside Picnic, plus similar book recommendations, search ‘Hugonauts scifi’ on any podcast app or YouTube. Keep reading y’all!
by brent_323