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A review by e_l_k
Roadside Picnic by Boris Strugatsky, Arkady Strugatsky

adventurous emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I picked up this book due to my increasing interest in the promise of the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. game series (since the sequel comes out soon), as well as to start myself on some Russian/Soviet science fiction. I was not prepared for just how gripping this little gem of a story would be, how engaging the characters would be with their struggles to find agency and stability between an alien anomaly and the government trying to control it. I strongly recommend reading before investigating the history of its publication, dutifully reflected on by one of the authors at the end of this edition. The story holds up on its own without the background, but I gained a lot of respect for it and its authors after learning of their struggles to publish in an increasingly paranoid Soviet environment. Needless to say, there is a reason this book is now considered a classic. 
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