Sci-Fi Book Review: Roadside Picnic
Michael Maag reviews the best and worst science fiction novels so you know what you should - or shouldn’t - read next.
In a new series, guest writer Michael Maag will be reviewing the best and worst science fiction novels so you know what you should - or shouldn’t - read next. Our hope is that these books and reviews become resources for you to spark creative thought and dive deeper into our six segments.
Roadside Picnic
by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky
What is the book about?
Roadside Picnic occurs after The Visitation, an event in which unseen aliens passed through six sites on Earth without making contact. Our planet, a brief rest stop on their cosmic journey. As ants crawl over the detritus left behind after a picnic, humanity is now grappling with alien trash of which we have no understanding.
Humanity quickly learns that these sites are extraordinarily dangerous, littered with powerful hazardous artifacts and where the laws of physics do not apply. Governments seal these Zones off, but a culture of thieves – dubbed ‘Stalkers’ – sneak into the Zones to acquire and sell the valuable artifacts.
Roadside Picnic centers around the life of one Red Schuhart, an experienced Stalker. Red’s frightening and edgy adventures in the Zone are balanced with deep exploration of humanity and philosophical ideas.
On a scale from one to five, how much did you like this book?
Five out of five stars. This book was fast paced, engaging, mysterious and filled with what it means to be human. The ambiguity of the ending and the implications of the meaning of life in the universe and with each other resonate and reverberate.
Is this book worth reading or can the content be covered in a book review?
This is a quick read and worth every minute. The core concept of the book has proven remarkably flexible, as it has been adapted into a movie, video game series, unproduced TV show, concept album and role-playing game. However, each alternative version strays too far from the source material to give you the full experience from reading the text.
If nothing else, read the review by Ursula K. LeGuin.
“The Strugatsky brothers were not blatant and (never to my knowledge) directly critical of their government’s policies. What they did, which I found most admirable then and still do now, was to write as if they were indifferent to ideology – something many of us writers in Western democracies had a hard time doing. They wrote as free men write.”
-Ursula K. LeGuin
What is the best or worst quote, chapter or item in the book?
One quote to take away from the book is from Red speaking to the Golden Sphere, God or perhaps the reader.
“I’ve never sold my soul to anyone! It’s mine, it’s human!”