Roadside Picnic

Name: Roadside Picnic
Author: Arkady Strugatsky

by Arkady Strugatsky

Alien visitors leave mysterious zones of altered physics that transform human culture

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About the author

Arkady Strugatsky

Arkady Strugatsky and his brother Boris wrote together as the Strugatsky Brothers, producing some of the greatest Soviet science fiction of the twentieth century. Roadside Picnic, which inspired Tarkovsky's film Stalker, imagined alien visitation through its strange material aftermath rather than direct contact. Their work combined adventure with deep philosophical and political content.

More by Arkady Strugatsky

Hard to Be a GodObserver on medieval planet must choose between interference and witnessing human cruelty
The Doomed CityUtopian floating city gradually reveals its nightmarish origin and supernatural purpose
Monday Begins on SaturdayMagical scientific research institute where experiments on time and reality have surreal consequences
The Inhabited IslandCastaways on hostile island world develop parallel civilization while seeking rescue