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

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

A thrilling and gratifying read. For me the idea of an alien visitation as a “roadside picnic” was really interesting and novel. I think that most often aliens are depicted as having a kind of intelligence that is very similar to us, but this is isn’t necessarily a fair assumption to make. (How do we define intelligence? Well, humans are intelligent, so whatever it is that makes us distinct from other animals. This logic seems a little circular to me.)

While I wouldn’t say this is a character-driven narrative, Red’s relationship with his family is  touching, and there is some evolution in his character.

Roadside Picnic is definitely of it’s time, but still inspired and well worth reading.
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