Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger introduces Orwell’s masterpiece in this striking new edition.
Roadside Picnic
Illustrated by Dave McKean
Introduced by Dave McKean
Foreword by Ursula K. Le Guin
Afterword by Boris Strugatsky
Translated by Olena Bormashenko
Featuring the phenomenal work of award-winning illustrator Dave McKean, this Folio edition of Roadside Picnic is a design-led celebration of the Strugatsky Brothers’ sci-fi masterpiece, which also includes a fascinating new introduction by the artist.
£55.00
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‘The best Soviet SF writers, legitimate continuers of a Russian tradition extending from Nikolai Gogol.’
- The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction
Years after the aliens have been and gone, six landing sites, or Zones, around the world still hold the mysterious remnants of the visitation. These include dangerous but valuable artefacts and, despite the unimaginable terror of these toxic wastelands, stalker Redrick Schuhart feels compelled to keep coming back, his life dominated by the illegal trade in alien products. An unsettling and unforgettable world, the Strugatsky Brothers’ mind-bending novel is a hugely influential twist on a ‘first-contact’ story and was the inspiration for the Andrei Tarkovsky film Stalker.
Every aspect of this remarkable edition radiates the shimmering, strangely compelling qualities of the Zones. Seven colour illustrations by award-winning illustrator Dave McKean visualise the Strugatsky Brothers’ masterful storytelling with startling effect, while the binding is blocked in silver and gold foils. Two-colour printing and McKean’s intricately drawn endpapers make this the ultimate collector’s edition for science-fiction aficionados.
An edition limited to 600 hand-numbered copies is also available here.
Bound in blocked and printed textured paper
Set in PT Serif Pro and Filth of Icarus
240 pages printed in dark green ink with integrated illustrations
7 double-page spread colour illustrations, including a double-sided fold-out
Printed endpapers
Digitally printed page edges
Blocked and printed slipcase
10˝ x 6¼˝
‘Intelligence is the ability of a living creature to perform pointless or unnatural acts.’
Illustrating Roadside Picnic was a long-cherished ambition for award-winning illustrator Dave McKean, who first visited the Zones in art school. In this edition, McKean imagines the topography of the Zones in his startling endpapers, printed in green and traced in blocked silver, while the chapter heads draw the reader further into the strange landscape and its enigmatic artefacts. Seven double-page illustrations, including a spectacular double-sided fold-out, bring McKean’s vision of the story into startling focus. Printed two-colour throughout, the ethereal green text is matched with green page edges to enhance the otherworldly qualities of this beguiling edition: the ultimate tribute to the Strugatsky Brothers’ science-fiction classic.
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