Updates: Recent Science Fiction Purchases No. CCCLI (Arkady and Boris Strugatsky, Philip K. Dick, Howard L. Cory, Ward Moore and Avram Davidson, and Muriel Jaeger)

Which books/covers/authors intrigue you? Which have you read? Disliked? Enjoyed? 1. Arkady and Boris Strugatsky’s Roadside Picnic (1972, trans. Olena Bormashenko, 2012) Dominic Harman’s cover for the 2012 edition From the back cover: “Red Schuhart is a stalker, one of those misfits who are compelled, in spite of the extreme danger, to venture illegally into the Zone to collect the mysterious artefacts that the alien visitors left scattered around. His life is dominated by the place and the thriving black market in the the alien products. Even the nature of his mutant daughter has been determined by the Zone. And it is for her that he makes his last, tragic foray into the hazardous and hostile territory.” Initial Thoughts: One of those obvious holes in my SF knowledge… I certainly have read about the writing pair but I’ve only read a story here and there–for example “Wanderers and Travellers” (1963, trans. 1966)–and one novel that I never managed to review. My father has been pushing…