Curtis’s Reviews > Roadside Picnic > Status Update
Curtis
is finished
Mixed. Great ending, immersive, tense, anguishing, potent. Themes could be better developed. Amateur prose issues; too much telling, odd/clunky phrasing. Feels American pulp. But so many interesting concepts, no wonder its adaptations in film/games were so loose, like fanfics set in the world. Chapters almost feel like self-contained stories. At times so creepy but needed to linger more. Solid with major weaknesses.
— Sep 05, 2025 03:01PM
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Curtis’s Previous Updates
Curtis
is on page 157 of 209
Ch. 3: serious dip; cuts to side character. Lots of telling instead of showing--affects of Zone that would've been thrill to discover are told in expo-dumps instead. Though cosmic horror atmosphere still there, & parallels to travel restrictions within/outside USSR, Soviet isolation etc, story could be better told. Philosophy monologues bit too much though expected with old sci-fi. Hope it picks back up. Mixed feels.
— Sep 05, 2025 08:51AM
Curtis
is on page 105 of 209
Big shift--1st person, present-tense gone. 5 year time skip. Story turns into heist/underworld plot instead of the mysterious exploration plot of previous chapter. First showing example of stalking in Zone, now showing the broader consequences of that life. Hints at something even bigger. Suspenseful, bizarre. Odd choice that Redrick doesn't name his daugther despite loving her, & her talking/thinking normally.
— Sep 02, 2025 08:34AM
Curtis
is on page 57 of 209
Prose surprisingly personal--cynical 1st person, sarcastic; not the dry sci-fi writing I expected! Slowly unfolding sense of dread and suspense that plays off of 'soft fantasy/weird fiction' tropes w/ sci-fi framing. Underlying religious motif regarding the Zone making it like a cursed afterlife/fairy world; might allude to insular USSR. Plays on man-vs-self too w/ alcoholism prominent. Feels very fresh, mysterious.
— Sep 01, 2025 01:54PM
