S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Southern Comfort

"S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Southern Comfort"

© 2011 John Mason. All rights reserved.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. logo and all names, characters and locations related to the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series of video games: © 2011 GSC Game World and used by courtesy of GSC Game World. All Rights Reserved.

No similarity between any of the names, characters, persons and/or institutions in this publication and those of any pre-existing person or institution is intended and any similarity which may exist is purely coincidental. No portion of this publication may be reproduced, by any means, without the express written permission of the copyright holder(s).

THIS BOOK IS NOT AN OFFICIAL PRODUCT OF GSC GAME WORLD. GSC GAME WORLD DID NOT TAKE PART IN THE PRODUCTION OF THIS BOOK.

The views and opinions expressed in this publication are the views of the author only and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of GSC Game World and/or individuals affiliated or connected with GSC Game World.

Author: John Mason

Edited by Karl Relf

Cover art by Ákos Kozári, Lisa Magyari and Balázs Pataki (physical version) and Noah Stacey (e-book version). All rights reserved.

This 2
^nd
edition: November 2011

http://www.stalkersoutherncomfort.com

http://www.facebook.com/pages/STALKER-Southern-Comfort/153859008012529

ISBN-13: 978-1466220720

ISBN-10: 1466220724

Southern Comfort

John Mason

“People are mistaken in their belief that they understand the essence of what the Zone truly is. Some consider it a universal evil, others - a wonder sent down to humanity, and others still consider it no more than a source of riches....They are all wrong. The Zone is impossible to understand when viewed through the prism of human perception; moreover it is far too early for humans to even try.”

Professor E.F. Kalancha

Acknowledgements

A few words are needed to thank the people that have helped make this book possible. First, thanks to Oleg Yavorsky and GSC Game World for permission to use certain characters and settings from their
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.
game series, as well as to Joe Mullin, their social media manager, for his kind support.

Many video games may be inspirational but few of them offer a novelization writer a better chance to add human depth to the story than
S.T.A.L.K.E.R
. does. Which is no wonder, since the literary and visual inspiration for the GSC development team was provided by the epic works of Boris and Arkady Strugatsky and Andrei Tarkovsky - this project would never have been dreamt of without such vision, on all their parts.

No reason to deny that “Southern Comfort” also drew inspiration from films like “We Were Soldiers”, “9
^th
Company”, “Black Hawk Down” and especially “Apocalypse Now”. This book attempts, by its modest means, to pay tribute to those masterpieces.

Thanks also to the people who have helped with the production and promotion of this book: Noah Stacey, Ákos Kozári and Lisa Magyari for the artwork; Chris Howell, Adam Czarnecki and Okan Erdogan for the music; Karl Relf who proofread the manuscript. Last not least, my thanks to Alexandra
Morevna
, Erica Coluccio and Scott Sheridan for their inspiring suggestions.

My special thanks go to Cpt. Károly Kálmán (Hungarian Special Forces, retired) for sharing some of his experiences earned in blood during his tours of duty in
Afghanistan
.

I’d also like to thank the members of GSC’s online community for their interest in the book and the favorable reception. Lots of your suggestions were adopted in this second edition, and here’s a big thank you for
Mary Beth
Klimkosz
and Chris Schultz for correcting the errors which had slipped my attention before.

Finally, thanks to you, dear reader, for your interest and support. It only remains for me to say - “
Good hunting, Stalker”,
and enjoy the book.