Author Archives: Rachel Cordasco

Hungarian SFT: Austin Wagner on Three Hungarian SFF Authors

Hungarian Speculative Fiction: The Three Pillars by Austin Wagner When it comes to writing about Hungarian speculative fiction for an English-speaking audience, an enormous problem rears its ugly head before the first sentence can even be typed out – namely that very little speculative fiction written in the last fifty years has been translated from

Read More

Hungarian SFT: Novels (Part I)

The Nightmare (1916) by Mihály Babits, translated by Eva Racz (Corvina Books, 1966). “A Nightmare, the English title of what the original translates as The Stork-Caliph in reference to an 1826 German fairy tale in imitation of Arabian Nights-style fables, is a story of psychological fantasy (… it belongs rather to the Decadent tradition of spiritual alienation

Read More

Hungarian SFT: Novels (Part II)

The Sinistra Zone (1992) by Ádám Bodor, translated by Paul Olchváry (New Directions, 2013) “Entering a weird, remote hamlet, Andrei calls himself “a simple wayfarer,” but he is in fact highly compromised: he has no identity papers. Taken under the wing of the military zone’s commander, Andrei is first assigned to guard the blueberries that

Read More

Hungarian SFT: Collections

Tales from Jókai by Mor Jókai, translated by R. Nisbet Bain (Jarrold & Sons, 1904) Mixed collection of nine stories plus a biography of Jokai by Bain. Includes the novella “City of the Beast” (1856), a gaudy and highly dramatic account of the end of Atlantis; and three graphic contes cruels: “The Justice of Soliman”

Read More

Out This Month: October

“The Face of God: A Documentary” by Damián Neri, translated from the Spanish by the author (Clarkesworld, October 1) The Third Realm by Karl Ove Knausgaard, translated from the Norwegian by Martin Aitken (Penguin Press, October 1) Shapeshifting visitors, unsolved murders in the forest, black metal bands and an online bank of thousands of people’s

Read More

Review: Metropole by Ferenc Karinthy

translated by George Szirtes original publication (in Hungarian): 1970 this edition (in English): Telegram, 2010 236 pages grab a copy here or through your local independent bookstore or library Ferenc Karinthy’s Metropole will make you a nervous wreck—that is, if the thought of being trapped in a strange city and unable to communicate with anyone

Read More

Out This Month: September

“The Children I Gave You, Oxalaia” by Cirilo Lemos, translated by Thamirys Gênova (Clarkesworld, September 1) The Night Guest by Hildur Knútsdóttir; translated from the Icelandic by Mary Robinette Kowal (Tor Nightfire, September 3) The Night Guest is an eerie and ensnaring story set in contemporary Reykjavík that’s sure to keep you awake at night.

Read More

The SFT of Rio Johan

I’ve recently read two excellent, hilarious stories by Indonesian author Rio Johan (listed below). They are part of a larger collection, not yet translated into English, called Genetically Modified Fruit, about a bio-engineering corporation that produces exotic fruits…with some very peculiar consequences (like world-dominating cherries!!). Hopefully, someone will translate and publish this entire collection, if

Read More

css.php