EUtopias and Other Futures: A European Journal of Science Fiction

We are happy to present the following interview with Dutch author Bo Balder, whose short story “A House of Her Own” (published in Escape Pod in 2017, originally published in Fantasy & Science Fiction in September 2015) we recently praised here in EUtopias and Other Futures . Bo lives and works in Utrecht, the Netherlands -- see her own intro here. She talked to us about some of the challenges of publishing in English, fellow European authors to recommend, and the themes in the story mentioned above. ** Join the European Science Fiction group on Facebook for related discussions. ** ◄► Q: As far as I'm aware, you are not only the first but the only Dutch author to have been published in Clarkesworld. I found this surprising, in a way. Which small European country, if not the Netherlands, would have an internationally visible sf scene...? Is this primarily indication of the difficulty of the obstacle course leading to publishing in English? A: That...

The cover of "The Mysterious Goat Buck" by Dezső Kemény By Péter MARTON ** Join the European Science Fiction group on Facebook for related discussions. ** Socialist Realist it ain't, but there's plenty of socialist reality in it. A key charm of the book. Like other readers before me, I couldn't resist this, either. "The Mysterious Goat Buck" is a collection of SF detective stories (a sub-genre in its own right). Unless exceptionally well-written, such stories can always feel a little mechanical, with a Big Revelation coming up at some point, towards the end, showing you that you were wrong all along. When combined with SF, the Big Revelation has also, by rule, to be connected to a Fantastic New Concept (FNCs, or "fancies" from hereon). The culprit behind the crime being investigated is one step ahead of everyone, with the exception of the smart detective, and is the master of a concept never before seen implemented. An innovat...

More on this book later – the last page held real treasure... By Péter MARTON ** Join the European Science Fiction group on Facebook for related discussions. ** I delved into Socialist-era Hungarian SF of late for some real adventure, and I'll have more to report to you about the experience in the coming days. For now... I will just share here what I found on the last page of the book above ( A titokzatos kecskebak or The Mysterious Goat Buck by Dezső Kemény, Budapest, Hungary: Móra Ferenc Könyvkiadó, 1970). It is an advertisement of the services of the State Insurance Company (Állami Biztosító). Whoever wrote the text was trying real hard to feel out the pulse of science fiction and combine it with the zeitgeist to achieve maximum promotion effect. You'll find the translation of the text below (and then I also add the original for proper documentation). Can you resist this? Don't even try. It may cause nervousness and feeling ill at ease. ...

We are here today to count the number of women on this book cover and beyond... By Péter MARTON ** Join the European Science Fiction group on Facebook for related discussions. ** One of the strenghts of the allegory in Glukhovsky's Metro 2033 is exactly what very probably would have been an obstacle to publishing this book in the US first. Because what all US editors encourage writers to include in their stories by default these days is... strong female characters (with some good reasons, at that). The number of strong female characters in Metro 2033 = 0 (zero). The reason is not chauvinism. To the contrary: through the absence of women, regardless of whether this is intentional or intuitive, the story demonstrates the importance of not standing in the way of women taking leading roles in the running of the world. In the subterranean universe, where man is often wolf to man, the sun doesn't shine, for it has no alternative. (See what I did there? H/t simul...

 Map of the Kremlin. Source (author: "Ludvig14") By Péter MARTON ** Join the European Science Fiction group on Facebook for related discussions. ** This is a very brief post, but with what may qualify as spoilers. The aim is to discuss one of the key metaphors in Glukhovsky's book. One that's not particularly sophisticated, but is very effective, and yet... goes unrecognised by many readers for what it is (especially by those enjoying the book on the superficial level of just following Artyom running around in the dark in his quest to make sense of his... quest). We learn about the Kremlin two important things in Metro 2033 :  Above the ground, the stars on top of the towers attract people who can't resist looking at them. In fact, this is no mere attraction: they are lured there. They keep staring and, imperceptibly to themselves, their feet deliver them to the being or thing that resides inside. If you're reminded of the Eye of Sauron, I gu...

By Péter MARTON ** Join the European Science Fiction group on Facebook for related discussions. ** This will be the first today in a series of brief posts about things that make Dmitry Glukhovsky's 2005 novel Metro 2033 very interesting, and a must-have in the collection of all true fans of speculative fiction. (Yes, the matchbox label art is also there. Scroll down first if you wish, and then come back to read this.) The first reason I will name is the location. (To point out the obvious.) It's the Moscow Metro in the post-(nuclear)-apocalypse. A location that we, readers, along with chief protagonist Artyom and the rest of the survivors, are closed into. The plot traverses only around 25 stations - the full network consists today, as of 2018, of up to 14 lines and 245 stations over up to 419 kms ("up to," i.e. depending on how you count; note that the network has expanded since the writing of the book). In this dark new world, some of the stations a...