Fantastic Metropolis

Science fiction literature has a long tradition in Hungary spanning several decades. During the socialist regime, the government tolerated only science fiction from the “rebel” literature; the short stories and novels published by the editors of Galaktika magazine generally got green light from the governmental censors. Till the end of 80s, the editor of Galaktika and Kosmos Fantastic Books, Peter Kuczka was the only science fiction publisher.

After the transformations in 1989 and the coming of democracy, new publishers appeared in the Hungarian SF market. The younger readers got fantasy books and role-playing games, which were novelties in Hungary at the beginning of the 90s. The careful collecting and quality typical of past decades disappeared, as many inferior books were printed by new publishers. Circulation decreased from 30,000-50,000 copies to 3,000-5,000 copies in five years.

The publication of Galaktika came to an end in 1995 and no stable SF magazine has appeared in Hungary in the last seven or eight years. Twenty to thirty science fiction and fifty to seventy fantasy titles and RPG books are published every year, mostly written by slightly talented Hungarian authors.

Publishers don’t have enough courage to translate and print books from the talented authors of the 80s and 90s, since it’s a high-risk investment. Thus, publishers print books from known foreign or Hungarian authors, or series of books connected with a special fantastic world or style instead. They publish books from famous authors like Asimov, Clarke, Bradbury, Weis and Hickman, Feist, King, etc.

In 2002, a small group tried to renew the spirit of the strongly collected, high-quality SF: the first issue of ???tjáró Magazine?? was published in February. The editors plan to introduce fresh names in SF (talented American and European authors, including—naturally—Hungarian writers) and present the newest trends in the science fiction and fantasy genre.

The most important Hungarian science fiction novels

A feladat (“The Challenge”), Péter Zsoldos (1975)

A small group is shipwrecked on a distant, strange planet and discovers prehistoric human beings. Only one astronaut survives the crash but he knows he has only a few days. He creates the personality and memories of the ship’s crew in the main computer and starts a new program to rebuild the astronauts from the prehistoric apemen. The challenge is to return to the Earth with the knowledge.

Távoli tuz (“Distant Fire”), Péter Zsoldos (1983)

This monumental book is the second in the Viking-series. It depicts the adventure of a shipwrecked astronaut in the dinosaur-age type wilderness changed to an utopist, society-novel. The main character finds an ancient civilization and becomes the leader of a city-state where he sows the seeds of a modern, technology-based civilization.