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.

Kiálts farkast! (“Cry Wolf!”), András Gáspár (1990)

A great cyberpunk post-modern novel set in a futuristic Budapest. Zsigmond Vogel returns to Earth to find out who he is and who is his enemy. It is a world of neon lights, computers, businessmen, and a new life form, an intelligent plasma born from litter and radioactivity. Vogel has only one choice: he must destroy the most influential man in the world, who has taken control of the plasma.

A Katedrális legendája I-II (“The Legend of the Cathedral”), Tibor Fonyódi a.k.a. Harrison Fawcett (1998)

The age of Emperor Nero is revived in this novel awarded with the Zsoldos Péter Award, together with the everyday life of ancient Rome, the feasts that last until dawn, the bloody gladiator fights, and the spectacular chariot races… The Cathedral, which monopolizes time travel, sends an elite commando unit armed with high-tech weaponry from the 23rd century back to Ancient Rome. The soldiers have to encounter the supernatural forces occupying the city, which appear as the manifestations of demons and angels. Colonel Kerwin and his men come to realize it in the ancient world that there is no return for them and that not only the future of humankind is at stake in their fight but also their own fate, their salvation or damnation…

Örök visszatérés (“Forever Return”), László L. Lorincz

An astronaut meets an accident far away from Earth and when he regains consciousness, he finds himself in a madhouse 20 years before his departure. His recollections return slowly, he visits his family, meets himself, and next morning he wakes up in that younger body. He needs all his knowledge to relive his earlier life and space travel. The loosely knit novel of stirring plot makes us think about to what extent we are able to control our fate.

Az Excalibur keresése I-II (“Search for Excalibur”), Sándor Szélesi (2000)

This adventure story set in the 30th century takes the reader to a traditional Chinese asteroid empire 65 light-years far from Earth and to Avalon, which is well known from Celtic mythology. The focus of the plot—blended with mystery and magic—is the legendary sword of King Arthur, which is sought by Chinese magicians, super civilizations, desperate adventurers, and alien beings which once visited the Earth. The story is a lighter work of the author who received the Zsoldos Péter Prize for a classic science fiction novel in 1997.

Astra, Fabián László and György Kulin

In a London museum after World War II, a young scientist catches sight of plastic plaits covered with strange figures which came to light from a shell-hole . The English reckon that those are the signs of some German cryptogram but the astrologist discovers that the illustrations move when they are held into the light, revealing the secrets of a dead civilization.