2009
2009
Grand Prize
Rafał Kosik
Born in 1971, Polish science fiction writer. He studied architecture at the Warsaw University of Technology, but interrupted his studies to set up the advertising agency Powergraph (later transformed into a publishing house), where he is the creative director and graphic designer. He also draws satirical drawings.
He writes mainly science fiction, also often deviates towards horror. His literary debut was the short story "Pokoje przechodnie" published in 'Nowa Fantastyka' in September 2001. He published stories in 'Nowa Fantastyka', 'Science Fiction' and in online magazines 'Fahrenheit' and 'Esensja'. His first novel was „Mars”, published in 2003 by Ares. For the next novel "Vertical" (2006) he was nominated for the Janusz A. Zajdel Award. The novel also won the Nautilus 2006 poll (along with Rafał Dębski's "Czarny pergamin").
In 2008, his next novel "Kameleon" was published, which in 2009 received the Grand Prize of the Jerzy Żuławski Award and the Janusz A. Zajdel Award.
In the years 2004-2011, 8 of his science fiction books for young people from the Felix, Net and Nika series were published. Based on the book "Felix, Net and Nika oraz Teoretycznie Możliwa Katastrofa", a film is made, and its script was awarded in the Polish-Italian Competition for a Film Screenplay for a Young Viewer.
(2009)
Kameleon
(Chameleon)
The USS Ronald Reagan rescue mission arrives on the planet Ruthar Larcke. Four hundred and thirteen years earlier, a ship searching for planets for terraforming was lost here. The mission crew uncovers more puzzles: where from on a planet that is distant one hundred and twenty light years from Earth a human community of several million? Did one of the crew members get infected with an alien life form? And is their mission really a rescue mission?
War, revolution, behind-the-scenes intrigues, unfulfilled love. The sensational action of "Kameleon" does not prevent us from asking important questions. Is killing in human nature? Is there a limit to knowing? What is the essence of faith? A fascinating multi-threaded story, full of riddles, secrets and twists, will remain with the reader for a long time.
(Publisher's note)
2009
Gold Distinction
Krzysztof Piskorski
Born in 1982 – Polish writer, author of fantasy and speculative fiction, creator of role-playing games.
He studied archeology and computer science at the University of Wrocław and worked, among others, as a journalist for the computer magazine 'Chip'. He currently lives in Wrocław.
He made his debut as the author of the role-playing game "Władcy Losu" published in the New Wave series by the Portal publishing house. In 2001, he was awarded the Quentin Prize. He published short stories in 'Science Fiction', 'Fantastic Magazine' and 'Nowa Fantastyka', as well as articles in 'Chip', 'Magia i Miecz' and 'Portal' magazines.
His book debut is the novel "Wygnaniec", published in 2005, the first volume of a trilogy in which he created an original fantasy world inspired by the traditional culture of the Arabian Peninsula. His next novel „Zadra”, set during the Napoleonic Wars, brought him in 2009 a nomination for the Zajdel Award and the Golden Distinction of the Jerzy Żuławski Award. At Eurocon 2009, he received the European Science Fiction Association (ESFS) Award for the most promising young artist – the Encouragement Award.
(2009)
Zadra (vol.1)
(Splinter)
The year 1819. In Europe, the age of ether has come. The Empire of France under Bonaparte is more powerful than ever. In Paris, the center of the scientific revolution, the skies are overgrown with ether trains. Scientists design calculating machines, and Morthien's coils power up as powerful as unstable gates. A young scientist, Maurice Dalmont, finds a mysterious discovery, and his sister's fiancé, Stanisław Tyc, sets off in the ranks of the Vistula Legion to New Europe, to fight for the lands that Napoleon promised the Poles. Ether is tricky, however, and New Europe is a mirage hiding a dark secret.
What is the tsar's best spy looking for in Paris? Why are macabre columns of wagons loaded with corpses dragged through the Moscow Gate? What was Professor Beulay working on just before his disappearance?
Here is a world you do not know. Sabers and ether shot putters. Cylinders and telepathic hoops. Horse-drawn carriages and aerial railway. French guardsmen, tsarist spies, English engineers, mad monks, and strange powers on the other side of the gate.
In the flickering light of ether, familiar concepts crumble to dust. Who will discover its nature?
(Publisher's note)
2009
Silver Distinction
Anna Brzezińska
Born in 1971, Polish fantasy writer. A graduate of the Institute of History of the Catholic University of Lublin and a graduate and doctoral student of Medieval Studies at the Central European University in Budapest. She is a co-owner of the RUNA Publishing Agency. On the Internet, he uses the nickname Sigrid. She married Grzegorz Wiśniewski. She currently lives in Warsaw.
She made her debut in 1998 with the story "A kochał ją, że strach", published in the magazine ‘Magia i Miecz’, for which she won the Janusz A. Zajdel Award. She also was honored with this Award for the novel "Żmijowa Harfa" and for the short story "Wody głębokie jak niebo". Known mainly as the author of the series of novels about the robber Twardokęsek and stories about Babunia Jagódka (published in the collection "Opowieści z Wilżyńskiej Doliny"). In April 2005, a collection of short stories entitled "Wody głębokie jak niebo" was released, containing seven pieces set in a land modeled on Renaissance Italy.
(2009)
Ziemia niczyja (in: „Na ziemi niczyjej”)
(No man's land [in: "In no man's land"])
No one's land. A narrow strip of land between the lines of enemy trenches. Several hundred or several dozen meters with hundreds of bullets and shredded barbed wires and remnants of fortifications.
There are no laws in no man's land. When the artillery stops, all you can hear is the clink of empty cans filled with rats and the voices of the wounded. But few rush to save them. Because here are snipers and scouts, ready to cut your throat for canned beef, as well as other beasts – the unnamed and ancient ones. As centuries ago, they come attracted by the scent of blood.
And right here, in a territory beyond any control, in a world suspended between darkness and shadow, they must survive. Soldiers.
Half-blind Rylan sets out to find his only son, who was declared missing two weeks after his eighteenth birthday, when he led the troops into the battle at Loos.
Johann, a trench warfare veteran, is unable to silence the voices echoing in his mind – doctors explain them with battle shock, a memento of a firestorm from Autra, France, but he constantly hears singing calling him into the abyss.
During the offensive at Passchendaele, a battalion of British soldiers, cut off in the deserted Beguinage, tries to break free from the encirclement and unravel the mystery of the murdered nuns, who only left the remains of charred tapestries in the church vaults.
Because in no man's land you can't be sure of anything.
Well, maybe except for your own death.
(Publisher's note)