“We need writers who know the difference between production of a market commodity and the practice of an art. Developing written material to suit sales strategies in order to maximize corporate profit is not quite the same thing as responsible book publishing or authorship.” – Ursula K.Le Guin
The in-progress table of contents of “Planet Europa SF”, Speculative Fiction Story Collection, edited by Gloria McMillan (USA):
Austria: “The Scent Organ” by Nina Horvath
Belgium: “Ambassadresses” by Yossi Faybish
Bosnia: “The Triglav Complex” and “Oh My God” by Adnadin Jasarević
Croatia: “Apologue: On Climbing the Mountain of Life” by Darko Suvin and “The Trains Must Keep Running” by Ivan Lutz
Czech Republic: “Toothsome Smile, an Artificial Death” by Eva Hauserová and “Spirit and Opportunity” by Božena Čechalová
Denmark: “The Lost Thunderegg” by Manfred Christiansen
Estonia: “Laughter from the Past” by Siim Veskimees
France : “Elsa’s Eyes” by Sylvie Lainé and “Louvre Moon” by Catherine Dufour
Germany: “The Spirits” by Michael Iwoleit
Greece: “A Digital Agony” by Alekos Papodopoulos
Hungary: “The Last Writer” by Botond Markovics
Italy: “Midsummer Future” by Francesco Verso
Kosovo: “The Keeper of Dreams” by Fortesa Latifi
The Netherlands: “Agent of Change” by Mike Jansen
Romania: “Love according to ‘Ticks’” by Dănuț Ungureanu and “Navigating through Fog” by Ioana Vișan
Serbia: “Awakening” by Stevan Šarčević
Slovenia: “The Time Credit,” “Star Child,” „The DVD of Life” by Bojan Ekselenski
Spain: “The Road” by Rodolfo Martinez
Ukraine: “A Taste for Knowledge” by Vladimir Arenev
Yiddish: “A Flying Saucer lands on Temple Emanu-El” by Marleen S. Barr
“Science fiction is “out there” flourishing in many places little-known to English-speaking readers. If we make a short investigation, there is much evidence to show that science fiction and the broader speculative fiction has various roots of which the United States variety is but one offshoot.
In Europe speculative themes that touch space travel and automata go back a long way, as well. The classical era, Greek comic playwright Aristophanes penned several plays that carry the seeds of later science fiction, at least the theme of flying to the clouds; The Clouds (423 BCE), The Birds (414 BCE) and The Peace. The noted science fiction critic L. Sprague de Camp, as well as others authors and critics, cite the Greek writer Lucian of Samosata’s 2nd-century satire True History as a noteworthy precursor of today’s science fiction because the tales include travel to outer space and interplanetary warfare, but in the True History there is no actual science or exploration of current technology. Most ancient sources did not explain their wonders in terms of scientific methods.
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Did the European SF and US-based stream begin merging since the dawn of the twentieth Century with improved travel speed and communications? Perhaps the European science fiction branched from the ancient Greeks down to Frankenstein.” – Gloria McMillan
Gloria McMillan, Ph.D. Research Associate, Dept. of English, University of Arizona, U.S.A.
Editor, Orbiting Ray Bradbury’s Mars: Biographical, Anthropological, Literary, Scientific and Other Perspectives (Critical Explorations in Science Fiction and Fantasy), McFarland Pub., 2013.
