Slovenianfanzinforfantasy,science iction,horrorandOtherworldUniverseISSN1855-6434|March2013|Year6|EnglishLanguageEdition

OTHERWORLD NEWSOTHERWORLD NEWS GROSSMANN FESTIVAL MARTIN VAVPOTIČ ANNOUNCED HIS

STEAMPUNK NOVEL ON AMAZON IRON SKY

PLANET HUMORPLANET HUMOR

INTRODUCING INTRODUCING STARDUST SOCIETYSTARDUST SOCIETY

SLOVENE SF&F ILLUSTRATORS SLOVENE SF&F ILLUSTRATORS ON SI.CON 2012 CONVENTION ON SI.CON 2012 CONVENTION

FILMS, CINEMA, DVDFILMS, CINEMA, DVD IRON SKY

FIRST PEEK ON …FIRST PEEK ON … STARDUST 2012 - Yearly Gather of

Slovene Fiction, by Andrej Ivanuša

AT GLANCE: AT GLANCE: NO FANDOM IN AUSTRIA!?

by Nina Horvath

TEASER TEASER DANGOBER: Battle at Alertbeacon

(Preface to the Adapian edition) by Mara R. Sirako

SHORT STORYSHORT STORY At the tip of the castle tower

by Andrej Ivanuša

POETRY by Maša BrglezPOETRY by Maša Brglez Sacrificed heart Poet on the shores of

everlasting tranquility A ghost in the dark

LAST PAGELAST PAGE

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FANTASY ILLUSTRATION

READ IN THIS ISSUE Jashubeg en Jered ISSN1855-6434Fanzinforfantasy,science iction,horrorandOtherworldUniverse.

Publisher and editor: BojanEkselenskiLjubljanskac.5A,SI-3000Celje,SloveniaMobile:+38640642356(Bojan)Phone: +38635412543E-mail: bojan.ekselenski@amis.netInternet:www.drugotnost.siOthers: AmedejaM.Licen,MaraR.Sirako,AndrejIvanusa(design)First side illustration: MarkJordanaliasMarkGart:RespectCopyright©2013BojanEkselenskiThetext,imagesanddesignmaynotbecopiedinanymannerwithoutpermissionfromthepublisherand/orauthors.

FIRSTSIDEILLUSTRATION

MarkJordan:RESPECTDecember isusually a very verybusytimeofayearformeandnowinally things has calm down a bit.I’m full of inspiration again. … So,yeah, Imade a sketch of this quitesometime ago. It’s nothing new orthat original, I suppose. But I al-ways wanted to paint somethingsuch this: “good” vs. “evil”, if youlike. They didn’t show respect foreach other, obviously. “Hehehe!”They showed respect for survivalbefore they walk to the arena ofdoomand ight ‘till ... I don’tknowhowlong?Forever?“Good”vs. “evil” I think isequal,theymaintainthebalance.Soeitherthey ight foreverandeveror theyjust both die, that’s up to you todecide.I am in a bit darker mood thistime, it was meant to be a speedpaint at irst, but then Imust dealwithdetailsasalways.I made it with PhotoShop CS3(very cool piece of software topaint) in three days. Original sizesizeis8400x4000pixels.Enjoy,m

Gregor Goršič — without tle

HereistheannualreviewofdevelopmentintheSlovenianSF&Fscene.ForstartistheeditorialbyBojanEkselenskiwherehetalkaboutspecialkindofbeast.→page3Next comes brief news, humor and introducing of ZVEZDNI PRAH(STARDUST),theAuthor'sSocietyofSpeculativeArts,whichisasocietyofwriters,painters,photographers,etc.offantasy,SFandhorror.→pagesfrom4to9In this issuewepresentsomeSlovenianSF illustrators,whoattendedtheSlovenianSFconventionSI.CON2012CELJE→pages10and11Bojanhascontributedreviewandscoreof ilmIronSky.→pages12and13Andrej read new collection of SF stories ZVEZDNI PRAH 2012 andmadeabriefassessment.→page14FandomsceneinAustria,contributionbyNinaHorvath.→pages15to17MaraR.SirakowroteteaserofherbookDangober:BattleatAlertbea-con,bookintroductionwrittenbyalien!What,byalien?→pages18to20Andrej Ivanusawrote the story At the tip of the castle tower, whichreceivedtheSlovenianawardforbestfantasystory2011-2012.→pages21to29AttheendoffanzinarepublishedthreepoemsbyMasaBrglez.→pages30and31OnthelastpageareafewphotosfromthelastSlovenianSF&FConven-tionSI.CON2012CELJE.

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SLOVENIANSF&FISASPECIALKINDOFBEASTbyBojanEkselenski

EDITORIAL

WetrytorevivalSlovenianSF&Fsceneafter20-yearlongperiod, but this ismuchpainful for all of uswhoareworkingonit.Sloveniaisindependentcountryover20yearsandsomuchtimewealsoneededtotravelonEurocon.FestivalZagreb2012wasours irstparticipa-tion.Kiev2013 isstill suspended in theair.Why?Ourscene,bothamateuraswellascreative,vegetatesintheundergroundofSlovenianculturallandscape.Socalled“the established culture” does not recognize us as theculture. Consequently, we are systematically ignoringandpushingaway.Wedonothavemagazinesasare in culturaldevel-opedcountries.Wedonothavepublishingcompaniesfor the supportof local authors.Domesticwork is theexceptionrather than therule in the localbookstores.Of course, the problem is also in the production side.Most of the works come out in the form of semi-inished products. The authors have only costs withtheirworks.Theonlyformsofperiodic issuesarefan-zines which print domestic works. But unfortunatelyalsohereisatotalpoverty.BytheendoflastyearJashubegenJered(NewsfromOtherworld Universe) was the sole fanzine with ISSNnumber. This year fortunately resurrected fanzineNeskoncnost(In inity),editedbyPrizma(Prism,Socie-tyofSF&Ffans).NowbothfanzinesresideintheportalDrugotnost(OtherworldUniverse).Lastyear,afterfewyears of hibernation,was published new anthology ofdomesticcreativityZvezdniprah2012(Stardust2012).WhoisSlovenianwinnerofESFS(EuropeanSFSociety)foryear2012nobodyknows.Notevenonesigni icant

media inSloveniamentionedthat fact.This isproofofourlimitationsandcomplacencywithourlittlegardenswhicharefertilizedbystatefounds.VeryfewpeoplehereknowswhatESFSmeans,whatisSFConvention,etc.Inthedevelopedworldaretheseintegral parts of the cultural life. Especially in GreatBritainandintheU.S.aregenreconventionsafullpartof the cultural wealth of the nation. Slovenia is verypoormeasured by these standards. After ‘dissolution’ofYugoslaviatherewasnothinguntil2007.Thisyearand in2008wehad irstconventionwithnameKonfuzija(Confusion)thankstoagroupofenthu-siasts who soon ind that even biggest heart can notbeatforever.Thencameneweclipseandinyear2012we had SI.CON 2012 CELJE. On this convention weawarded irstprizesforachievementsinSF&F.But still, on conventionwas shown that Slovenia isdecades far behind development in the rest of theworld.Therewerenotalotofvisitors.OnlyguestsfromZagrebshoweduswhatmeanspeekingoutofcompla-cency concretewall. Slovenia doesnot have a fandomanditprobablythattherewillbeanyforalongtime.Ina year or two we can not patched over 20-year holewiththesystematicexterminationofgenre.Stateinsti-tutionsgivespeculativeartanattitude liketheyare inthemidof19thcentury.Tendersaretailoredforthosewhoalreadyhaveeverythingandaresolidattachedonthestate'sbreasts.Therefore, the SF&F authors remain solely hardwork.Onthewaytothesuccessattheendwaitingforusblood,tearsandtoil.

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MARTINVAVPOTIČANNOUNCEDHISSTEAMPUNKNOVELONAMAZONMartin Vavpotic is already ac-tively engaged in writing from 12years of age. The irst SF workDogodivščine Suike tima (Adven-tures of Suike Team, 1997) wasreleased in elementary school, an-other Pragozd (Rainforest, fanta-sy novella, 2001) in high schooland later the third Čez velikoZahodno morje (Over Big WestSea,historical iction, 2005) as astudent. For collection of SF sto-ries Blodnjak5 (Maze5)he alsocontributed a short story Lov�i,(Hunters,2003).Nowhereisstory,whichisunusualinmanyrespects.Steampunknov-elClo�kworksWarriorisoriginal-lywritteninEnglishandpublishedin the April on web-sites smash-words.comandamazon.com.Thereisavailableinvariouse-formatsfora very reasonable price 4.99 dol-lars, or about € 3.80. Martin andhiswritingcanbeseenonhisblogmartinvavpotic.wordpress.com.

CONTENTCarrusVertigelli,ayoungaristo-crat,enrolls inScholarSociety, thegreatestacademicestablishmentintheHegemony.He joins theClock-works department where tiny ly-ing machines called speyes arebuilt to act as scouts for Hegemo-ny'slegions.Warbrewsandamys-terious new enemy appears with-

outwarning,devastatingprovincesonallsidesoftheHegemony.Carrus brings fresh ideas toClockworks, overhauling the obso-letespeyemodels, turningthetideof the war in Hegemony's favor.However, this alsomakes the ene-my very interested in Clockworksand theysoonbring theirownde-vices to counter the Hegemony'sspeyes. A furious competition ofpredatorandpreyensuesasClock-works employees struggle to keepupwith the enemy's endlesswaystodisabletheirspeyes.Until the enemy decides to em-ploy the most direct way of disa-blingtheClockworksdepartment...

OTHERWOLD NEWS

GROSSMANNFESTIVALGrossman is fantastic (horror)ilmandvine festival inLjutomer.The eight time lovers of ilm andvine gathered in Ljutomer, smalltowninNESloveniafrom16.to21.July2012.Amongthemanyattrac-tionsatthefestivalisde initelythenumberoneBritishanimationmas-ter LeeHardcastle,who impresseswith bloodthirsty and witty shortilmsthatdoesnotforchildren.

Name of festival award is 'hudimacek' or in english 'Vicius Cat'.Theygive themaway in thediffer-entcategories:forbestfeature ilm,short ilm, documentary, music,life's work, and for the best ilmfrom festival Little Workshop ofHorror. They alsonominated ilmsfor theMeliesd'Or - theaward forthe best European fantastic shortilm granted at the end of annualfestivalcyclebyEFFFF.ViciousCat for best feature ilmwenttowhattwo ilms:Whileyouwere sleeping (Mientras duer-mes),directedbyJaumeBalaguero(Spain) and Inbred by Alex Chan-

don(UnitedKingdom).Viciousoldcatforhislife'sworkwas awarded to director DinkoTucakovićby guest of honor Go-ran Marković, director of theopening ilmDoctorRayandDev-ils.Of course, they do not forgetthe other fun side of life - wine.Here, too, were awarded severeviciouscats.Events insixdaysofthefestivalwasveryextensive,exhaustingandfun. On internet site www.grossmann.si/home/are news fornextone which will be from 15. to 20.July2013. <ANI>

Lee Hardcastle Alex Chandon Jaume Balagueró

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PLANET HUMOR

18. century 1900 1960 1980 2000 2010 Absolute proof of global warming!

OTHERWORLD NEWS

IRONSKYIn mid-February 2012 was on the International FilmFestival Berlinale premiered movie Iron Sky. This is adarkSFcomedy,directedbyTimoVourensola.Inthepro-ductionthemajorrolewasplayedbyBlindSpotPicturesandEnergiaProductionsinFinland.Recordingtookplacein Germany and Australia. The primary language of theilmisEnglish.The ilmisabouttheNaziinvasionofEarthin2018.AttheendoftheSecondWorldWartheGermansonthedarksideof theMoonbuiltagigantic lunarbaseandastrongarmy of lying saucers. When American astronaut landswiththeirlunarmodulealittletooclosetothesecretNazibase, theMond fuhrer decides that gloriousmoment ar-rivedfasterthanexpected.FourthReichshouldraise!For the Slovenian part of the audience is interestingthat themusic in the ilm isworkofSlovenianbandLai-bach. They also used song TakeMe ToHeaven andwasadapted for the zither. The original melody is actuallySrne(Deers)byMihaDovzan,Slovenianzither-player.Filmgrabs theawards forBESTVISUALEFFECTSandBESTCINEMATOGRAPHYatFANTASPORTOInternationalFilmFestivalinPortugal!Morecanbereadinthepagesoftheproducerweb-sitehttp://www.ironsky.net.

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INTRODUCING

ZVEZDNIPRAH(STARDUST),the Author's SocietyofSpeculativeArtsisasocietyofwriters,painters,pho-tographers, etc. of fantasy, science iction and horror(F&SF&H).Membershipisvoluntary,authoronspecu-lativearts ieldandmustprovideonepieceofhisworkfor clubs archive. We also accepted members fromabroad.MEMBERSAndrejIvanuša,born1958inMaribor,SloveniaHe isawriter,publisher, essayist, editor, journalist,philatelist,adesignerofwebsitesandanamateurpho-tographer.HisworksareČUDOVITA POTOVANJA ZAJCA RONA I-IV

(WONDERFUL JOURNEYS OF RONO RABBIT I-IV):Fivefriends,RonoRabbit,MajolikaShebear,RudiWolf,NishkaFairyandAzbaiDragonmustresistagainstevilwitch Pehtrunija in the amazing Wonderland. Thewitchwant to enslave their frends forminers in goldanddiamantmines;RHEIA (SPACESHIP RHEIA): Political spy thrillerandlovestorybetweenalivingspaceshipandafallingasteroid'sminer.VILINDAR (FAIRY TOWN VILINDAR): Epic poemaboutthesearchforalegendarycity,whichisbasedontheSlovenianmythology.SVETODREV (SVETODREV, THE FIRST LEGEND

FROMTOKARAFOREST):Strangeworldof lizard-likethreegendercreaturesisastageforayoungprinceinasearch for a legendary land of Marchis to regain histhrone.

RužaM.BarićBizjakaliasMaraR.SirakoShe lives inKranj, Slovenia,where shewasborn in1966.Duringher studies, sheworkedas reporterandbecame Managing Editor of the students newspaperTribuna. In1991shegraduated. In1994,shewasem-ployedwithMinistryofCulturewhereshewasaideofMinister and later Of General Secretary of Minister.Currently sheworks in the of ice of chief inspector ofMinistryofCulture as inspector for librariesandpub-lishing.

Founders:BojanEkselenski,AmedejaM.Ličen,RužicaMarijaBarićBizjak,AndrejIvanušaFounders:BojanEkselenski,AmedejaM.Ličen,RužicaMarijaBarićBizjak,AndrejIvanuša

7

INTRODUCING

DANGOBER:SPOPADPRIOPOZORILNIKUI-III(DANGOBER:BATTLEATALERTBEACONI-III)A humorous space opera inthree thick books in the style ofthelegendaryHitchhiker'sGuideto the Galaxy. The author asksherself, what if we were realycreatedbyDangobersakaRaeli-ans.Dangober isalsoa irst Slo-venianSFspaceopera.AmedejaM.LičenHer life storybeganona cold Januaryday in1965.She began studies at the Faculty of Science andTech-nologyinLjubljana,butthen,beforecompletingcourse,herlifewas'sweptintodifferentwaters'.Inyear2000she decided to seriously compete in theRTVSLO con-testbysubmittingascript.Theyrewardedherbybuy-ing two of hers works, the humorous synopsis for aseriescalled»OnBehalfofthePeople«andtheroman-tic TV drama with a touch of fantasy »Clairvoyant«,whichwasmade intoafeature ilmin2004,producedbyTVS.This ilmhaditspremiereatthe7thFestivalofSlovenianFilm at theCankarjevdom in Ljubljana andwasalsotheTVSrepresentativeatthePrixItaliaEuro-peanTelevisionFestival of 2005, inMilan. Itwas alsoscreenedat festivals inMotovunandZagreb,where itreceivedawardsforbestscience ictionmovie,bestsetdesign,andforitsmusic.In2001RadioSLOpresentedherradio-play"OntheVisit".AttheSpletnoperocom-petitionforshortstoriesin2005she was awarded with thirdprize.Oneofherstoriessubmit-tedto theAnthologyofContem-porary Slovenian SF stories in2006 (released in book, April2007). In November 2008, pub-lisher Ved published her irstextendedprosework, thesatiri-cal anti-utopiannovel about thecityandthemagni icentworldofthefuture:NASVIDENJE,VELIČASTNISVET(GOODBYE,MAGNIFICENTWORLD)Amedejahadwrittentoo:JASNOVIDKA (CLAIRVOYANT), fantasy TV dramaaboutfortunetellerJanja,whoclearlyseesproblemsofothers, but does not notice that before her nose col-lapsed hermarriage.With such a friend she needs nootherenemes.OD KRAJADO RAJA (FROMHERE TOHEAVEN),sftheatricalcomedywhichwasstagedbyTheatreToneCufarKranjinseason2008/2009.Sheregularlywritepopularscienti icarticlesforthe»Mysteries«magazine, combining sciencewith criticalviews.

BojanEkselenskiHewasborn1964inCelje.HeisgraduatedchemistandnowworkinchemicalindustryCinkarnaCelje.Inthe1990'shestartedcompilingthefantasyworldof Knights & Wizards which now overgrow into irstauthentical Slovenian epic saga. In 2007 he publishedirst book of this saga. He is also founder of fanzinJashubeg en Jered - news from Otherworld Universeandits irsteditorandpublisher.Heisanactivemem-ber of the Literary Society of Celje, and he is also anEUROCONagentforSlovenia.Heisanactivepromoterofspeculativeartsandeditorofsomefantasy internetportalinSlovenelanguage:drugotnost.si,vitezicarovni-ki.com,zvezdni-prah.si,cld.si,pisatelj.net.VITEZIINČAROVNIKI:VOTLINASKRIVNOSTI(KNIGHTS&WIZARDS:CAVEOFSECRETS)VITEZIINČAROVNIKI(1):INDIGOOTROCI(KNIGHTS&WIZARDS(1):INDIGOCHILDREN)VITEZIINČAROVNIKI(2):INDIGONOVISVET(KNIGHTS&WIZARDS(2):INDIGONEWWORLD)Two worlds, utopian future and intriguing magicalworld of the antica Drugotnost (Otherworld), whereMesharahbattlesagainstthedarkforcenamedEleila.

TanjaMencinVARUHI:(1)VIHARNAPRICEZA*(2)ENAJSTERICA(3)KRIKIUSOD*(4)POTOVANJEKCILJU(GUARDIANS:[1]STORMYPRINCESS*[2]TEAMOFELEVEN*[3]DESTINYSCREAMS*[4]JOURNEYTOTHEFINISH)KingRufusofthelandDanoniatriestobeneutralintheepicbattlewithanevilkingZendorofMorea.Whenhe is forced to go to war, he send princess Norhaiahprincess of Zlatograd (Goldcity) in faery land ofWal-loniatoseekallies.Simpletaskturnsintoanepicjour-ney through many fantasy lands. After many adven-tures,meetingswith fanciful creatures anddif icultiesshesuccessfullyendedherepictask.Tanja had written too: Piramida ali Dotik neba(poetry),Skrajnameja,SamorastniskibluesandHarle-kinovpadec(allnotSF).

8

INTRODUCING

AlešOblakHIŠADOBRIHGOSPODOV(HOUSEOFTHEGOODGENTLEMEN)Seven fantastic story heard Shepherd Hector, whounder the roof take the seven travelers, because hisSheperdismlawsrequire, thathecannotdenysheltertoanyone.Twosoldier, smuggler, awitch,amanwhotalkstohiscat,andShepherdwomanwithapprentice-theyareallthereforareasonandwiththeirowndarksecret.

ESFSEncouragementAwardEUROCON2012ZAGREB,Croatia

MartinVavpotičČEZVELIKOZAHODNOMORJE(OVERGREATWESTSEA)Middle East, 1190 BC., BronzeAge,thetimeofRamsesIII,thelastof themightyPharaohs. - The oldworld is changing. Hungry tribesare on the move, powerful king-dom collapsing like houses ofcards.InordertosaveEgyptfromthe fate of other kingdoms, theRamses III sent Manaptis, hisbread brother, with three shipsacross the sea inAntica to loadedcopperthere,withwhichhehadtoarm his people. In fact, Manaptisrather followed the story, whichhe found written in the ancientpapyrus roll. Hewentwest sailedthrough Gibraltar ... and beyond.Hereishisstorydescribed.CLOCKWORKSWARRIORSteampunk novella was origi-nalywroteinEnglishlanguage.AyoungaristocratjoinstheClockworksdepartmentwheretiny lyingmachinesare built to act as scouts forHegemony's legions. TheHegemonyisunderattackbyamysteriousnewenemywhosoon learns thepurposeofClockworkscreations.A furious catandmouse competitionensuesasClock-worksemployeesstruggletokeepupwiththeenemy'sways to incapacitate the lyingmachines and their pi-lots.

UrbanKlančnikKALIUS(CALIUS)Author's irstnovell isastoryofahunterswholikevampiresfeedsthemselveswiththelifeenergyofotherliving creatures. The hero is a Slayer, long-haired anddarklurkinghunterofenergy,whobecomesentangledinadangerous ightfor»calius«-thesubjectofahugeenergypotentialthatcanbeusedforgoodorevilpur-posesandtheholderbecomesalmostinvincible.Urbanwrotetoo:anovelGeneza,ahumorouslyno-vellaDropljaKrt, a novelAlimrtvi sanjajo? and a fewshortstoriespublishedinvariouseditions.

VidPečjakakaDivKajčephonorarymember,doayenofSlovenianSFAs a writer and psychologist, he has written 90books, two-thirds are expert ones in the ield of psy-chology,most literaryworksare ictional stories,nov-elsandshortstories,aswellastraveloguesandcomicbooks. Some of thework is signedwith a pseudonymDiv Kajcep, which is an anagram, palindrome, of hisname. In his youth hewrote especially for youth andadults. Drejcek in trije Marsovcki (Drejcek and threelittleMartians,1961)oneofhis irstworksof iction,isoneofthemostfamousamongyoungreaders.InSlove-nia,thebookispublishedseventimes,hasbeentrans-latedintoCzechlanguageandalsoinSerbianandCroa-tian,itwasdramatizedandthetextareoftenstagedinthepuppet theater. ItwasawardedbyLevstikAward.Very successful wasalsohisgamePobeglirobot (Runaway Ro-bot), the book wasrankedamongthetopive radio and televi-sion games in thecompetition prix Ja-pan in Tokyo. Tretjezivljenje (Third Life)TVmovie,wasmadeafter Vid's novel, andwon the irstprize atthe InternationalFes-tival Prix Futura Ber-lin. Among the most

9

INTRODUCING

famousstories foryouthandadultsareacollectionofnovellasKamjeizginilaEmaLaus(WheredidEmaLausvanished,1980)andDoktor zivih inmrtvih(Doctorofthelivingandofthedead,2004).DREJČEKINTRIJEMARSOVČKI(DREJČEKANDTHREELITTLEMARTIANS)Mis, Mas and Sas are threelittle Martians. Mas is secondtallest Martian and goes to se-cond class. He mostly preferrednumeracy.Hisheadislargerthanthe largest Macedonian water-melon, the body was not muchlargerthanabottleofCoke.Thinhandswiththree ingersonthemgrew out directly of his head,where it's supposed to be ears.Insteadnosehehadonlytwoholesinthemiddleoftheface.All threeMartianswere transportedby themag-netically lyingcigar.MartianswerenotallowedtolandonEarth,but theybrokeorderandvisitedDrejcekonEarth. Together, they found that the differences be-tweenlifeonMarsandEarthareverybig.POBEGLIROBOT(RUNAWAYROBOT)Children'sstoryinwhichPecjakcreatedacharacterof "heartless" robot that become good, as soon as theclocktickingreplacedthemissingheartbeat.ALEKSINROBOTJANEZ(ALEXANDROBOTJANEZ)YouthstoryaboutAlex,aboutboywhooneday indarobot.HenameditJanez.Togethertheygothrough many adventures andbegin to realize mutual differ-ences.ADAMINEVANAPLANETUSTARCEV(ADAMANDEVAONPLANETOFOLDERS)Three thousand years in the future, the world hascompletelychanged.Athousandyearsagowasdiscov-ered »vitalis«, Wonderland stuff, by which peopleachieve immortality. However, it happens extremelyunlikely accident in which two people die. Law saysthat number of people must remain unchanged andthereforetheyarti icialbreadaboyandagirl.Butbe-causenoone remembershow to raised children, theypractically rearedby themselves.When theygrowup,they discovered through old books what are humanrelations and what love is. They resisting against theestablishedorder.KAMJEIZGINILAEMALAUŠWHEREDIDEMALAUŠVANISHEDBookiscompiledoutofeightstories:KamjeizginilaEmaLaus,Odisejsevraca,Psihorobot,Odprte lobanje,Hudicevsad,JasminaaliHelena,Smog,Sonce.ThetitlestorytelsaboutagirlEmaLaus,whichwas,accordingtostatementofherfriendPeteremotionallyandmentallystableperson,but itstartedtohappened

herstrangethings.Shethoughtthatinherdreams,thatwas so vivid as if theywere real, space creatures likeoctopuschasingher,whichwaslaterprovedtobetrue.BEGMEDZVEZDE(RUNAWAYTOTHESTARS)Youthscience ictionnoveltellsthestoryoftravelinginaforeignsolarsystemintheconstellationofLalandeandmetaphoricallyaboutthevariousformsofrunningawayfromourrealworld.ZADNJIODPORALIISKANJELEPEHELENELASTRESISTANCEORSEARCHINGBEAUTIFULLHELENATextisintimatestory,alovestorythattakesplaceinthefuture.ThestoryontheonehandshowsecologicaldisasteronEarth,ontheotherhandisastoryof long-ing,whichendswithful illingit.Theauthor'swishistoindat least last temporary refugebefore the inalde-structionofalllifetakeplace.KATAKLIZMAALISELENINOMAŠČEVANJECATACLYSMORSELENAS'REVENGEThe story follows the path of Selena, born on themoon,coincidingwiththedeclineofcivilization.Ittellsthe love story between shy Selena and Mark. Planetdevastation disintegrates political organization andanarchyreign.Partofthepopulationmovedtothecit-iesunderdomesand lives there inanapparentpeace.Secondpartlivesoutofcitiesunderconstantattacksofthe self-appointed armies. These plundering and col-lecting "live force". Theyalso attacked her villageand Selena was kid-napped as "prisoner ofwar", forwhore.But sheendsintheheadquartersof General Maximilianbecause of their know-ledgeandsharpmind.Atthe same time she expe-riencing serious mo-ments, but in the end,however, Selena revengeherselfandallothers...<>

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SLOVENESF&FILLUSTRATORSONSI.CON2012CONVENTIONbyAndrejIvanuša

POROČAMO

SI.CON2012CELJESI.CON2012was irst Slovenian SF&FConventionafteralongtime.ShowwasheldinCeljeatthebegin-ning of November 2012. On showwe also introducesixofourSloveneSF&Fillustratorsandpainters.Fourof them are also members of Umer Artistic Agency(www.umer.si).GregorLož,born1983,isastudentoftheLjublja-na Academy of Fine Arts and Design, ield: painting.Besideillustrationheisformanyyearsactiveasa2Danimator. Fig.1-LASTARROW - digital technology,2009.Mark Jordan, born in 1979, is a digital designerandillustrator.Heisactiveinthe ieldofillustrationsfor17year,professionallyinvolvedwithinsince2006.Heenjoytopaintpictures intheareaof fantasy, ilmandgamingillustrations.RecognitionofhisworkhastwiceprovedbytheBallisticPublishing,whichprint-ed some of his illustrations in the cult revue ExposeandExotique,wherearepublishedthebestauthorsintheworldoffantasyillustrations.SofarhemadetitleillustrationsforSlovenianSF&FbooksObzidano mesto

(The Walled City) andOtok vračev (The Isle of Witch Doctors) by Margit Belami, Oprostite vaše življenje ne

1

2 3

INTRODUCING

11

POROČAMO

obstaja (I'm Sorry Your Life Exists No More) byDušan Dim,andVitezi in Čarovniki - Indigo novi svet (Knights & Wizards - Indigo New World) andVitezi in Čarovniki - Votlina skrivnosti (Knights & Wizards - Cave of Sicrets) byBojan Ekselenski.Fig.2-KARASHYRE-digitalillus-tration.GregorGoršič, born in 1978,with illustrations be-ganasself-taught.Hewasthenemployedinthecompa-nyCocoasoftas chiefdesignerofmobilegames. In re-cent years he stepping on an independent path as achild illustrator.Fig.3-KINGKLUBS- digital illustra-tionforplayingcards,2007.RobertFister, born in 1972, as an illustrator pro-duce images of small and large formats. His ield ofwork is the realism and photorealism, scienti ic andimaginative book illustrations, storyboards for videoproduction, pencil drawing, large format pastel, he isspecialized in portraits and acts. He use digital tools,buthealsomasteredclassictechniquessuchaspastel,pencil, crayons,chalk,coloredpencilandacrylicpaint.

Fig.4-LONEE-pencilonpaper.DenisPolanc, born1982, drawing sincehe can re-member. He is a construction technician, but throughstdyhealsomasteredthesculptureart.Self-taughthelearned how to use hand tools andmaterials such asclay andwood. In 2007 he illustrated a bookVilindar

(Fairy town Vilindar by Andrej Ivanuša). Forimagingtechniqueheusedprimarilyacrylic,watercolor,pastelandcrayons.Fig.5-MRAKIJENADOMAGIC-waxpen-ciloncardboard.

Damijan Sovec, born in 1970, professor of art,workedattheElementarySchoolRadgona.Heisactive-lyengagedinthecomics,cartoon,animationandillus-tration.Hiscomicswerepublishedinnumerousnation-alandinternationalnewspapersandmagazinesaswellas international comic festivals and exhibitions. From1994 to 2006 he has weekly draw satirical comicsstripscalledSmerirazvoja(WaysodDevelopment)fordaily newspaper Vecer. Later he released two albumswith comics Prva petletka (The First Five-Year Plan,2000),Simulacijakaosa(ChaosSimulation,2004).Fig.6- DRAGON AZBAJ AND FAIRY NIŠKA FLY AFTERTHEMINTHEVALLEY (illustration of book FantasticJourneys of Rono the Rabbit by Andrej Ivanusa) -inkdrawing.

4 5

6

INTRODUCING

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FILMS, CINEMA, DVD

IRONSKYwatchingforyouBojanEkselenski

We,crazyfans,arewaitedforthisilmforafewyears.The irstteaseronwhich I stamped raised tempta-tions. At the end came themagicalday when ilm started in our cine-mas. First I clapped with my earsbecause they say that ilm will beshowed only once a day! Second Iclapped because show will be insmallestcinemahall. Asitisanob-scuremesswithwhichentertainusSlovenian ilm-makers.ThenIreadthatthemoviedonotlikeAmericans.Ofcourse!Ifmastersdon’t like something, then theserv-ants around the World must paytributes. Film director is TimoVuorensolafromFinnland,thestoryis write down by Johanna SinisaloandJarmoPuskala.Startof the ilm ispromising,es-pecially musical accompaniment.TheseispreparedbyourrockgroupLaibach.At irstglance Inotice thatthespecialeffectsarealittlebitplas-tic. But this is not resentment, be-cause the ilm had a 30-40 timessmallerbudgetthanaverageAmeri-can ilm.SoIfocusedmyattentiontothecontent.

OntheMoonharboredtwoAmer-ican astronauts, hang election lagsofthePresidentoftheUnitedStates(StephaniePaul),whichisincrediblysimilar to Sarah Paulin (okay, ac-tress shown twice higher IQ thanAlaskas’ governor). Then shit hap-pens ... Before them appear a realNaziwithmachine gun. After shortshutting was black astronaut takenintoafortressintheformoftheNaziswastika.Andthefuncanbegin.In the inspection of the prisonercome current Fuhrer WolfgangKortz leisch (Udo Kier, who is theonly known player). Mad scientistDr. Richter (Tilo Prusckner) try toturn intoAryanraceblackprisonerJames Washington (ChristopherKirby)andheevensucceed.Doctor(he is like Albert Einstein) also ig-ure outwhat is USB and alsoman-age to connected smart i-phone tothe mighty battleship - Twilight ofthe Gods. But since battery dies,thereisimpossibletobootcolossus.The solution? Fuhrer allow infor-mations’ fuhrer Klaus Adler (GotzOtto) to go on Earth and acquiremore i-phones. With him he take

MoviedataBlindSpotPicturesOy,27FilmsProduction,NewHollandPictures(Finnish-Germany-Australiancoproduction)20.APRIL2012Showtime:93minutesDirectorTimoVuorensola

ScenarioJohannaSinisalo(story)JarmoPuskala(idea)

PlayersJuliaDietze,UdoKier,PetaSergeant,etc.Music"TanzMitLaibach"byLaibach,SlovenianHardRockGroupShortdescriptionNazis set up a secret base on thedark side of the Moon in 1945.Now, inyear2018, theyhaveplanto return back to the Earth. They»comeinpeace«!

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FILMS, CINEMA, DVD 3.4/5

Aryan Negro and his iance RenateRichter (JuliaDietz),who is teacherofEnglishlanguage.After some time they come toAmericanpresident. She is immedi-ately impressed by theNazi propa-ganda.NaziiconographybecomeanAmerican iconography. At sametimeAdlerhas itsowncalculations.HewantstobecomethenewFuhre.Aftersometimehesucceeds.But than things are turning intostrange and bizarrewaters.We arewitnessing the invasion of Nazisfrom moon in lying sourcers.Steampunk machinery crumblingmodern technology, retro againstmodern.But Americans have ace up hissleeve.TheybringoutresearchshipGeorgeW. Bush, who has, you cannot believe, ‘accidentally’ nuclearhead and is armed to the teeth.Some other countries have similar‘research ships’. The feast is at itspeak.TheU.S.Presidentisallhappy,because in war is American presi-dentalwayselectedforsecondtime..I do not reveal the end of the ilm,

butitisamixtureoffunny,shitandcynical criticism of the existingworldorder.All ends well, but the ilm hassomeproblems.Writersshouldbet-tertakecareofrunningofthestory.In an effort to use cynical jokes atany cost, they sometimes missedstoryandhistory. Forinstance,norin2018nor in2019willnotbetheU.S. presidential elections, theywillbeat2020.Shitupordown,alsoatjokesweneedalotoflogictomain-tainahealthlevel.Film show that was ilmed by‘partisan’budget,butIdonottakeasthenegative sideof the coin.Musicisverygoodbutsometimesfadestomuchintothebackground.Someof the scenes seenonpro-motionalvideosarenotinthemov-ie.Theendisformytastealittlebitscrappy and quickly. In short, themovieisgood,butnotgreat.Ideaofthe ilm eliminates all other inva-sions from outer space. Steampunkenvironment is fascinating. Nazisspeak German, because in Englishthey sucks. Players play their rolesfantastic, the characters are aliveand parody is highlighted. Can youimagine: there is an Aryan blackman who at the and becomes awhitestreetbeggar!But,attheendIhavetoremainrealisticatscoring.

ConclusionandscoreStory 1,4/2Play 0,7/1Implementation 1,0/1,5Tecnicalquality 0,4/0,5

TOTAL3.4/5The ilmwasagoodexperience,worthavisit.Itshowswhatcanbedoneforlowbudgetifrightpeoplecometogether.Slovenianilmmakers,haveyoureadthis?Nevertheless,Icannotdismissunnecessarylogicalholes,sometorninscenarioandexcessiveparody.Comedyyes,buttoalimitedextentandintheright

places.

WECOMEINPEACE!Laibach, musical and artisticcollective has contributed musicforthemovieIronSky.Theyhadaconcert at20thApril2012 inCine-maSiskainLjubljanaanddaylaterin Narodni dom (National House),afterthemoviepremieredinSlove-nia. The basic starting point andfoundationof ilmmusicisRichardWagner. Also a collective Laibachitself was the inspiration for themovie. But Wagner was the onlyoneof the subjects in thismilitaryinvasion of Nazis from the darkside of the Moon. They also playwith other “taboos”. Miha Dovzan,global zither-player played won-derfulsongTakeMetoHeaven.The concert program presentedsome ilm songs which have beenperformed without the orchestra,andanewversionsoftheirfamoussongs We forge the future, Deathfor Death, BrotherMine, YouWhoDareandCountry.Inshort,memo-rableagain!

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FIRST PEEK AT THE ...

Editor’scollectionprefaceZVEZDNI PRAH 2012 - letni zbir slovenske ikcije(STARDUST2012 -yearlygatherofSlovene iction) isnewattemptafterlongyearstocollectyearlyintersec-tion of Slovene short iction prose and poetry in onebook.The third and fourth day of November 2012, afterlongdriedyearswasinCeljeagainorganizedSF/Fcon-vention. As an addition, we asked authors to send ustheir short texts andpoems. Itwas created fat collec-tion ofmore or less successful works. Somewere re-jectedduetoineligibility,someofthemgiventhescalewere placed and will unfortunately have to wait foranotheropportunitytopublish.Attheendofthecollec-tion were published in a story guest from BelgiumFrankRoger.EdoRodošek◊VESOLJSKASFINGASPACESPHINXShort but intense story with an interesting"biological"idea.ItbelongstothecategoryofSFandisclosetoMartianchroniclesbyPhilipK.Dick.Inthede-ceptivelysimpletaleoftwohuntersontheplanetCetusalmost turns intohorror.Human colony just trying tosurviveinthemiddleofaliensenvironment.Theytrytodestroydomesticherbivoresandpredators.ButnatureontheplanetCetusdonotgiveupsoeasily.VidPečjak◊PODOBEIZPRIHODNOSTIPICTURESFROMTHEFUTUREThe Sun, Radiation, Dump, Smog, Water-water aretitles of short storieswithinnovel frame.This are sto-ries in the category of cataclysmic future and are eco-oriented.VidPecjakisde initelyagreatstoryteller,put-tingtheprotagonistsinthepositiontosolveunexpectedsituations.AndrejIvanuša◊VANDROVECWANDERERHeroicfantasystory,basedontheSlovenianmythol-ogyandfairytales.MihaMazzini◊ČAKAJOČVWINNEMUCKIWAITINGINWINNEMUCKYAninterestinglookatthefundamentalChristianbe-liefinGodandhisson.Interestinglycarriedastorythatdrawsusintohimself.Theideaisthatpeoplearegen-erally "good" and Aliens from different dimensions ofSpaceare "bad".What theydowhen their "laboratoryrabbits"behavedifferentlythantheyexpect?

TanjaMencin◊KAZNILNICAPLANETNIČPENITENTIARYPLANETZEROStrangethingshappenedwhenajournalistarrivesatthepenitentiaryplanet.BojanEkselenski◊ZVEZDNIOTROKSTARCHILDNo one believes claims of little boy that he camefromstars.Everythingchangewhenhislittlegirlfriendbecomesick…MihaPleskovič/LucasKane◊KONECPOTI?ENDOFJOURNEY?Whatistheessenceofourexistence?UrošPotočnik◊SOLFFEGIOInteresting idea about the multi-dimensionality ofspace.Musiciansontheforgottenplanetdecidethefateof the universes with music. But than strange “nasalcold”decimatedtheorchestraandallthishasfatalim-pactonstructureofouruniverse.OneyaB.Rajšel◊MAVRIČNOLETO2013/3013RAINBOWYEAR2013/3013Story in an interestingway varies the themeof theendoftheworld21.12.2012andathousandyearslater(althoughthisisthemainprotagonist iction).PrimožJenko◊OGRLICAZBISEROMNEKLACEWITHPEARLThestorypaintsaperfectrelationshipbetweenhus-bandandwifewhoaremarriedforsometime.Themanbelieves in the technology, while the wife believes inthesupernatural.Thecontrastbetweenthesetwopolesisthebestpartofthestory.MajdaArhnauerSubašič◊NEPORAVNANDOLGOUTSTANDINGDEBTTheauthorbelievesthat"spaceforces"directusandthatwemustpaynow,laterorinthenextgenerationsthe‘life’debtthatwehavemade.TanjaMencin◊3PESMI/3SONGSTamaraZaner◊MISLI/THOUTSPoetryFrankRoger◊KRIOPIKNIK(translatedbyMartinVavpotic)Interestinghorrorstorywhatcanhappenedtoreachpeople (bodies) who decided to cryogenically freezetheminthehopethatonedaymedicinewillsavetheirterminallyillbody.

STARDUST2012YEARLYGATHEROFSLOVENEFICTIONbyAndrejIvanuša

ZVEZDNI PRAH 2012ZVEZDNI PRAH 2012 letni zbir slovenske fikcijeletni zbir slovenske fikcije

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NOFANDOMINAUSTRIA!?byNinaHorvath

Austrian fandom– it´s an odd topic, isn´t it? – Andyes, joining international science- ictionmight be likeourcontributiontotheEurovisionSongcontest.Yes,wewerethere,butwewerelast.Theverylast.Being at the Eurocon in Zagreb –my irst Euroconever–mademe thinka lotabout the internationalSFfandomandtheroleAustrianplaysinit.Iamtooyoungto be the grande dame of the Austrian fandom, thusplease excuse if anyone has more insight in it. /This work is just my expression of what I know and what I have experienced in our Austrian Scene./ ButIhavebeenascience- ictionfansincekindergar-tenage(Iusedto lovewatchingStarTrekwithmyel-derbrother,later,asIwasannoyedaboutallthebookson teenage girl with horses, I was 'wildering' in the'boys´ shelves' in library and became a sucker forbooks)andIhavebeenpublishingSFshortstoriesformorethantenyears.Duetothat,Igottoknowalotofinterestingpeopledealingwiththatsubject,mostlyviainternet – but it was especially with future settingswith future settings with future settings with futuresettingswith future settingswith future settingswithfuturesettingswithfuturesettingswithfuturesettingstoughtogettoknowpeoplereallylivingclosetome.Pleasenotethatthisworkisjustmy–certainlylim-ited–pointofviewthatIsumuphereit,Idonotrefertoanyarticleonasimilartopic.But back to the Eurocon: A lot of guests thought itwas interestingtohaveusguysaround–sadly,notasthey loveourSFbooksandmovies(whatmoviesany-way!?),andevennotasAustriaissofarawayfromCro-atia (it is not, it tookme just ive hoursbybus to getthereand Iwouldbet thatmostof thekeen fans takelongertripstogettoagoodconvention!)thatyoucancallthecounty'exotic'-butourfansaresimplynotsokeenongoingtoeventslikethat,sotheyareakindofa'rarespecies'.FanClubsOfcourse,aseverycountry,wehavelotsoffanclubsthat deal somehow with science- iction. For me it isverydif iculttodecideinfavouroragainstwhichonesare really important, especially as it is very often noteasy to indoutany informationabout them ifyoudonothaveafriendwhohasat leastoncetakenyoutoameeting.ButIwouldsimplyclaimthatwedonothaveanydistinguishedoroutstanding fan clubworthmen-tioninginourcountry.TheusualAustrianSF-clubcon-sistsofaboutmaybetenactivemembers.Alotofthemareofftherecordfanclubs,hencemostofthemdonoteven claim an annual fee. Thatmakes it is dif icult tospecify the exact number of 'real' members, because

institutions at no charge provoke lots of nominal andinactivemembers.Nomatterifsmallerorbiggerfanclubs–there’snounity and organizing authority, and as a fan youmaynotgettoknowanyinformationabouttheseclubsandore maybe won´t even hear anything about them inyour entire life, even if you are really seeking for fanactivities.Thecommiteddevoteesoftenmeetinrestaurants,asit is an easyway toorganize suchameeting. Someofthemare intoStarWars, someareStarTrekworship-pers,thegreatestamountoffansismainlyinterestedingeneral topics of science- iction, very often they arealsofantasyfansatthesametime.Somedoonline-role-playing-games and meet every now and then to playgames,someofthefollowersconsiderthemselvesasan'outpost'oftheGermanfanclubscene.Afewhavees-tablished fanzines, even thoughmost of such projectsceasedtoexistinmuchlessthanadecade.OnefanclubIwanttomentionistheScienceFictionGruppe Wien (SFGW). This is also the place where Iheard about the Eurocon in Zagreb. We meet once amonth in a restaurant, we chat about science- iction,eat, drink and enjoy a short program. This could be aspeech on any science- iction topic or astronomy, areading, an introduction of a local publisher, a reportonaconvention,etc.ButwhatIthinkthemostremark-ablethisisthattheclubgoeswayback.Itwasfoundedin1955.Andstillmostofthepeoplearefoundingmem-bers or joined only a short time after the birth of theSFGW. I love this community, as it seems to be a fanclubthatcanbeanimportantpartofyourlifefordec-ades.Thatis,inmyopinion,ararepleasure.Science- ictionandfantasyawardsToputitbluntly,therearenoseriousgenreawardshereinAustria.Saynomore.Butasweshareourmoth-ertonguewiththeGermans,Austrianauthorscanpar-ticipate in most of the German awards. There is theDeutscherScienceFictionPreisforscience- ictionshortstories and novels. Decisions aremade by a jury. Theprizeforthewinnersis1000Euroineachcategory.AnotherGermanaward is theDeutscherPhantastikPreis.Apublicvotedecideson thewinners there.Theaward ishonoring fantasy,horrorandscience- ictionliterature,coverdesignandwebpages.Anotherimportantscience- ictionawardistheKurd-Laßwitz-Preis.Thisonestandssomewhereinbetweenthe irsttwoawards–thereisnorealjury,andalsonopublicvote.Thepersonsincharge,whoareallowedtodecideonthewinningauthors, irsthavetoprovecom-mitmenttoscience- iction.

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Last, but not least, there is the Vincent Preis. ThenameisatributetothedirectorVincentPrice.Anditisalso a playonwords, since 'Price' is prounouncedasthe German word 'Preis', which is the translation for'award'.Thewinnersareelectedbyapublicvote.PublishingAustriahasquiteanumberofpublishinghouses,butonlya fewthatprovidereaderswithaparticularysci-ence ictionalprogram.Smallpublishinghousescomeandgo,neverthelessitisquitepossibletohaveanoverview.Thereareonlyfew becausemost customers are often notwilling topay the high shipping fees , especially since Austriadoes not charge book shipping separately, as manyothercountriesdo.Mostpotentialcostumers arealsoinGermanywhatmeansevenmorepostage.A serious attempt had beenmade by the publisherOtherworld to establish a program with languagetranslationsofinternationalauthorstranslatedauthorsfrom the German-speaking countries. The productswere quite popular (especially the post-apocalypticzombie novels), nevertheless it was absorbed by thebigpublisherUeberreuterandbecameoneifitslabels.By now, Ueberreuter has abandoned this label. I con-siderthisabiglossfortheAustrianfandom!Forme,ittookmanyyearsuntilIhadmy irstshortstory published by an Austrian publishing house, alt-houghIamaanativeAustrianlivinginAustriaandatthistimeIalreadyhadnomajorproblemstogetastoryprinted inaGermanpublishinghouse.Yes, it isasab-surdas itsounds.Mydebut inAustriawas in thepro-gramofthepublishinghouseSeptimeandananthologywithinternationalfemaleauthors.Theyprimarilypub-lishedSouthAmerican literature,but fantasy isalsoamajor part of their program. A complete editionwithnew translations of the works of SF author JamesTiptreejr.isthemajorproject.Lately, I also came across a new publisher, Mond-wolf,thatreleasesfantasyanthologiesandnovels.Iamhavingoneof theseathome,andeventhoughtheydonotdealwithSF,Icanonlysay:Livelongandprosper!ConventionsWedonotreallyhavea'pure'fantasyorSFconven-tion inAustria. Ihavebeenaskedabout itmanytimesattheEurocon,aboutour'nationalconvention'Imean.But … it is a question I have answer with somethinglike:'What,uhm,pardon?'–'Whatever…'–'Ah,Isee…'–'Nationalcon?Well,notsureaboutit,butwehavecon-ventions.'–'Conventionsforscience- ictionfans?-Notreally…'-'Well…surewehavefansinAustria…'I asked around a lot in our local scene, but all theresults I got were some sort of unsatisfying. A lot ofthem replies I got referred to events that took placetwenty years ago, anyway – I won´t talk about that.Abouttheothercurrentconventions,withnon-SFcon-

tents, well, please do not misunderstand me: theseeventsaregreatforotherfans,butasafanofscience-iction, fantasy and horror books and as a writer ofthose, I am simply not themain target group, hence Icannottalkaboutthatindetail.One example are anime conventions.Austriahas–especiallyifyouconsiderthesmallsizeofthecountry-quitealotofthem,anditiscertainlyfunnytobepartofthesemeetings,especiallyasalotofmangaandanimesdealwithfantasysubjects.ButitissimplynottheplacetodiscussagoodSF-bookandwritersthereareusuallyjust into fan ictions.One justhas to takea lookat thecompetitionsusuallyofferedthere.Anotherproblemformanyofus 'grownup'writersis,inmyopinion,thelowaverageofageofthevisitorsthere. As an actually youngman or womanmaybe inthelatetwentiesorattheageofthirty-something,youwillmostcertainlyalreadystartfeelinglikeagrannyorgrandpa!SeriousattemptstosupportourfandomweremadelastyearwiththeMACOnventioninLinz.Onthisthree-day-anime-conventionthehostersofferedseveralread-ings on fantastic issues. For some of us itwas a goodexperience,butnotforall.Themainproblemwasthatmostof the regularguestswere simplynot interestedin sitting in a room,where a panel of literature is of-fered.Italsodependedontime,indeed.ButIfeltlikeasifoursteampunkpanelgotmorevisitorsthanthehor-ror readings. Another problem was the noise, evenwith all doors closed. I can remember that the mainthemesofpopularanimeswerehammeringinourearsduringareading.Itwasvirtuallyimpossibletoconcen-trateonthereader’swords. Itwasawell-intentionedtry,anyway.Wewillseehowitisgoingtoworkoutinthefuture.OnecouldsaysimilarthingsabouttheViennaFanta-syGamingCon.Itwasaneventforrole-players,andifyou lived near, it certainly was worth having a lookaround, even if you are – likeme – not a role-player.The entrance fee was not that expensive and at leastonecouldenjoysomeshoppinganddoalittlesocializ-ing.Butahugeproblemformewasthattherewasjustthisone loorandonebighall.Therefore,therewasnoadequatewaytosetupbookpanelsbecausetheyneedaquietsurrounding.Infact,thatisthecasewithmanyfaneventshereinAustria,suchascomicfairs(wehavetwoofthemthatbothtakeplaceseveraltimesperyearinVienna): thereareno separate rooms forestablish-ingpanelsforspeechesandreadings.Ionceheldareadingtogetherwithmypublisheratthe Vienna Fantasy Gaming Con.We got chairs at theend of the loor and yes, therewas even an audiencelisteningto.Butitwasveryloud,whatmadetheread-ingsusuallyabadoreventraumaticexperiencefortheauthor.Andyoucan´teventelltheguestsandkeepersofthefairstandsaroundyoutojustshutup(whileyoucanaskpeoplewhoarenotquietusually just to leavethereadingorevenletthembekickedoutoftheroom

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byconventionsecurity)becausetheydohavetherightto talk to each other and to their costumers a publicevent,indeed.AsfarasIknow,2011wasprobablythelasttimetheevent had taken place. That would certainly be a biglossfortheSFfandominAustria.When I asked about science- iction conventionssomeonesuggestedmetovisit thePerryRhodanCon-vention. I do not know how famous Perry Rhodan isoutside the German-speaking countries (although ithad been translated into many languages, includingeven Japanese), so I will explain for everyone: PerryRhodan,namedafterthemainprotagonist,isascience-ictionseriesoriginallypublishedinbooklets–lotsandlots of booklets. It used to be very popular whenmyDadwasstillaschoolboy.Icanperfectlyrememberhisnarrations on the excitement he felt about the newphantastic issues introduced in the booklets, and thejuveniledespairwhenhisMum,followingtheadviceofmyDad’steacher,threwthemaway.Youhavetoknowthat at this time inAustria stories like thePerryRho-dan ictionwasconsideredtobesecondclassliteraturethatwouldspoilchildren.Today,therearealsosoft-andhardcoverbookspub-lished,aswellasaudiobooks. Ionlyknowlittleaboutit,buttheserieshasgrownsoenormously,especiallyinquantitativeway, thatonemustread fordecades ifhewantstobecomearealinsider.Coming back to the convention, well, it was justdownthestreetfromwhereIlive,andwithnoentrancefee topay, I thought Icouldgive ita try.Remember, Iam science- iction nerd. Even though the event wastakingplace in the townIamresidentof, Ihad lotsoftrouble inding the location. That was because I ex-pectedsomekindofeventcenter,probablyaschoolorsomethingcomparable,whereconventionsusuallytakeplace.ButIwasunableto indanythingthatlookedlikeaconvention.Finally,itIrecognizedamorethanaver-agecity-houseastheplacewheretheactionisgoingon.Andguesswhat? Ievenhadtoring thedoorbell (!) togetintothebuilding.MyfriendandIwereclimbingthe

stairsandcheckedeach loor,butonlyordinary latsofprivatepersonscameinsight.Infact,themeetingwastakingplaceinthebasement,aswe indoutafteralongtime of searching. Itwas kind of creepy getting downthere,andwhenwe inallyencounteredtheotherfans,I noticed that there were only a very few womenamongtheguests.Mycompanionwhisperedinmyear:'Hereareoldmenonly!'However, we stayed for a while. But I did not feelquitecomfortablethere,Ihavetoadmit.Mostprobably,this convention is theperfect event for thosewhoarePerryRhodanfanssincethebeginningoftheseries,butforme it is certainly not a place I everwant to comebacktoagain.AndIdoubtthatalotofnewpeoplewilljointhateventinfuture.Thisyear, someattemptsarebeingmadeestablish-ing German mainstream genre conventions here inAustria.Theywillbeheldforthe irsttimeever.Idon´tmakepredictions,andIalsodonotcare thatmuch, tobehonest,Iamnotkeentomeetsomestarsfromase-riesforvampireaddictteenagers.For me, the situation with conventions in Austriawasand is totallyunsatisfying,even ifyoucan´tclaimthattherearenoconventionsatall.Butforasci- i fanor anyone interested in fantasy literature in general,everythingseemstobeacompromise.IusuallygotoGermanytwiceayeartoenjoypanelson literatureandgood talks to fans, authors andpub-lishers.2012wasthe irsttimeIwenttoaconventionoutsidethebordersofAustriaorGermany–theEuro-con inZagreb–and itwasa real great experience forme.Iamsureitwasn’tthelasttimethatIhadbeentoaneventsuchastheEurocon!I hope toattend somemore conventions like this. Igotalotofinvitationstoeventsinneighbouringcoun-trieslately.Sowewillsee!Nevertheless, I love living in Austria, as it is a gor-geouscountryandofcourseitismyhome!Butforfansandauthorsofgenre-literature therearenot thebestconditionstobefoundhere. <>

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TEASER

DANGOBER:BATTLEATALERTBEACONPREFACETOTHEADAPIANEDITIONbyMaraR.Sirako,translatedbyPeroA.RespectedandappreciatedAdapians,serialnumberH-52!SpecialgreetingtofemaleAdapians,serialnum-berH-52!My name is Kognitus Set'Rl actually President ofKognitusChamberwhichmightnotmeana lot toyou,butitsurelymeansalottome.Letmejustsay,Ioccupyavery,butreallyaveryimportantposition.RightnowI'm lyingon thebeach, in a lower - pattern shirt andshorts which can't stop rubbing my ass. Sometimes Itakea look atholomatrix,where I can followyourTVstations. Now and then some commercials betweenkilling,monster-like behavior,wars, criminal and eve-rything else shownon your stations.Honestly, I don'tcare, I just carryout the lastKognitusChamber'sRec-

ommendations about Adapians awareness (Of icial Bul-letin no. 127/825292), but personally, I think no-onecan reallymake you aware. Just like us, Dangoberian,weren'tabletobeaware. Wewererushingandrush-ing into abyss, almost destroying our own planet inGreatWaranyyet,nothingchangedourpointofview.Recentlywe almost destroyedwhole galaxy includ-ingAdapiansystem,butyoudon'tknowthatandfrank-ly,maybe it should stay thatway.And it's inebyme,I'mjustfollowingourLaw of Adaptians and other creat-ed rights (Of icial Bulletin no. 27/800250), Recommen-dations of dealing with Adaptians and other created (Of icial Bulletin no. 256/800251), Ethical codex of Geaneators and other Dangoberian about treating with Adaptians and other created (Of icial Bulletin no. 115/800253) andMethods of cyclical management with unwanted emotions when working with Adaptians (Of icial Bulletin no. 101/800255), justlikethat'sex-pected fromme by Kognitus Chamber and Senate. Soyouwon'ttalkaboutbeingunaware!That'swhy Iwould like to nicely, evenmorenicelyandthemostnicelyaskyoutotakecareofyourAdapia.YoumaythinkthatyoucangoondestroyingitandasfarasI'minformed,youareevenignoringwarningsofyour vice president of global force! Even though youhave diligently and carefully given him award for hiswarningsaboutglobal warming,which is,bytheway,becomingpolitical.But,backtoyourplanet.Idon'tcaresincemysonistheownerandifhecon igureditseveraltimesbefore,whynotagain.ArmyownshimfavoranywayandifwemoveMiaRonestepclosertosun,he'llcon igureittoo!Justlikethewayitoncewas.Sofrommypointofview,yourdestroyingofAdapiadoesn'tmovemeatall.Butyoushouldn'tbesoignorant!Becausethat'stheonly planet you ever andwill have. Go on, destroy it,but then what? You seriously think that life on MiaRwillbeprovided?

I don't think so! And that you'll be able to expandyourselfacrossthegalaxy?Mistaken, my friend Petrawould say. I emphasize,

big mistake!Galaxyhasalreadybeenconqueredbyus.Iknow,itmay seem empty, barren and uninhabited, but whatyouseeisn'talwaystrue.Galaxyinwhichyouliveisfullofus,Dangoberian.Letmejusttellyouwhatyouhavedonerecently.OnMiaR therewereUr, ChronandDio inmiddleof theirbusynesswhensuddenlytherecameyourpieceofshitalonganddecidedtoland.Smash, and it plumped straight in front of te-radefender. Ur and Chron even bet if it will land onDio's right or left side. Their bet was on left, but itcrasheddownintotallyoppositedirection.ItalmosthitDio's forehead! Poor guy didn't even move away, hewasexcitedtoseewhat'sgoingtohappen.And itwasverycloseforthatstupidpunktolandinhealchamberagain!Iwasn'treallysureifIshouldbemadonYoungSupervisors or on you. That kid just managed to ixhimself,butno,herecameyourrubbishthing!Luckily, Dio has got some sense of humor. Set, he

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triedtoexplainme,those Adapians barely hit the planet!If thatwould happen tome, just saying, Iwould grabthat probe, or whatever you call this thing, and startjumpingontopofituntilitwouldbedissolvedsobadlythatevenArecouldn'tbeabletoputittogether.Well, your probe almost hit Dio and then it dies.Dies!Poorkid took it apart, cleaned it, put it back to-getherandleftwhereitshouldhavelandedinthe irstplace.Andyouthinkthatyourrubbishlikeprobedidn'trespondforamonthandthenitstartedworkingallbyitself?You'rewrong! I toldyouthat,sowouldn'tthinkwe are evil - minded. We even repair your probes ifpush comes to shove.Because youneed a lot of prac-tice...Goahead!Nowyouareatthestatewhenyoucanevenhittheplanet.Afteracenturyorsoyou'llhaveonenicestationonMiaR,unlessyou'llextinctduringanoth-erwar.So, about yourplanetAdapia, galaxy isours, neigh-bour galaxies has been bought and their owners arebakingherewithmeonthebeachandwaitingfortheirjoytopass.Becauseourkidsareherewithusandthatdoesn't mean anything good for decent Dangoberian.Wecouldbe loodedwithwaterordraggedintosaltwa-terbutintheworstcasescenariotherewillbemywifetryingtodrownme.WhatcanIsay,ourcivilizationisalittleolderthenyoursandwaterisn'tourfavoriteenvi-ronment.Brrrr-justtothinkaboutit.Oh, there'ssomething Iwould like toadd, since I'mhere to aware you. Forme, there ain't a bigger shockthansomeonecallingothersnamebecauseofskincol-or,religionornationality.MydearAdapians.Adapiaisonlyoneandyouarethe same kind.That'syourplanetwhere you are the only civilization, others are onlyyourguests.Adapiaishomeofallofyou!Thatplanetincon iguredtofeedevery inhabitant it has.Andyouaredoingwhat?Ononesideyouthrowyourfoodawaybutontheothersidepeoplearedyingofstarvation!Ononesideoftheplanetyou'restoringtoxicwastesbutontheother side you're producing them and thinking how great, we dumped them on the bottom of the sea. I'mnotpretty sure, maybe you never saw this phenomenon,butwatercirclesandbelieveornot, that ishappeningconstantly.Youpoisonitononesidebutsoonerorlateryou'lldrinkitonyoursafe side of the world.On top of it throughout the history you're sufferingfromonesinglemistakeand letme tellyouwhichonethat is.DearAdapiansand femaleAdapians,every day thousand of you die! Onebecauseofstarvation,otherbecauseofdiseasesandsomebecauseofviolence!Youronlypotentialandyouronlywayoutiswhatyouhappi-ly throw away daily. Every day potential geniuses orworkersarekilled.How many smart kids die every day? So?Haveyoueverthoughtaboutit?Howmuchdoyoulose because of those deaths? If you take a look at allkidswhodieinpoorpartsoftheworldandonly one on 500 years is genius,thenyoulostalot.Trustme,there'sa lotofsmartones, little lessofgeniusesandevenlesshumanbeingswhoactuallydeservebeingcalledHuman.

One and same mistake is made daily, your wholehistoryisrepeatingofthatmistake!Yourpowerisn'tinweapons!With it you can only destroy yourself, youcan'tdestroyusorSecondSpecies!Yourstrengthisequaltoourone.Itishuman mind.YourbrainsarethebiggestandthemostprecioustreasureofAdapiaandthat'stheonly thing you still don't get it! It ain't gold, it ain'trocks,itain'tyourcredits!You are the biggest wealth of Adapia! ButjustlikeIsaidbeforeto make you aware is losing time. You'relikeus,Dangoberian.Too self-assure to lis-ten, too self-assure in your technology to let it go. Youseedevelopmentinbetterandmoreterrifyingweaponsbutnotinbetterschoolsforyourchildren.So what if someone is born in poverty and then dies in it. Butsoon-erorlateryouwill indoutthatallthosebrainswhichdieeveryday,allthosechildrenwhostarveuntildeathcouldsavemanyproblemsyou'refacing.I warned you, I tried tomake you aware and yet Iknow that it was for nothing. But while I'm waitingwhich one ofmy kidswill gladlywith encouraging ofmyownwifepullmeintosaltwaterI'llgivesomeatten-tiontoadapians lovit,whichIlovefrombottomofmyheart.Justlikemyson,Sa.Yes,Ididn'tmentionhimbycoincidence.Since I'mdictating this forewordIshouldusethischance.At irstwewantedtoshowyouwhat'shappeninginAdapian system over holomatrix. We did it, tried totakethemtoyourTV,LCD,plasma,108cmandmoreindiagonal, latscreen,wetriedeverything.Andwequit.It's not about LCD or lat screen, we found out, thatAdapiansaretooconfusedtowatch10TVsatthesametimeunless there's thesamematrixon them, just likeyoudoitinyourstores.Sowedecidedtowriteit.Sa'sidea!IfIhavetoawareyou,letmedothisthenforyou.That'swhy,mydearandlovingfemaleAdapiansserialnumberH-52,letmespeaktoyouasafather.Betweenus, friend to friend, here's a secret. My youngest sondecided to marry Adapian. It's ine by me. I say it'sgood! YoungAdaptian isn't hard to be taught, but oldDangoberianis.

Set, you're interfering, he'll say, after reading this. What should I do, young man?! You need to be put in commercials, just like Adapian detergent, there ain't oth-er way! IhopethatsomebeautifulyoungAdaptianwillreadthosewords,withnervesoflong-tailedequiner,serialnumberOT/726,youwouldberecognizedasthehorse,oreventougher,becausethat'sprerequisite forrelationshipwithmy son. So, 197 cm, green eyes andlong hair, able to change it's color, he's searching fe-maleAdapianforseriousrelationship.He'saoccasionaldrinker,wellsituated,non-activeGeneralandcurrentSenator, he can ly everything and do many otherthings. Great time guaranteed, there weren't a singleonewhowouldcomplain.Take a look around, my dear female Adapians. Ifyou'rearebeingsecretlywatchedbytallman,likehe'snot even watching you and meanwhile he's softly

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scratching his chest and licking his lips, well, that'smustbemysonSa!Ithelpsifyou'recarryingadapianslovit,youcanevenusethatsmallpackingyounormal-ly eat forbreakfast.Or candy, that's a goodbait too. Iwon'tmentioncakes!I'msure,youwon'tmissnothingwith chocolate. And just something before I forget. Iwouldhavebeenvery,butreallyveryhappyifthere'sagirloutthereabletotamemyson.Goahead,bebravesohewouldn't resist toomuch.He's just likeme, youknow, and there haven't been even one in my wholefamilywhowouldlethimselfbeingtamedbyfemale!Well,that'sit.Iwouldtalkmoreabouthim,butherecomesmywife, drivingmymind to awhole differentplaces.Forexample,Iwondereverysingletime,whyisshe having all those blankets all over her body andspoilingmypanoramic view. I fullyunderstand,we'reonAdapiaandthat'swhywerespect localhabits.Likeyoudon'tknowwhat'sunderthem?But,thoseblanketswith loviviansdo ither.

Greetings to all of you. Think about it, what yourhometrulyis,andareyoureallysodifferentfromeachotherthenyoukeeptellingyourself.PresidentofKognitusChamberSet'RlP.S.orpostscriptumcolon.AsI'vebeenwarnedbymysonSa,it'skindapopulartomakethelist of terms withdescriptions, just like the readers are cognitivelyaffectedanddidn't,inthecontextitself,foundoutthatthere'salotofweirdwords.Hereyouwon'tseethis.Idon'tfeelanyurgetodescribehowourmachineslooklike, becauseyouwon't beable tomake themandwegavesomespecialefforttonotmentionsomeofthem.Ifwegaveagoodideatosomeone,letitbe.Itwilltakea long time that you'll be able to hit anythingbracketanyonebracketelseinuniversethenonlyaplanet.

RužaM.BarićBizjakaliasMaraR.SirakoandDangoberMara R. Sirako lives in Kranj, Slovenia,whereshewasbornin1966. During herstudies, she worked as reporter andbecame Managing Editor of the stu-dentsnewspaperTribuna.In1994,shewasemployedwithMinistryofCulturewhere she was aide of Minister andlater of General Secretary of Minister.Currently she works in the of ice ofchiefinspectorofMinistryofCultureasinspectorforlibrariesandpublishing.SheiscofounderofsocietyZVEZDNIPRAH (STARDUST). She published herirstsagaDangoberin2009,whichwasalso irstSlovenianSFspaceopera.Thenovel Spopad pri Opozorilniku (Battleat Alertbeacon) is divided in threebooks. *****The Saga Dangober, Battle atAlertbeacon describes two civiliza-tions, the Dangober, and the Adap.Dangober´s scientists who createdAdaps (us, inhabitants of Earth) were25.000yearsagoaccusedofhightrea-son. Instead of isolating scientists anddestroying their equipment, the armyaccidentally, due to malfunction ofarms destroys scientists and leavesAdaps space afterwards. Same scien-tistssurvivedandlivedwithAdapsformillenniums. After Dangober govern-ment issued a reprieve to scientists,

onlyOt-An-ElreturnstoDangober.Theothersarestilltryingtodeterminewhowas responsible for massacre of twoscientists who were killed that fatefulday.The story begins with meeting ofAdap astronauts and Dangober Con-trollers. To prevent discovery, one ofthescientists-Are’S’Or-givesanordertoControllers toevacuateAdapsnatu-ralsatellite.Dangobersarmyafterwardseemingly without reason beginsarmed ight between their own space-ships.Duetoheavycasualties,scientisthave to reveal theirhiding inorder tohelpwoundedpersons.BetweencasualtieswereAdmiralofDangober’s Army, Ba'L’Or, and Presi-dentofCouncil’s -Set’Rl.OnAdmiral’sorder Lot-An-El returns to MiaR andbringswithhimthreeDangober’sSen-ators and one of themost popular re-portersTu'P-An.It turns out, that the meeting be-tween astronauts and Controllers wascarefully orchestratedplot ofNewOr-der.Thissecretsocietyusedthemeet-ing toget ridof theirenemies.Dango-ber’s realize that thewar at Alertbea-conbeganlongbefore,withoutanyonerealizing what was happening. Evenmore shocking was realization, thattheywere victims andwere sacri icedtodieandperish.Relationships further complicatesthe fact that two scientist marriedAdapwomenandstarteda family.ForDangober’s this was unacceptable, as

they considered Adap’s inferior.Are’S’Or was in the process ofmarry-inghisgirlfriendMaria,whowaspreg-nantwithhischild.Due toproblemswithherpregnan-cy, Maria was transferred to Hat- An-Tor,oneofthesurvivingscientists.Aredecides to tell Maria the truth abouthimselfandhislifeonAdapplanetandmarryher.Apartofthefactofhertrou-bledpregnancy,Mariamustalsoacceptthe fact, that her husband is extrater-restrial, and that he possesses far ad-vanced technology. Although herhealth is deteriorating, she becomes acenterofaction.Poor,naiveandwith-out education, she nevertheless withher behavior and loving attitude to-wardsherhusbandslowlybreaksDan-gober’s customs and without wantingto, unveils humanity of system inwhichmoneyismorethanaHuman.Oras Are’S’Or says: »It is painful whenAdap is more Human than Dangober,where they have forgotten how to beHuman.« <>

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ATTHETIPOFTHECASTLETOWERbyAndrejIvanuša,translatedbyauthorProofreadingKatjaBergles

Slovenian prize “Drejček in trije marsovčki” for best fantasy story 2011-2012) Hereachedouthishandandgrabbedawoodenpil-lar. All the construction below him was dangerouslyshaking in the rhythmofhis climbing.Hehasclimbedthetreesmanytimes.Butthiswasdifferent,moreun-pleasantandunnatural.

“Do not look down! Absolutely do not look down!” hesaidtohimself.Heclimbedalmostwithhiseyesclosedand held his chin up in hope that his curiositywouldnotbeathimandhewould lookdown.Withbare feetheclungontothethinbeams,whichwerebuiltforsup-port.Finally,hesteppedonanarrowboard,onthelastone,whichwasontopofthescaffolding.Sittingonithecouldreachthesphereatthetipofthecastletower.From the bottom of his heart he hated themaster,whohad senthimuphere.His stomachwasgrowlingandhisfearoffallingfoggedhismind.“Youwilleatwhenyoucomedown!Inthatwayyouarelessheavyandyouwillclimbtothetopfaster,”hadsaid the master mockingly when he had complainedabout his hunger. Then, suddenly, themaster had hitthebackofhisneckwitha lathandandhiseyeshadblurredforamoment.“Come on! Let's go!” the master had commandedsharply.Therehadbeennootherchoice,buttoobey.Atirstitwashard,andthenitwaseasier.Hejustwasn’tallowedtolookdownintothedepth.Sonowhewasonthetop.Hesatonanarrowboard.Abrushwithmetalbris-tles was dangling on a leash attached to his belt. Hejammedanoldtanneddeerskininsteadofaclothintohispants.Hegrabbedthebrushandbegantoscrubtherustandbirddroppingsfromthemetalball.Thespire,ontowhichtheballwasattached,wasconstantlyslight-lyswingingunderitsmovement.Whilehewasrubbinghewasthinkingabouttheball,abouthimselfandaboutthewizards’tower.Aboutthecursedanddamnedtow-er.Soitwasrumored!Thisfurtherincreasedhisfear.“Do not look down,” hesaidtohimselfandsoonthewordswere echoing in hishead and in the rhythmofhishands.Heforgotthathewashangingoverthecastlerooftops,andthathewouldsurelyburstintothousandspiecesifhefellonapawedstonepathway,faraway...there somewhere ... on the bottom.He almost faintedduetohishunger.Thereforehestoppedforawhile,putdownthebrushandtiedhimselfwith therope,whichdangledfromthemiddleofthecentralpillar.He encouraged himself and looked down. Peoplewere like antsand treeswere like shrubs.He thought

howfunnyitisthateverythingbecomessosmall.Thatputhiminagoodmoodandhesuppressedthegrowl-ing in his stomach.Hebegan rubbing the spherewitheven bigger force. He was rubbing the sphere almostangrilyand inhismindhedeniedthattherewouldbeanythingmagical in itoron the tiporon thewizards’tower.Wizardornot,tohimthiswasnotimportant.Atthe end he was rubbing the sphere mechanically. Hewas angered by the rivets, since the iron wire brushwas sticking to their edges. They were necessary be-cause they were holding together the curved panelsfromwhich theballwasmade.Frombelow the towerthesphereseemedsmooth.Butfromupcloseitlookedlikearidiculouspilewithrustyedgesandwithcount-lessrivets.Aftersomerubbing,theball’spanelsstartedgleaming likeabrassandthespheresuddenlymoved.Hestoppedandleanedforwardtobetterseewhatwashappening.“Look, look, Jacky! The sphere can be opened! …What is in it?”hemuttered inhischin.Onepanelwaslying on the second panel below and the edge lookedlikeasmallrail.Hetriedtoputa ingerintotheopeningso he could push theplates apart. Itwas not possiblebecauseoftherustinalittlechannel.

Whatyousee–exists.Whatexists–yourecognize.Whatyourecognize–youname.Whathasaname–hadbeenseenbythe irst-one–whoeverwas.Thatonebeinginalleternity–Svetovid!Sve-to-vid/All-this(world/spa�e)-seer/Supreme god Svetovid dreamed in the eternity. When heopenedhiseyesthestars lewoutandwiththemeverythingthatexists,thewholeUniverse,too.

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Hegrabbed thebrush.He rubbed frantically, tryingtofreethepanel fromtherust.Finallyhescrubbedallof theremainingrustandthepanelslidto thesidebyitself.Thespherewashollow.However,hecouldn’tseetheinteriorwell,ashesatsidewaystotheopening.Heput his hand into the darknesswith caution and fear.He trembled and worried that something might grabhis fore inger.Hewason thewizards’ towerandwhoknowswhat could be hidden in this ... hollow sphere.Maybe...somethingvicious.Hecouldn’timaginewhatitcould be. But that “nothingness” was scary. His handwas trembling, but nevertheless he pushed it deeperand deeper into the dark interior. He felt a shelf onwhichakindofsquareobjecthadbeenlaid.Itseemedthat itwaswrapped in a rough cloth.He tried to indtheedgesandcornersoftheobjectwithhis ingers.Hetried to lift it, but itwas pretty dif icult.With an out-stretchedhandhedidn’thaveenoughstrengthtopickitup.Maybe it was ... a box or ... a book. Huh, he didn’tknowmuch about books.He saw thembefore, but hehas never read them, since he couldn’t read. Whowouldteachaserfs’ sonhowtoread?Even theyoungmister in the castle did not know how to read. Howwouldthanhereachthatknowledge?Thoseblackantson thepagesof thebook incitedhis interest, butwhocould teach him anything about reading. Plowing andsowing, yes, maybe. Or chopping the trees, diggingditchesalongtheroadandalike.Butreading...hey?!Nowhewasoldandbigenoughtoclimbthewizards’castletowerandscraptherustandbirddroppingswiththebrush.Sincehewasslimandhandy,hewasusefulforsuchlife-threateningtask.Carefully he looked down if anyone was watching.But people below didn’t care what he was doing uphere.Ifheonlyrubbedthemetalballwellandgaveitashiny gloss theywould be satis ied.He thought aboutpullingtheobjectfromtheinsideofthesphere.Buthechanged hismind. This must be done in the evening,whenthenightfalls,sonoonewillsee.He sighted. It became clear to him that he will behungry and rubbing this ball until evening. He mustinish thework;otherwisesomeoneelsewillclimbuphereanddiscoverthatsphereishollow.Bookorwhat-ever it is intheboxmustbesomethingspecial.Other-wise,noonewouldhideitsohighinthehollowsphereatthetipofthecastletower.Wizards’tower,hey!“If this isn’t ... a magic book, my name is not Jacky!” hethought.Itgavehimthecreepstoconsiderthatidea.Afterthathewasrubbingtheballandthespirewithatremendouszealuntiltheevening.Upon inishing, the ball was spotlessly clean. Hepulled the old reindeer leather cloth from behind hisbelt and he polished the sphere to a high-gloss, so itshined like gold. His mouth was dry, but some salivawasstillthere,sohecouldoccasionallyspitonthemet-al and continue rubbing the surface with even morevigour. When the sun went down, the ball caught its

lastraysanddispersedthemoverthecastlecourtyard.People down there, those funny and tiny ants,stoppedinthemiddleof theirworkandwith loudap-provaladmiredtheshinysphere.Jackylaughedtohim-selfwith satisfaction. Then he suddenly realized he isvery, very hungry. But hewaited until the sun disap-pearedbehindthedistanthillsandlightonaballwentout.He stretched and with a great dif iculty pulled theobjectoutofitshideout.Heclosedthepanel.Heuntiedthe rope, which was protecting him from falling. Thebook,nowhewasalmostcertainthattheobjectreallywasabook,waswrappedinaprotectingroughcanvas.Hefastenedeverythingtohisbodyandpulledhistornshirtoverit.Throughthecanvashefeltsomeunknownfeeling,as thousands tinyneedleswouldpenetratehisbody.Thensomestrangeheatspreadoverhisbodyandit was a nice sensation, since the dusky air becamecolder.Like a squirrel he slipped down the scaffold andreached theground.Whenhe touched the courtyard’sloor the dense dusk already lied between the castlewalls.Helookedupandthelastrayofsunlightbouncedoffthesphereandontothegroundinfrontofhisfeet.Thesmallroundsunnyspotshiveredonthepavement,slowlyslidtothecastlewallandthendisappearedinacrack between the stones. The crack was just bigenough forhis indingandheslid thebook into it.Hedidn’tthink,hejustdidit.Heranintothekitchen,whereworkerswerealreadyfeastingonadinner.Masterwavedathimandsatatthetablenexttohim.“Youdidwell, Jacky.Verywell.Lordsaresatis ied!”saidthemasterandshovedalittlebowlwithcoldbrothin front of Jacky and another one with half gnawedbones.Jackylookedatthemastersadly.Helaughedandpulledatinycoppercoinoutofhispocket.”Eat!You'remustbestarving!Andsee, I’ll giveyouthisonetoo,ifyouscrubthespheresontheotherthreecastletowers.” *****

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Water under Silentwood was gurgling and thrum-mingalittleallthetime.Watersnake-onsanddragon-linswereconstantlyshootingbackandforthjustbelowthewater surface. Therewas always enough food un-der the human dwellings. They were prepared to doanything for food; they even allowedhumans to tamethem.Theywerenot toohappywhen the irstpeoplesettledhere inShallowater.Those impatientonesalsooccasionallyatesomerecklesshuman.Although,appar-ently people are not too tasty. But eventually theyfoundawaytocoexistwiththenewcomers.“Ey, if they only knew,” thoughtwizardZeomay.Hechuckled.“A little magic and there is peace in the house!” Hesteppedonaterrace,formedfromthelowerseed-head of the big-swamp-pumpkin. The whole growth-buildingwasswinging likeabigpendulumintheafter-noonbreeze andwas slightlywhimpering.Onhis backthewizardwascarryingablackbag,whichappearedtobealive.Fromtimetotimesomethingmovedinsideofit.Abovetheterraceawoodenstemofagreatpuddle-bushelwasclimbing. Itsopenwhiteblossomssmelledsweet and intoxicating. Hundreds of tiny dust-feederswere lyingaroundtheblossomsanditseemedlikethewhole puddle-bushel hummed in a rhythm, whichlulledthesenses.Itwasrockinginthewindanditsfatlakeswerestickingtoeachother.Whentheywerere-leasedaclappingsoundwasheard.Zeomay leanedover the fence and sent amind-slipintothewaters.“Bluish, my dragon-lin, come here!” wizardsaid-in-mind.Hewaitedamomentortwoandthenhesensedtheanimallongbeforeheactuallysawitwithhiseyes.Bluishreturnedthethinking-pattern:“I am coming! Do you have anything tasty for me? I'm

so hungry!” “A whole bag of see-ones is waiting for you!” “Hey, those are my favorite. I like you Zeomay!” Thewizardnoddedwithasmileonhisface.Heknewitwasreallytrue.Water looked like itwas boiling and it seemed likemanybluesnake-shapedbodieswouldintertwinewitheach other. It resembled a pile of cooked spaghetti,thick as a human body. Bluish was dragon-lin in hismiddlelifespan.Wellshapedandlongerthanonehun-dredhumanheights.Itslightbluescalyskinglitteredintheeveningsun.Outof thisbluepilea longspaghetti-like neck which was thinning towards the head wasraising. Itsmaneconsistedofuprightsemi-translucentscales. A small head had terriblemouth, full of sharpteeth. He was so big that in comparison the humanhead looked likeanappleand it reallywasn’tdif icultto imaginehow the irstmagicians inShallowater losttheirlives.BluishallowedZeomaytosmackhimtwicebetweenhiseyes.Thenhegentlyputhissnoutonthemagician’sshoulder.“Where are those see-ones? Are they in that bag on

your shoulder?” said-in-mindBluish.

“You want one?” thoughtthemagician.“Not only one! A hundred! You do not know how good

they are!” “Alright! Open your mouth!” BluishopenedhismouthwideandZeomay,resignedin his faith, ignored the toxic stench coming from thedragon-lin’s throat. He placed the bag on the groundand tookout the irst see-one.Fish-linwasstill resist-ingweakly,butsinceithadbeenoutsideofwaterforalong time, it could no longer breathewith full gills. Itendedinthedragon-lin’ssnout.Thedragon-linsankhisteeth into the see-one and with short head gusts hemovedthe ish-linclosertothethroat.“Oh, how good it is!” Bluishsaid-in-mind,whenhepushedthesee-onedownthethroat.Thelowerpartofhis bodywasmoving around in circles and the necksscaleswereshaking.“Do you have more?” “Certainly! Here's next!” Bluish trembled with pleasure and eagerly swal-lowedthesee-ones.“Now, there are no more!” said-in-mindZeomayatthe end and opened the bag wide. Bluish pushed hissnoutinitandsniffedtheinterior.“Uh, yeah, yeah. It is true. But ... I could eat more of

them, but it must be enough for today. I cannot stop eat-ing them. You do not know how good they are!” thoughtthe dragon-lin very fast. So fast, that Zeomay barelyfollowed. He still had that smile on his face whichformedhundredsofwrinklesaroundtheeyes.Zeomaysmackedtheanimaltwicebetweenhiseyesagain. Dragon-lin sank his head in the shallow waterandslidbetweentherootsofthebig-swamp-pumpkin.Hisswimming looked likeasatisfactiondance,hewassliding left and right between the roots, which weresupporting the growth-building – the dwelling ofZeomay.

“Do not forget to bring me a new bag full of see-ones tomorrow,” Bluishsaid-in-thought.

“Maybe I won’t bring the see-ones. Perhaps I will catch another ish-lin.” “Well, yes! It does not matter. But among the ish-lins the see-ones are the best. For me they are always the best.”

“I know! I know!” answeredZeomayinhismind.Heturnedandwantedtoenter thegrowth-buildingof the big-swamp-pumpkinwhen it suddenly hit him.Hecollapsedtotheground.Itseemedasifhewouldbepunched in the facebysomegianthand.Heshookhishead to clear hismind. Slowly the world around himcalmeddown.“The Book! Someone had found the Book, the unique one!” hefeltratherthanthoughtaboutit.Heopenedhislong-seeing-eyeandnowhecouldseethewizards’tow-er,thescaffoldingarounditandatinnythrallboywhopressedtheBooktohisbodyandhiditinhistornshirt.Thatdirtyshirtveiledhislong-seeing-look.HetriedtoestablishaconnectionwiththeBook.But

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an old lax canvas, from which the boy’s shirt wasmade,obscuredhislook.Thisalonewasodd!TheBookwasalsowrapped in some layersof rude linen,whichwas enchanted with a tremendous power. The thirdobstaclewasalock.Hecouldn’tunclenchit,despitehiseffort.Hefelttheboy’sbodyheatandthathewascarryingthemagic Book somewhere… in depths… orwhere?Foramomenthesawapavedcastleyardandtheneve-rythingsankintothecolddarkness.TherewasnomorehumancontactwiththeBook.“Thrall boy?” he thoughtwhenhis long-seeing-eyeclosed.“Old Whitebeardy was the owner of this Book …

a long time ago! … Interesting! … He never told where the Book was … He rather allowed it to be taken away by White-all-seeing-woman to a swamp and to Van, to the Other side of Eternity … Ordinary boy? From village? How?” HewasupsetbythethoughtthattheBookhascer-tainlybeenseenbyallwhohaveeverbeenordainedinthegardenofSupremeAccordance,whethertheywerewhite seer-mags or black-scholars. He himself was averypro icientseer-mag,maybethebestinSilentwoodoreveninthewholeworld.But...surelysomeoneelsehadseenthat.Butwho?Slowly he picked himself up from the ground. Hemurmuredinhisbeard:“TheBookshasn’t been seen forat least ahundredyears.It'salwaysthesame!Onehundredyearsisape-riod,wheneverymagicisrevealed,anysorceryisbro-ken.”With sliding steps he came to the fence and gazedinto Shallowater. He musingly looked at a garlic-treeforest in the distance.He pulled a necklace out of hisshirtandweighedanamulethangingonit.Heopenedalidoftheamuletandlookedata ineredberylcrystal,which blinked at him slightly. It was his connectionwith theBook, theoneandonly.However, therewereothers who were also connected to the Book. Theywerewearing thesamenecklaceashedid.Heneededtocallthemtothemeetingnow.His inner peace was destroyed. He pushed himselfaway from the fence and hastily walked through theterracesdoor. *****Jacky lookedbackonceagain if anyonewas follow-ing him. Houses in the village were quiet and calm.White-wing owl hooting in the forest, which just in-creasedhisanxiety.AsmallhutwhereoldMorningmantheEremitelivedwasdarkandsilent.Jacky ixed the bag on his shoulder and stepped tothe door. He wanted to knock on the door but theygapedandswungononehinge.Theyweretiedwitharope,whichpreventedthemfromfallingtothe loor.“Good evening, dear mister Morningman …,” Jackypolitely greetedwhenhe stepped into thehut. But hewas interruptedbyacoughinggigglecomingfromtheoldmaninthecorner.

“Dear ...hee-hee-hee ...whatkrghkr ...,” thecrookedigure began saying, but was than chocked by a long,weak cough. When it ceased, the old man said whileclearinghisthroat:“Yeah, yeah! So it is with me. White-all-seeing-woman is already lirtingwithme.A littlemore and Iwilldie.Finally.”“Iwould...”“Myboy,whatbringsyouhere?”Jackyfailedtoreply,becausetheoldmancontinued:“AreyounotJacky,the irstsonofthedeceasedSys-ibin?Whowasasmartcarpenter?Surely,youmustbe,becauseyoulooklikehim.”Jackywasamazedhowtheoldmancouldseeinthatdarkness. Especially because it was evening and theonly lightwascoming through thedoorand thereforeJackywas nothing but a shadow in the doorway. Thevillagersalsoclaimedthattheeremiteissemi-blindandstupid on top of it. But therewere otherswho sworethathecanreadandwrite,infact,hewasonceabletodoboth.“Iwanttoknowsomething...aboutthewizardcalledWhitebeardy...”saidJackcarefully.“OUT!Get out, you troublemaker!” oldmanhowledin the next moment and got up half way. His voicesliced through the air. To Jacky it felt like a real stickwould hit him over the shoulder. The oldman raisedhishandandmenacedhim.“I also brought something to eat!” said Jacky shylyandstartedretreatingwithhisbackturnedtowardstheexit.Whenhereachedthedoor,heturnedaroundandleft.Theoldmancalledoutafterhim:“Whatdoyousay?To...eat...Wait,wait,comeback!”Jackyonceagainstoodinthedoorway.Theoldmanloweredhisvoice:“Well,well!SometimesIhearsomethingwrongly...“Wizard eagerly watched the boy’s bag and quietlyasked:"Whathaveyoubrought?Somethinggood?"Jack opened the bag and placed a piece of bread,smokedmeat,apieceofcheeseandasmall laskofredwineontheold,worm-eatentable.Hetookallofthatinsecret from the castle kitchen yesterday afternoon,whenhe inishedpolishingall theballsonthetowers.Before he came here, he ate some too. He still had awonderfultasteofcheeseinhismouth.Healsomadeasmall sip of wine. Wine was really great. He reachedintohistrouserpockettoseeifthecoppercoinwasstillthere.Masterkepthiswordthistimedespiteofhispro-verbialavarice.Theoldmanslowlyglidedtothetable,satdownandbegan to eat greedily. However, he still chewed everymouthfulwell.Heopenedthe laskandsniffed.“Oh,ho,ho!”hesaidandimmediatelytookasip.“Yeah,yeah!Thisreallyinvigoratesaman!”ThenheatesomemoreandstaredatJacky.Hestoppedchewingandmutteredwithafullmouth:“I thinkyousaidsomethingaboutWhitebeardy?Sit

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down,my son, until I inishmymeal!Noonebroughtmesuchdelightsforalongtime.”Jackycarefullysatonabenchontheothersideofthetable.Hewasamazedthatthisricketythingdidn’tcol-lapseunderhisweight.“YesterdayIwasonthetopofthewizards’tower. Ihad to clean the ball,” said Jack.He became silent be-causehe remembered thathe cannot tell theoldmanabout the magic book. Now he became worried thatsomeonemight ind it in the crack in thewall. There-fore he became restless andmove over on the benchwhichcreaked.“Onthetoweryouhavebeen?”theoldmannodded.Histhinlonghairfelloverhisforeheadandhepushedit away while he was eating. Jacky thought it wasstrangehestillhadhairatall.Jackydidn’tknowhowtoproceed.Sotheysatinsi-lence,theonlyaudiblesoundwastheeremite’ssmack-ing and satis ied crunching. Then also the swallowingwhen theoldman leaned the lask illedwithwine. Itwasobviousthathedidn’teatsowellforalongtime.When he inished, he wiped his mouth with hissleeveandsaid:“Whatdidyousayyouweredoingonthetower?”“Ihad to clean theball and the tower tip. Itwassorusty,butnowitshines.Itismadeofgold...““Itisnotthegold,”saidtheoldmanandwavedwithhis hand. “It is brass. If I remembered correctlywhatmy father had told me, it was the grandfather of thedeceasedRussomay - the last castle’sblacksmith,whohadhammered it.Thatwaswhen thecastlewasbuilt.That’ll bemore than…”He pondered for awhile andcountedhowmanyyearshadpassed.Whenhecalculat-ed,henoddedandsaid:“Yes,yes,itwasaboutahundredand iftyyearsago.Ithink!”Jackysaid:“Right!ThecastlewasnowboughtbyknightVlaj,thenobleRosevalley.Hishighnessintendstorebuilditbe-causeitissupposedlythemostbeautifulcastlefarandwide.”Theoldmannodded:

“Well,ifgentlemensaidso,itmustbetrue!”Jackygrinnedandsaid:“His highness builds it for his lady, too. She’s is sobeautiful!”“Oh,yeah?Thenthere’llbetrouble...Yes,yes,”nod-ded Morningman and knocked three times with hisrighthand’sknuckleonthetable.“It’s true! Is it not,myLesh?” he said. The oldmanwaslookingforcon irmationfromthetreespirit,Lesh,which lives in the table. Worm-eaten tables’ boardswereabittightforthespiritanditdidn’tanswer,itjustcreaked a little. But Morningman understood thatnonetheless.“Soyouthereforehadtoclimbonthewizards’tow-er,right?”saidtheoldmanquietly.Jackynodded.“There’s talk about ... Whitebeardy, they say thathe ...,” began Jacky quietly with fear, because he wasafraidthattheoldmanwillroarathimagain.“There are a lot of gossips.Mostly nonsenses,” saidtheoldmanandwavedhishand.“Butsomerumorsaretrue.”“Yes, that's what interests me. Truth!” said Jackylively and leaned towards the old man. Morningmanirstlookatthe lask,butthendecidedtodrinktherestlater.Henoddedandbegantotell:“In the ancient days, behind nine rivers and ninemountains,beyondthegreatforestofDarkwoodaboywasborn,athrallbaby.At thattimenoonesuspectedthathewillbecomethelargestamongthelargestwhichhavebeenordainedintheGardenofSupremeAccord-ance, out there on the beautiful plains of HeavenlyPeace. He was a good, skilful boy, and he wanted toknow everything. He learned easily and with hisknowledgehequicklydefeatedallofhisfriendsinanygame. It happened that one day Archimay, the headseer-magofwhitemagicwizardscametotheirvillage.He saw the boy and took himwith him to teach himaboutmagicandwizards’scienceandskills.Anditwasnotlongwhenthepupilsurpassedhisteacher.Howev-er,hedidn’tstopthere.Whenheacquiredallthewhitemagic skills, he went across the plains of HeavenlyPeace up to the castle Stonemoss, where dark magicwasperformedbyblack-scholars.HewasastudentofVala the Dark, the darkest of them all. In the end helearnteverythingaboutmagic.Hewasthe irstwizardwhowasseer-magandblack-scholarinoneperson.Hetookatriparoundtheworld.Theysaythatthereisnoplaceontheworldwherehewouldn’tbe.Whenhere-turned,hedecidedtoputalltheacquiredknowledgeinTheBook,theoneandonly."Morningman paused and stared at Jacky. He satnervously,buthedidn’tsayanything.Tohimthecon-versationwent the very uncomfortableway.He swal-lowedandsaid:“Morningman, tell me what happened then,” hehopedthathisvoicedidn’ttrembletoomuch.“Well,then...”saidtheoldman.“Thenhecamehereto the castle Tophill. In that time the castle lord was

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baron Henry, the noble Downhilly, who offered himshelter and food. Henry built the wizards’ tower andWhitebeardy was able to look for the Philosopherstone.HerehesupposedlywroteTheBook.”“Thewizards’ towerwasbuilt later than the castle,then?”“Certainly,myJacky!”“Whathappenedthen?”askedJackyagain.“Then,then!Youaskoneandthesame,”growledtheoldman.ButsinceJackydidn’tanswerhecontinued:“Well,then…Latersomegreedywizardsarrived.Thewhite and the dark ones believed that Whitebeardyhad… by theway, at that time he already had a longwhite beard, afterwhich hewas appointed and recog-nized. So … he had already written the Book of AllKnowledge.Greedyfoolswantedtohaveitatanyprice.Somuch lattery, fraud and disputes brought bad luckoverthecastle.Onedayplaguecame,aterribledisease,anddrovemanysoulsintotheVan,totheOthersideofEternity.Goodandevil,butalsotheinnocentones.Laterthe plague also struck the village and after that thewhole country. Wizard’s friend, a lord and a baroncalledHenry,cursedhiminhissorrowandmisery.ThatbrokeWhitebeardy’s heart and he decided to hide thenearly inished Book from the world. Maybe he de-stroyed it,maybedidn’t. Thatwouldprobablybedif i-cult,sinceitcontainsalotofmagic,whichisnotalwayseasy to break.What do I know? Anything is possible!Otherwise...thosearejustrumors,whispers...”The oldman shut up, thinking andnodding to him-self,staringatthewormytable.Jackydidn’tdaretosayanythingmore. Hewas afraid that his quivering voicewouldbetrayhim.Hewasfrightenedoftheeremitebe-causehewasneitherhalf-blind,hunchbackedorstupid.Themore he thought about him themore he believedthatMorningmanwasalsoawizard.Maybeevenablack-scholar and, likemost villagers, hewas also afraid ofthem,sinceparentsusedthestoriesaboutthemtoscarethe littlechildren.They’vetoldhim,hewouldbeeatenbythemishewasn’tgood.Atthatmomentitseemedtohim that he is not good and ifMorningman really is ablack-scholarhewillcertainlyeathim.“I ..,” he blurted out painfully. “I should ... I've beenhere for too long.My uncle certainlymissesme ... I’vebeenawayfromhomeforalongtime.”Theeremitedid-n’t listentohim.Hecontinuedwiththestory,moreforhisownsakethanforJacky’s:“The Book supposedly exists. But it is also possiblethat it vanished a long time ago.Whitebeardywas thelargest among the largest, a white-seer and a black-scholaratsametime.Hewasacunningman,alsoclever,veryclever!But...Jacky,whyareyousuddenlyinterest-edinWhitebeardy?”“I amnot interested ...,” said Jacky in confusion andstartedlookingforawaytogetoutofthericketyhut.“I am interested in ants,” he said then with relief.Morningman lookedathimwith lackofunderstandingonhisface:

“Whatants?”“Thoseblack thingsonaparchment. Suchas in thebooks!”“Doyoumeanletters?”“Yes,yes, letters. Iwouldliketoknowwhat’s inthebooks.What they say!”Now Jackygot excitedandbe-gangesticulatingwildly.“There on thewizards’ tower I had time to think. Iheard about themightywizardwho knew everythingabouteverythingandwroteabook.IthoughttomyselfhowniceitwouldbeifIlearnedthelettersandwouldbeabletoread... thatBook.”Hebithislip,becausehealmostsaidthathehadfoundit.Eremite was observing him and he opened andclosedhis gap-toothedmouth.He raisedhishandandpointedtowardsJacky:“Youwant to learn how to read andwrite?Ohmy,why did you, three hundred green gross bears, thencometome?”Jackywasembarrassedandsaidcarefully:“Many people in the village think about you as ...”Eremiteinterruptedhim:“Letthemthinkwhattheywant.Idonotcare!”“Yes,exactly!”con irmedJackyandcontinued:“Butotherssayyouknowhowtoreadandwrite.SoIthought to come here and ...” Now he did not dare tocontinue.“And ...” Morningman raised his eyebrows. He no-ticedthatsomeofhishairstrandsfelloverhisfaceandhesmoothedthembackwithanaccustomedhand.“MisterMorningman,would you teachme ...” Jackyaskedcarefully.“Yes?”“E,hm!...Howtoreadandwrite?”he inallyblurtedout.Silence appeared, only the rickety hut whimperedslightlywhen thewind hurled into it. They heard thelies lyingoverthe foodremnantsontheworm-eatentable. In particular they were attracted to a drop ofwine,whichslippedfromthe laskandfellonthetable.ThenMorningmansigheddeeplyandJackysaid:“If Igetapieceofcheese,somebreadandmeat to-morrow...Woulditbepossible,then?Canweagree?”Morningmansighedagainandlookedat laskgreedi-ly.With the swing of arm he had drove the ly away,grabbedthe laskanddrankthesweetwinetothebot-tom.Whenhe inishedheplaceditonatableandsaid:“Well ... This might really be possible. When youcomehere,bringmesomethingtoeat.”“Iwill,master,”saidJackycheerfully.“Whenyoucomebackagain,donotcallmemaster.Callmeateacher!Ok?”“Iwillmast...ehm,teacher!”*****Morningman was sitting in his old hut since Jackyleft and persistently stared at the worm-eaten table.Therewerestillsomecrumbson it.Hespitonhis in-ger, picked them up and put them in his mouth. He

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wipedtheslithery inger inhis trousers.Thenhereal-ized that it was already dark. He reached behind hisshirt and pulled out a wonderfully crafted medallion,which hung on a long golden chain. The subject wascontrary to everything else in the old hut. He openedthecoverandlookedatthe lashingredberylcrystal.Itseemedtohimthatthereddotwasincreasinglygrow-inguntilit illedhisvision.Now the day, everyone was waiting for, inally ar-rived. Whitebeardy’s mirda (=wizards soul) returnedafter hundred years. Morningmanwas satis ied abouthis accuratepredictionwhere itwill appear again.Heclaimed that itwill appearat the sameplacewhere itvanished into Van. Again and again he was surprisedwhothemirda-carrierinthenextlifewas.ThistimeitwasJacky,thesonofthelatecarpenterSysibin.Ifonlyhe coulddiscusse thiswithWhite-all-seeing-woman ...Butshewasrelentless.Sheknewwhenthelivesofhu-mansandwizardsandmanyotherspecieswillend,butshewasalwayssilent,neversaidanything.The only thing needed now was to wait for theBrotherhoodoftheRedBeryltogather.Hehopedthatall are in good shape and on This-side-of-the-worldaftermorethanahundredyears.Healsohopedthatallarestillonthesideofwhitemagic.Passion,love,faith-lessness, lies and truth - you cannot conjure that up,enchant or changewith potions. Looking into the hu-mans’ soul iseasy, into thewizards’mirdaalmost im-possible. Breaking it is possible, but then the wizardloseshismindandalltheknowledgehehad.Once The Book doomed the land. Is it reallywortheverything they did on its behalf? He hoped that itwouldbedifferentthistime.Iftheyproperlyaddressedthematters.“Maybe I can steal it by means of trickery from Jacky,” he thought for a moment. Through the conversationwithhimherealizedthatinfrontofhimsataninnocentandignorantwizardwithmirdaandnotachildwithahuman soul. He only needed the knowledge and wis-dom,whichtheymustgivetohim.First,theknowledgeofreadingandwriting.ThenhemustgotothegardenoftheSupremeAccordancetolearnthemagicskills.Theeveningslowlychangedintothenight.Morning-manwasstillsitting,constantlythinkingandstaringatthe lashingberylcrystal.Atmidnightthewizards’fra-ternity began to gather. Zeomay arrived irst. He ap-pearedinthemiddleoftheoldhut.First, a hissing ball appeared and a igure steppedoutof it.Butbecausehewasexcitedhecalculatedthecoordinateswronglyandheburnedapartoftheworm-eaten table and the bench next to it. The table stillstoodon its three legs,but the restof thebenchrum-bledtothe loor.ThisnoisewokeMorningmanfromhistrance.Heclosedthemedallion’scoverandsaidcalmly:“Youruinedmybenchandmytable!”Zeomaywasstillalittledazedbythetrans-location.Therefore he didn’t answer immediately. In fact, thevoice traveledtohisconsciousness fora few longmo-

ments. Morningman used this to his advantage andsaid:“Hello, friend. It’s been a long time. I think almostonehundredyearshavepassed.”ThosewordscaughtupwiththepastonesandmadeacacophonyinZeomay’shead.“One by one, please!” mind-slippedZeomay.Andim-mediatelyafterthat:“Oh, I'm sorry. It was unintentional! ... Hello, really! ...

You're right, long time ... But not yet hundred years, two or three years are still missing!” Morningmansenthisthoughtsback:

“You owe me a table, a worm-eaten one, and a bench!” “Will I conjure them or will you do it yourself?” “It was not made by magic! This was a real one, a real

table. And the bench, too. You do not know how proud I was of them. They were made by Sysibin, Jacky’s de-ceased father ...”

“Oh, I'm sorry again. It really was not on purpose!” “Idon’tknow…"saidMorningmanoutloud.“I'msorry,again,really!NowIcan’t ix it. Ihavenoknowledgeandnoexperiencetorepairyourrealtableandbench. I amnot a carpenter, you know! I canusemagic to repair the table, it will look whole. Butbench...”hurriedZeomay,alsowithvoice.“Oh, leave it. I’ll ind away to repair it, somehow,”saidtheeremite.“Wherearetheothers?”“Theywillcome!”repliedZeomay.“So ... I will prepare everything,” said Morningmanandsnappedhis ingers.In the nextmoment the interior of the rackety hutturnedintoahugeconferencehall.Inthemiddleamas-sive round table stood and twelve comfortable chairswere placed around it. The seats and the back of thechairs where abundantly cushioned. Crystal glassesstood on the table in front of each chair. Behind theglasses some jars full of fragrant, sweet wine werewaitingfortheguests.Aglitteringchandelierwithhun-dredcandleswashangingfromtheceiling.“Hm,allofitmightbetookitschy,”saidtheeremite.“No,notreally!”Zeomayshookhishead.“Well,Ileaveitthen!”“Yes, leave it!” agreed the guest. Morningmanstepped into the corner, where the worm-eaten tablestood.Whenheleanedonit,itcreaked.“Good idea that I had supported the table with some

persistence magic. Otherwise the poor thing on three legs would fall apart!” thoughtMorningmanhappily.

“I hope that is comfortable enough for you, my Lesh?” The oldmanknocked on the table three times and inreturnhereceivedasqueakandafewboredsighs.“Perfect!” hethoughhappily.InthemeantimeZeomaysatbehindtheroundtable.Morningman joined him. When they started talkingabout theold times the irst trans-location shinyballshissed in the hall. Nine igures disengaged from themandappearedonthechairs,threeofthemwherewom-en.Zeomaynoddedwithsatisfaction,butthenhislook

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stoppedatanemptyseat.“What’s with Argolan? Anybody knows?” he askedeagerly.Nooneansweredhim.“Hm,hm!”heshookhisheadandsentamind-slip:“Really, no one knows where Argolan is?” “They said that …” amind-slipcamefromafemaleigureontheleftofZeomay.“Whatdidtheysay,mydearLeonora,”askedZeomayloudly.“Sayitoutloud,soeveryonecanhear!”“I have heard that he transgressed to the black-scholars’ side. I think that was more than ifty yearsago. At that time he dwelled in a cave under Crystalmountain.Thenhesuddenlyvanished.AsfarIknowhiscave is buried under the stones. I tried everything doreachhim…”shesaidwhileshewasbrushingherhairwithherhand.“Anyhow, even if he is a black-scholar now…he isstill amember of Brotherhood of theRedBeryl,” saidMorningman.Leonorashookherhead:“Butheisalsoatraitor.Ifhewouldbeherehewouldreveal everything we’re saying and all our plans tothose…blacks!”shesaidandpointedsomewhereout-sidethemeetinghall.“Certainly,”growledZeomay.“Wehavetosettlethissomehow.Butheisstilltheowneroftheredberylandthereforewecan’tdoanything.Unlesssomeonevolun-teers and goes and inds him? And then demands themedallion back - the easyway or the hardway! Any-one?”Silence set in and all thewizards and seers startedgazingatthetable.Theypretendedallthisdidnotcon-cern them.Argolanhadareputationofbeingastrongopponent.“Fear is a beautiful thing!” thoughtMorningman.“In fact I need two volunteers,” Zeomay raised thebit.Morningmannodded:“I will go! Alone! But I can’t go now. A student iswaitingforme!”“It’s true! A student really is waiting for him.Withthe Book! That is more important!” Zeomay agreedstrongly.Now the wizard Yatagan, who sat opposite ofZeomay,stoodup.“Ifthereisanothervolunteer,Iwillgo!TwoofuscantakeArgolan,ifnecessary.”Theyalllookedtohim.Col-danealsostoodup.Shebarelyspokeandawartonhernosewasshakingwildly.“IfYataganisgoing,Iwillgotoo!”“Oh, well, this is settled, than!” said Zeomay. “Anyobjections?”Helookedatallofthem.Theysatquietlyasamouseanditseemedasthoughtheywouldliketocrawlunderthetable.Zeomaysmiled.“If and when you need help, call me! Argolan is amightyopponentandwemustgoagainsthimtogether.For now it will be enough if you two establish whathappenedtohimandwherehe is.Therestwillbere-solvedwhentimecomes.”

Zeomay’s lathandhitthetableandhecontinued:“Now,aboutwhywearegatheredhere."Thegatheredaroundtablesnoddedandmurmured.Hereandthere,someonedroppedthecall:“That'sright!”“Youhavebeencalled!”saidZeomaywhentheybe-came silent. “The Book had called you all! After onehundredyears,whenalmosteveryspellfadesawayandeven the strongest chantwanes off, it is also the timefor reincarnation of Whitebeardy’s mirda. It was em-bodied in a young tinny boy from this village and itwaits for us to awaken it. To open the gates ofknowledgeandwizardry.”Leonorathoughthisspeechwastooenrapturedandshestartedmaking funny faces.Her littleblackhairedneighbor Brandoline couldn’t remain serious and shestartedtogiggle.ThatinterruptedZeomaywholookedatherwithsurprise.Shewasalittlebitsorryaboutthatsoshequicklyadded:“Yousaiditperfectly!ButIthinkthatyoualsowere-n’table topeek in theBook.Noneamongus coulddothat! Isn’t it true? Everyone has seen the shirt and itwas enchanted.Did youaskyourselfwhere this thrallboy evengot such a shirt?Then, that rough canvas inwhichtheBookiswrapped.Thereisalsoamagic lockand the covers are probably also enchanted. He wascarryingtheBooksomewheredownwards.Where?Inawell?Inacellarunderthecastle?”Morningmaninterruptedherwords:“IhavespokenwithJacky!”“Withwhom?”askedBrandoline.“WithJacky!That’stheboy’sname,”saidtheeremite.“He came tome. Alone. He asked aboutWhitebeardy.Hewantstolearnhowtoread.Iwonderwhyasimplethrall boy without a father would have such an idea.WhenwetalkedIrealizedthatmirdafromthebiggestofushasbeenembodiedinhim.”WhenZeomaywanted to continue,Morningman in-terruptedhimwithahandmotion.“Oh,onemorething.Hedidn’ttaketheBookintothecastle’s basementor into thewell.Hebrought it fromwizards’ tower of the castle Tophill. The Bookwas inthesphereatthetipofthetower.Whitebeardyhideitfromusthere!Upthereintheclouds,sothat’stherea-sonwhyweweren’tableto indit,wewerealllookingattheground!”Sighsofsurprisewereheardinthehall.“How do you know that this is the truth?” askedYataganandleanedoverthetabletohearwell.“Because… the castlewas bought by the new lordandtheknightVlaj,thenobleRosevalley.Healsoreno-vatedthewizards’tower.TheyhadsentJackyupthereto rub the spheres and clean the tips. He found theBookinahollowsphere.WhenhehidtheBookunderhisshirtandtoucheditwithbodyyouallsawit.NowIamvery,veryworriedwhoelsenoticedthat!”“I was thrown on the loor,” said Zeomay. Two orthree of them also said the same. Zeomay raised his

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handandthegatheredbecamesilent.“Now you knowwhy we are all here. I summonedyou inagreathurry toMorningman’shut.”He turnedto the eremite. “Morningam, you’ve met him irst. Hetrustsyou!So,youwillrealizehiswish.Teachhimhowto read.Whitebeardy’smirda and also all themagicalcharms,whichshield theBook,won’tallowustoreadit.Wearethegreatestwhitewizards,withoutadoubt.Butalsotheothers,maybethewhiteseersortheblack-scholars, will not be able to break the spells.White-beardytookgreatpainssotheBookcanonlybeopenedby the one who is trustworthy. Maybe that person isJacky. We still do not know! But only when he willknowhowtomanagethepowersandtheknowledge…thanmaybehewillbeableto…!“True,” theyallnoddedandagreed.Zeomaycontin-ued:“Our every spell leaves a trail in the Garden of Su-premeAccordance.Sinceitwassourgent,youallmadethe immediate trans-location and left a lot of trailsthere. When we trans-locate back we will leave newones.Ifwewanttostayhiddenfromouropponentswemustuseourwizardryverymoderately.Thenextmeet-ingwillbehereaftersixfullmoons,butyoumustcomeby foot. As travelers, beggars, comedians orwhateveryouwillcomeupwith.Justnomagic!”Leonorasaidwistfully:“Oh! I haven’t walked for several years. It will beverytoughforme.”“Youdonothave towalk.Bea ladyanddriveherewithacartorwithacarriage,”Brandolinesaidtoher.“Oh, yeah! That is a very good idea,” Leonora wasdelighted.SheturnedtoZeomay:“Havewe inishedthemeeting?”“Not yet!” said Zeomay. He turned to Morningmanagain:“Teachhimhowtowriteand read.After sixmoonswewillexaminewhatheknowsandisabletodo.Then,ifeverything isright,wewill takehimto theplainsofHeavenlyPeaceintheGardenofSupremeAccordance.There hewill learn everything aboutwizardry,magicandspells,everythingthatweknow.Right?”“Right,right!”saidMorningman.“ButIhavenoideahow to teach him about reading and writing. I havenevertaughtthattoanyone.”“There’sa irstforeverything,”saidYatagan.“Sowe’re done!” said Zeomay andwaved his hand.“Letthemagicserveyouwellandyouserveitobliging-ly,”saidattheendasafarewell.Abovethetableahiss-ingballappearedandhis iguretwistedintoit.Theballcollapsed. One by one they bade farewell and disap-peared into their own balls. The last one wasBradoline’s.Shesenta loving looktoMorningmanbe-foreshevanished.When she was gone Morningman snapped his in-gersandtheshinnymeetinghallchangedintothedarkeremiteracketyhutagain.Hestarredthoughtfullyintotheworm-eaten table, which had three legs now, and

thecrockedbenchinthecorner.“It is good that Jacky has an uncle, who is also a car-

penter as was his father. I will ask him to repair it,” hethoughtabsent-mindedly.Hesighed.“Maybe it would be better to search for Argolan with

Yatagan.” For him this was far easier than teachingJackyhowtoreadandwrite.“How can I do that, three hundred green gross bears?” Heopenedhis long-seeing-eyeand tried to ind theboy.Butheonlysawafoggy igurewithoutdetails.“The Whitebeardys’ mirda is already anchored inside

of him!” he iguredout.Hewasworried.Theymusthur-ryandintroducehimtothewhiteseer-magassoonaspossible.“If such a gentle bud comes into the hands of the black

scholars …” Hecouldn’t inishthatscarythought.Itwastoo horrifying. Sweat drops appeared on his foreheadwhenthenextthoughtarose.“The Book will then pass over to the dark side and evil, terrible, unimaginable hor-ror will cover the world.” Nextthoughtliftedhimup.“If we teach him how to read and write we can avoid all of that.” Herealizedthatalotofthingsdependonhimalone.Heis,asamatteroffact,thekeyperson,awizardwhocanchangethe lowofhistory.Suddenlyhe feltstronganddetermined.He jumpedup andwalked out of the creaking hut. Hewanted toindagooseandpulloutafewofitsfeathersforaquillpen.Healsoneededaparchmentandaninkandsomebookforexercise.Well,thishecanconjureup.Hesaidloudly:“Jacky, just wait! I will teach you how to read andwritesowell…Youwillsee!”*****This is how the young sorcerer's apprentice Jacky,thesonofthecastleserf,beganhislifepath.

30

POETRY

Sacri icedheartChild'ssincerefaceBeforehiskingheplayshispartServantofthecrownHeiswhatIamnotMyLordforgiveme,butyou'renokingofmineIplaythegameWithmaskonmyfaceIbowdownbeforeyouButyou'renotthekeeperofmyheartSeer'seyeshavefortailedmypathHaveseenmyfaithIhavesacri icedmyselfforhimVirgin’sinnocenceislonggoneIwillpaintmyheartwithtearsWithmemoriesofundyingloveStillhidinginmyheartUnrealrealityForgotten,impossibleloveLaminoteraar(Longingfortheheartofman)Jera inpentatrula(TowhoIdeniedmylove)Haseniranamente in(Forathrownbesidemyking)Lornos,elfwarriortowhomIgavemyheartAndwhoisthekeeperofmineMypeople,forwhoIsacri icedmydesiresSeer'seyeshavefortailedmypathHaveseenmyfaithIhavesacri icedmyselfforhimVirgin’sinnocenceislonggoneIwillpaintmyheartwithtearsWithmemoriesofundyingloveStillhidinginmyheartUnrealrealityForgotten,impossibleloveForevermoreIwilldesirewhatIcannothaveForeternityIwillcrytearsofblackButmyheartwillalwaysbesafeinarmsofhis

PoetontheshoresofeverlastingtranquilityShoresofeverlastingtranquilityMorningbreezeofpeaceApoet'sheartateaseAwayfromrealityHehearsandseesChildrenlaughPlayingwithdollsandtoysWomengreetingtheirmenComingfromwarUnharmed,scarefreeSongoftheseaWavesthattakeyouawayFarawayStarfallInthenightthepianoplaysMelodyofthepoetBellsofthehourWhitesandshoresMoonlightbeautyPoemsonthepaperWordsofhisheartSonghesingsCheerfulvoiceofcalmGhostsofsailorsJoinhimSingwithhimStarfallInthenightthepianoplaysMelodyofthepoetBellsofthehourWhitesandshoresMoonlightbeautyLightofthebeaconMillionlostghostsComingtohearhissongsShoresofpeaceTheworldthatliesbehindthemClockoftimejustamemory

THREEPOEMSbyMašaBrglez

31

POETRY

AghostinthedarkThecrimsonredhorizonRiversofbloodRunningdownongraveofhisSilverlightshinsuponme»Whathaveyoudone,childofmine?«WistfulbreathOfachildMyhandscoveredwithbloodofhispeopleSadblueeyes,seededhatredIamevilofthenightKillerwithnolostsoulLoveisawordlongforgottenAghostinthedarkImmortalbeinginthenightGuiltisahiddenfeelingOnceDaylightwasmyfriendNowithasbecomemyenemyBlackheartedqueenIamWithlipsredasblood,skincoldasice,hairblackasnightIroamthisearthCreatureinthedarkEternitymylifespamPeopletremblebeforemeIamevilofthenightKillerwithnolostsoulLoveisawordlongforgottenAghostinthedarkImmortalbeinginthenightGuiltisahiddenfeelingLoveisawordlongforgottenPassionandluststillinmeDarkprinceforwhoIlongforLostthosemanyyearsagoWhenIwasahumanSearchingforimmortalloveIntheworldoftheliving

LullabyofloveSorrowandguiltHauntsmeIamevilofthenightKillerwithnolostsoulLoveisawordlongforgottenAghostinthedarkImmortalbeinginthenightDarkistheheartInsaneisthemindBlackarethetearsPoisonarethewordsAghostinthedarkImmortalbeinginthenight

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IREMEMBERED...photosbyAndrejIvanuša

Opening of conven on and awards ceremony.

Don't panic! Everything will be O.K. — Gamers room Guests from Croa a on lecture — Discussion a er lecture with tea or coffee.