About this ebook
Polish science fiction master Marek S. Huberath’s mind-bending Nest of Worlds—his first novel to appear in English—is a metafictional adventure through a dystopian world that owes as much to Borges, Saramago, and even Thomas More as it does to Stanislaw Lem. In this world, every thirty-five years residents must move to a new “Land," and each person bears a "Significant Name" that foretells the manner of their deaths.
A rare married couple in the Land of Davabel, Gavein Throzz and Ra Mahleiné each make sacrifices to stay together. As they navigate the difficult terrain, the two find themselves amidst a series of deaths linked only by their connection to Gavein himself. Struggling to solve the mystery, keep his ailing wife alive, and surviving his new notoriety as the incarnation of Death, Gavein discovers a book titled Nest of Worlds—populated by characters whose fates lie in the hands of the reader, and who, in turn, read their own versions of Nest of Worlds. Huberath’s novel is a stirring meditation on reality, love, and the darkest aspects of human nature.
Reviews
"I am inclined to call Nest of Worlds...a masterwork not of science fiction, but of Polish fiction. It is a book where characters live and die, and—more importantly—where we struggle with the fact that they do."
—3:AM Magazine
Marek S. Huberath has been a major figure in Polish science fiction for the last twenty-five years. A three-time winner of the Janusz A. Zajdel Award, Huberath is also a professor of biophysics and biological physics at Jagiellonian University in Krakow and an avid mountain climber. His novels include Nest of Worlds, Cities under the Rock, and Western Portal of the Cathedral in Lugdunum.
Michael Kandel is best known for his translation of Polish science fiction writer Stanislaw Lem—including Fiasco, His Master's Voice, and The Futurological Congress. He was an editor at Harcourt, where he acquired authors Jonathan Lethem, Ursula K. Le Guin, and James Morrow. Kandel was a Fulbright student in Poland, 1966-67; received his PhD in Slavic at Indiana University; has written science fiction, short stories, and novels; and is presently an editor at the Modern Language Association.
Ratings and reviews
About the author
Marek S. Huberath has been a major figure in Polish science fiction for the last 25 years. Confronting moral and philosophical issues rather than future technical possibilities, he is heir to the titans of Soviet-era Eastern European literary science fiction like Stanislaw Lem. A three-time winner of the Janusz A. Zajdel Award (the Polish equivalent of the Hugo), Huberath is also a professor of biophysics and biological physics at Jagiellonian University in Krakow and an avid mountain climber, who has said that he feels most comfortable with the air under his feet. His novels include Nest of Worlds, Cities under the Rock, Wydawnictwo Literackie, and Western Portal of the Cathedral in Lugdunum.
Michael Kandel is perhaps best known for his translation of major works of Polish science fiction writer Stanislaw Lem—including Fiasco, His Master's Voice, The Cyberiad, A Perfect Vacuum, and The Futurological Congress. He also worked as an editor at Harcourt, where he acquired authors Jonathan Lethem, Ursula K. Le Guin, James Morrow, and others. Kandel was a Fulbright student in Poland, 1966-67; received his PhD in Slavic at Indiana University; taught Russian literature at George Washington University; wrote a few articles on Lem; and has written science fiction, short stories, and a few novels (published by Bantam, St. Martin's); and is presently an editor at the Modern Language Association. Kandel has recently translated works by Jacek Dukaj and Andrzej Sapkoswki, and he is the editor and translator of the anthology A Polish Book of Monsters.
