Nest of Worlds

About the Author

MAREK S. HUBERATH has been a major figure in contemporary Polish science fiction since his debut in 1987 with the short story “Wrocieeś Sneogg, wiedziaam…” (recently translated into English by Michael Kandel as “Yoo Retoont Sneogg, Ay Noo…” and anthologized in Kandel’s A Polish Book of Monsters [2010, PIASA Books]). Nest of Worlds is his first novel to appear in English.

Huberath has split his efforts between novels and short fiction since, in both the science fiction and fantasy genres. Though he is a working scientist, his fiction explores moral and philosophical issues rather than technical possibility; a central concern is how his characters—human or otherwise—respond to extreme circumstances that challenge their ethical preconceptions.

Huberath has published three collections of stories: Ostatni, którzy wyszli z raju [The Last to Leave Paradise] (1996, Zysk i Ska), Druga podobizna w alabastrze [Another Effigy in Alabaster] (1997, Zysk i Ska), and Balsam długiego pożegnania (2006, WL; the title story has been translated into English by Michael Kandel as “Balm of a long farewell”). The story “Kara większa,” from Ostatni, ktorzy wyszli z raju, has also been translated into English, as “The Greater Punishment” by Wiesiek Powaga, and is available in in The Dedalus Book of Polish Fantasy (Dedalus, 1996)

Huberath’s novels include Gniazdo światów (1999, superNova), translated by Michael Kandel as Nest of Worlds, Miasta pod skałą [Cities Under the Rock] (2005, 2011, Wydawnictwo Literackie), Vatran Auraio (WL 2010), and most recently, Portal zdobiony posagami [A Portal Decorated with Statues] (2012, Fabryka Slow).

Huberath is a three-time winner of the Janusz A. Zajdel Award, the Polish equivalent of the Hugo; Nest of Worlds was awarded the prize in 1999 and is considered one of the most important works of Polish science fiction of that decade. He has won the Śląkfa Award twice, for short fiction.

As a professor of biophysics and biological physics at Jagiellonian University, Cracow, Huberath studies abiosis and cryptobiosis in organisms; technical applications of DNA in opto-electronics; and residual water in dry tissues of plants, animals, and humans. He is an avid mountaineer.