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ФантАstika: Almanac of Bulgarian Speculative Fiction: CoNZealand Sampler

Kalin M. Nenov (Editor In Chief, Translator, ...), Atanas P. Slavov (Editor-in-Chief, Artist, Author), Dimitar Yankov (Artist)

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A sampler of ФантА Almanac of Bulgarian Speculative Fiction, released for CoNZealand, the 2020 Worldcon.

We—all human and non-human beings on this planet—live in an age that needs ever more bridges, both across the world and to the future. That’s why we—the members of Terra Fantasia and the Human Library, two creative communities from Bulgaria—offer you this sampler of ФантАstika. It is our hope that it will help build some of those bridges. It will be our joy if any of its stories manages to transport you to a place where you feel more complete, more at home, closer to what you dream to be. Or what you dream our world to be.

As for the complete ФантА Almanac of Bulgarian Speculative Fiction, the big sister of this sampler, it’s still looking for its own home. As are all the novels whose excerpts we’ve included here. If you can point us to anyone who can offer them a home—agent, editor, or publisher—please find us at poslednorog-AT-gmail-DOT-com. Or tell us if you wish to read ФантАstika, all five hundred pages. Or talk about the new places it has taken you and the new dreams it has given you.

We are standing next to you, listening.

Kalin M. Nenov

P.S. There is a bonus story in this sampler which couldn’t make its way into the big ФантАstika. Can you spot it?

Contents

Terra Fantasia Association of Bulgarian SF & F Writers and Artists / 7
Human Library Foundation / 12
ФантАstika Almanac: origins and visions / 14
Introductory notes / 16
Alternative reading orders / 18

Science Fiction / 22
Dimitar Yankov / 22
“Love in the Time of Con Crud” by Elena Pavlova / 33
“How I Saved the World, Or, The Best Job” by Valentin D. Ivanov / 40
The Celestial Way by Drake Vato (excerpts) / 64
Atanas P. Slavov / 123
“The Most Terrible Beast” by Khristo Poshtakov / 156
Kalin Nikolov / 161
“The Resolutions” by Atanas P. Slavov / :-)
Stefan Lefterov / 185

Fantasy & Magic Realism / 197
To Wake a Dragon Girl by Nikolay Tellalov (excerpt) / 199
Kate Danailova / 216
“The Assassination” by Johan Vladimir / 222
Plamen Semkov / 253
I, Sinner Ivan by Nikolay Svetlev (excerpt) / 262
The Coin by Lights amidst Shadows (excerpt) / 273
Peter Stanimirov / 295
Orpheus Descends into Hell by Georgi Malinov (excerpt) / 333
“The Dragon and the Orange Juice” by Genoveva Detelinova / 356

Avant-garde Speculative Fiction / 373
“Impossibly Blue” by Zdravka Evtimova / 374
“Asked the Soldier, ‘Who Called Me?’” by Yancho Cholakov / 378
“The Film-thin Bound” by Kalin M. Nenov / 432
Chirpy Firewood by Maria Velcheva (excerpts) / 434
“In the Beginning Was the Subway” by Lyubomir P. Nikolov / 465
Georgi Markov / 479

Fandom / 485
Ivan Yefremov SF & Futurology Club / 485
Chronicles of Ivan Yefremov SF Club / 486

Futurum / 502
“The Keresztury TVirs” by Ivan Popov / 503

Acknowledgments / 510

362 pages, ebook

First published July 15, 2020