Janusz Zajdel

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Janusz Andrzej Zajdel (August 15, 1938 in Warsaw – July 19, 1985 in Warsaw) was a prominent Polish science fiction author. He died from cancer.

Zajdel is a precursor of social and dystopian fiction. In his works, he envisions totalitarian states and collapsed societies. His heroes are desperately trying to find sense in world around them, sometimes, as in Cylinder van Troffa, they are outsiders from a different time or place, trying to adapt to a new environment. The main recurring theme in his works is a comparison of the readers' gloomy, hopeless situations to what may happen in a space environment if we carry totalitarian ideas and habits into space worlds: Red Space Republics or Space Labour Camps, or both.

Frederik Pohl dedicated book Tales From The Planet Earth to Zajdel and A. Bertram Chandler.^{[citation needed]} This book also contains one of Zajdel's short stories, "Particularly Difficult Territory", translated into English.

[edit] Selected bibliography

• Lalande 21185, 1966
• Cylinder van Troffa ("Van Troff's cylinder"), 1980
• Limes inferior, 1982
• Cała prawda o planecie Ksi ("Complete Truth about planet Xi") ,1983
• Wyjście z cienia ("Out of the Shadow"), 1983
• Paradyzja ("Paradise, the World in Orbit"), 1984
• Dokąd jedzie ten tramwaj? ("Where is that tram going?"), 1988 — Collection of short stories

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[edit] See also

• Janusz A. Zajdel Award, a Polish science fiction fandom award named after him
• Science fiction and fantasy in Poland
• Social science fiction

[edit] References

Persondata
NAME	Zajdel, Janusz Andrzej
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION	Science fiction author
DATE OF BIRTH	August 15, 1938
PLACE OF BIRTH	Warsaw, Poland
DATE OF DEATH	July 19, 1985
PLACE OF DEATH	Warsaw, Poland