BOOKS WRITTEN BY HENRY LION OLDIE
(Dmitry Gromov and Oleg Ladyzhensky)
ABSTRACTS
Here we propose to Your attention a set of abstracts describing
fantasy novels and stories written by two authors working in
collaboration -- D. E. Gromov and O. S. Ladyzhensky (they are known under
the pen-name of Henry Lion Oldie). Their stories, long and short, are
rather various in style, but all their novels belong to a very specific
kind of "fantasy": the authors themselves define it as "philosophical
fantasy hit" while the literary critics call it "mythological realism of
the postmodern period". In any way these works overstep the frames of
usual fantasy.
* * *
"ABYSS OF HUNGRY EYES": A Cycle
1. "WAITING AT CROSSROADS" (short novel, about 42.000 words,
1992-1993.)
An alternate world. Early Middle Ages. A special kind of wizards and
priests, the so-called "Precursors" exists in this world. They feed on
the human beliefs in various Gods, myths, legends and supernatural things
in general. But all of these Precursors compete with each other for the
human faith. And the moment comes when the five strongest among them
decide to unite their strength and to build a specific "HOUSE-AT-
CROSSROAD" intended for accumulating the energy of human faith. But soon
the House-at-Crossroad acquires a kind of conscience of its own and
begins to accumulate human faith actively giving nothing in exchange.
Thus the balance of faith in the world was broken, and the spiritual
degeneration began. Supernatural things vanish one by one, taking with
them myths and legends, fairy-tales and songs; the life becomes grey and
dull. And so the assistants of the Precursors, the "Myth Creators", broke
their usual obedience and rebelled against the Precursors and the House-
at-Crossroad.
The heroes of the story go through many mystical and real
adventures, they lose their friends, but finally the House-at-Crossroad
is destroyed... Besides very dynamic action, the novel contains the
philosophical basis explaining the existence of supernatural things.
This novel got the 2nd place at the Fantasy Competition dedicated to
Howard Phillips Lovecraft in Ekaterinburg (Russia) in 1994. It was also
nominated for the "Interpresscon" (third place according the results of
voting) and "Bronze snail" prizes in 1996. The novel was published in
Ukraine in 1995 and in 1996 and three times in Russia: twice in 1996 and
one time in 1999.
2. "THE WAY" (short novel, about 52.000 words, 1991-1992.)
The scene of this novel is the Earth (in present and future times)
and an alternative parallel world.
The technotronic civilization has resulted in a kind of a dead,
mechanical life completely alien to human beings. There was no robot
revolts, no supercomputers usurping the power -- simply the things which
became alive began gradually to force the people out from Earth. The so-
called "Voiders" (a kind of people with strong extrasensual abilities)
tried to save the dramatically decreasing population of the Earth. They
began to convey them into the parallel world. But soon they learn that in
this world people lose their memory although they grow immortal. Still
some specific particles of human souls, called "necroids", "responsible"
for the death of physical bodies, remain on the Earth. And soon these
particles form a "Necrosphere" -- the embryo of the Hell on Earth. The
Necrosphere begins to change the surrounding reality destroying both time
and space with the intention to gain superiority over Earth forever.
The principal hero of the novel, an immortal gladiator Marcell,
suceeds in regaining his memory. He learns that he is a former Voider and
with the help of his reincarnations he tries to change the destiny of
Earth...
This novel was published in 1994 and in 1996 in Ukraine and in 1995,
1996 an 1999 in Russia.
Extracts from this novel were included to the "Master-Radio" show
(Kharkov, Ukraine, 1994).
3. "THE TWILIGHT OF THE WORLD" (short novel, about, 59.000 words,
1992.)
The alternative world which is inhabited, apart from ordinary people
by werwolves, vampires and Ninefold-Living people (descendants of the
Immortals). The Ninefold-Living were trying to defend ordinary people
from werwolves. But in the course of time it appeared that the situation
is not so simple: often the Ninefold-Living themselves provoke the
werevolves to attack and the latter must defend themselves. Because of
mutual envy, fear and misunderstanding a real bloody war expands in this
world. And only after the appearance of the new general enemy, the
vampires (so-called "Varks") ordinary people and werwolves find it
possible to forget the strife and unite in order to fight them.
Against the background of the changing fates of the whole world
unfolds the romantic story of a young werewolf's love to a Ninefold-
Living girl; the irreconsilable enemies become friends, but the ominous
eyes of a "vark" search them in the night... The dynamic plot of the
novel is combined with a deep humanistic idea.
This novel was published in Ukraine in 1993, 1995 and twice in
Russia in 1996 and one time in 1999. It was listed in "The Best 10 SF and
Fantasy Novels of the former USSR" "The Great Ring" in 1993 (# 4).
In 1994 a Role-Play Game based on this novel was carried out near
Kharkov (Ukraine).
4. "LIVE FOR THE LAST TIME" (short novel, about 25.000 words, 1991.)
The action of the novel unfolds in the world inhabited by the
Ninefold-Living people and the vampires ("varks"). The principal hero is
a boy who was born "a cripple" (from the point of view of people
surrounding him) -- he lives only once ("for the last time"), which means
that he can't return to life after death. But the boy (later the young
man) wants to prove both to himself and to all the people that he is
normal and manly. So he becomes a warrior. Some time later he met a
beauty from a famous family and fell in love with her. But soon it turned
out that the girl is a vampire! She loves him sincerely and doesn't want
to bite him and thus make him a vampire too, but Senior Vampires consider
this to be a treason and put an invocation on her. So she cannot rise
from her grave any more. Only human blood can break the invocation. And
the hero comes to her grave and allows her to "kiss" his neck. And he
becomes a "vark" himself.
Still something human has remained in the souls of the vampire-hero
and his vampire-girl; they began to search for the special invocation
("The Word of the Last Ones") which turns a vampire back into normal man.
After many morbid adventures they found the "Word of the Last Ones", but
it turns out that it can be applied only to the Senior Vampires ("High
Varks"). They cannot use the "Word of the Last Ones" till they become
High Varks, but then they'll become completely unhuman and would never
want to return into their human image!
The solving of this problem was long and hard; at the end of the
novel the hero and his girl succeded to acquire human features again; but
other vampires found the opened door to Earth...
This novel was published in 1992, 1995, 1996 and 1999 in Russia, in
1996 and 1998 in Ukraine. It was listed in "The Best 10 SF and Fantasy
Novels of the former USSR" "The Great Ring" in 1992 (#6).
In 1994 a Role-Play Game based on this novel was carried out near
St. Petersburg (Russia).
5. "FEAR" (long story, about 17.000 words, 1991.)
The late Middle Ages on the Earth. A strange Asiatic town. In this
town people begin to die for no reason, but each time the inexpressible
horror is reflected in the eyes of the dead. The town physician Yakub
decides to find the reason of these awful cases. The search leads him to
a deserted and gloomy old temple in the mountains. An idol standing there
becomes alive in the night, and it tells Yakub who kills the inhabitants
of the town. It is an old priest who lives in the town and puts people to
death by fear in order to feed himself upon their life forces. Neither
poison nor steel can do any harm to this monster. Then Yakub brings his
newly-born son to the house of the old priest. And the priest dies trying
in vain to scare and thus to kill the boy, because the baby has no
fear...
This story was published in Ukraine three times: in 1994, 1995 and
in 1996 and in Russia in 1996 and 1999. It got the 1st place at the
Fantasy Competition dedicated to Howard Phillips Lovecraft in
Ekaterinburg (Russia) in 1994. "Fear" was nominated for the
"Interpresscon" and "Bronze snail" prizes. This story won the second
place in the "Horror Fantasy" nomination of the "Stranger" prize. It is
also listed in the "Great Ring" list of the most popular fantasy novels
and stories of the former USSR in 1994 (second place according the
results of voting).
6. "THE STAIN-GLASSES OF PATRIARCHS" (long story, about 10.000
words, 1990-1991.)
An alternative world. The world where the word is a force. Verses
act as invocations. And the man from Earth gets into this world...
This is a romantic story of magic and verses, friendship and
treason, love and cruel fighting.
This story was published in Russia in 1992, 1996, 1997 and in 1999
and in Ukraine in 1994 and in 1996.
7. "TO ENTER INTO IMAGE" (novel, about 39.000 words, 1991.)
Another strange world without any religion and any arts. Spiritual
progress is almost impossible, and this world gradually plunges in
primitivity. But a talented actor happens to arrive from Earthjust to
this world. He cannot live without acting. And the religion begins to
build up very quickly around him.
But who had conveyed the actor into this world? What was the
purpose? For religion gives not only spiritual culture but, especially at
early stages, severe conflicts and wars as well...
And then comes the moment when two great armies of religious fanatic
confront each other, directed by supernatural forces. The Hell forces
incarnated in blood-thirsty human beings were nearly ready to break
through, BUT...
This novel was published in Ukraine in 1994 and in 1996 and in
Russia in 1996, 1997 and in 1999.
Listed in "The Best 10 SF & Fantasy Novels And Stories" of the
former USSR in 1994.
8. "ARISEN FROM THE PARADISE" (novel, about 69.000 words, 1993.)
Three men, just ordinary ones, meet a witch and casually acquire
from her some supernatural ability which conveys them to a parallel
world. There they become ghosts. From their new friends they learn that
this is a very strange and cruel world. There rules the mysterious Beast-
Book. Under its influence almost all the people living in this world lost
their freedom of will; they turned into letters, words, phrases, lines
and pages of the Beast-Book.
Captivating adventures, severe fighting, both mystical and real,
against the Beast-Book, all this combined with philosophical ideas
concerning the place of a human being in the world, his responsibility
for all his doings -- such is the contents of the novel.
This novel was published in Ukraine in 1996 and three times in
Russia: in 1996, 1997 and 1999.
All these 8 novels and long stories are separate pieces. But they
form a big cycle telling about the destinies of three worlds and many
people. The authors' style may be determined as "science fantasy", but
the authors prefer to call it "philosophical fantasy hit" -- it's the
original H. L. Oldie's style in Fantasy.
* * *
"THE WAY OF THE SWORD" (novel; not integrated to the cycle; about
165.000 words, 1994.)
Book 1 : Kabir
The world described in the novel is unprecedented among the works of
the world fantasy. Its history and geography is very like the Earth in
Middle Ages, but with an essential difference: here all arms such as
swords, spears etc. have a mind of their own. Arms of the same type form
something like human families or clans. The living swords etc. call
themselves "Brilliants", and they consider the human beings to be but
their "Carriers", like dogs or horses, and don't even suppose that they
are intelligent too. And the people in their turn have not the slightest
idea about the way things are. Nevertheless, this society is rather
stable: the skill of fencing being raised to the level of high art any
duels never result in the blood-spilling or Carriers's death. Thanks to
easily understandable reasons the wars have also been forgotten long ago.
In one word, this world is a kind of "feudal utopia".
But we learn that something is going wrong there. Mysterious and
bloody murders began to happen in a number of towns. Not only people are
killed, but also the intelligent arms happen to be destroyed. Such things
have not happened here for almost eight centuries!
The main heroes of the novel are the upright sword Dan Ghien called
the Unicorn and its Carrier - a young nobleman Chan Unkor.
The scimitar Sheshez ruling over the Emirate (from the Brilliants'
point of view) invites the Unicorn to investigate those crimes. The same
task is given by the man-Emir Daud to Chan Unkor.
As the result Chan himself gets into trouble: during a fencing
competition his right hand was cut away. Being under the psychic
influence (unaware of it) exercized by his sword, the young man feels
that he cannot live without fencing and tries the last remedy: following
the advice given to him by the Emir's jester Druddle he orders a smith to
forge an iron hand for him, although he understood very clearly that this
was a nonsense.
But as the result of secret ancient rites the iron hand acquires
life of its own! It becomes the intermediary between the man and his
sword, a link between the two intelligent races. The heroes understand
that in order to oppose the murderers they have now to change their
minds; soon they manage to overcome the interdiction to kill inherent to
both of them while saving the life of the jester Druddle in a city street
at night. The same night the man and his sword together with the jester's
blunt dagger Dziuttee which is more widely known as the Kabir Executioner
leave the capital following the footsteps of the murderers towards the
native country of Chan's ancestors, Maylan (closely reminding the ancient
China). Their butlers (the man Kos Antanya and the Estoc sword Zarrahid)
decide to accompany their masters during the dangerous journey in spite
of the orders given to them to stay at home.
But the heroes had still to learn that some other companions were
going after them. Should they had known that in advance...
Book 2 : Maylan
The road to Maylan was abundant with adventures; the heroes got
better acquainted with one another, now they not only cooperate but from
time to time create a new entity, "man-sword". They meet a smart old
woman called Mother Tsi who is searching for some ancient secrets, they
learn the details of Kabirean history and inform their companions about
the symbiosis they live in, and at last arrive safely to Maylan. Here the
heroes enter into possession of their family inheritance and at the same
time they find out that the princess of Maylan who had become a widow
being still very young is aspiring to marry Chan. Their investigation is
likely to be interrupted, but suddenly a number of strange events happens
around the heroes, all of them evidently having the goal to destroy the
wedding. In the whirl of these around-wedding events the heroes manage to
find the trace of the murderers (both men and the Brilliants) leading to
an ancient Batinite sect whose members use the mortal duels in their
rituals.
The Batinites (men and their swords called "the Tarnished" consider
that the original destination of both human beings and arms was to kill,
and they are obliged not to forget it.
But it is found out that the sectarians didn't take part in the
crimes committed in Kabir! The real murderers are at last found (and
among them the man and the sword who had cut away Chan's hand). The night
murderers turned out to be the citizens of Kabir who had been taken
prisoners by the nomad tribe in a distant land of Shulma and ran away in
order to rescue their native land. The point is that the savage nomads
are going to attack Kabir, and the murderers decided to sacrifice
themselves: to rouse the inhabitants of Kabir, to remind them of the old
warrior skills and in such a way to save the land from perishing. In a
secret underground temple many people and their arms meet to fulfill the
ritual duel-sacrifice: the Batinites, the runaway Kabireans, a revenger
pursuing his foes (who earlier had been shown as an episodic character),
Chan Unkor with his Unicorn, the Kabir Executioner and other
personnages...
When the duel was in its full swing, a woman messenger arrived from
a village situated near the border: it has been attacked by the nomads.
The invasion began! The ritual was interrupted; the heroes ride as soon
as possible to meet the fate awaiting them in the ravaged village...
Book 3 : Shulma
The inhabitants of the village have been all slaughtered; their
Brilliants are also dead and thrown down into a well. The advanced
detachment of the Shulmus attack the company of the heroes, the battle
begins; in the last moment the Kabireans are supported by their friends
(both men and their Brilliants) who had followed them secretly. During
the battle the Kabireans managed to overcome the interdiction to kill and
defeat the Shulmus utterly; those who were lucky to stay alive were taken
as prisoners. The nomads are overwhelmed by the fighting skills of their
enemies, moreover, due to a casual coincidence of words they suppose Chan
Unkor to be the incarnation of the Yellow God Mo, the highest war deity
of Shulma. During the duel between Chan Unkor and the chief of Shulmus
scouts Chan's right hand, made of iron, is uncovered by chance, and this
put an end to all doubts of the Shulmus.
The Kabireans go to Shulma; Kush-Tengry, a clairvoyant shaman
abiding in the steppe goes to meet them because he forebodes great
changes. Having arrived to a holy place where it is forbidden to fight,
the Kabireans and the shaman soon found common language. It comes out
that some time ago a High Gurkhan (chief governor) had appeared in Shulma
and united all tribes in order to lead them to Kabir. This Gurkhan is
evidently a native Kabirean. And Cinqueda, a short sword (his Brilliant)
in its turn united the intelligent arms of the Shulmus that stayed until
then in a savage state. In the holy place a variety of events happen
until the Shulmus hords surround it.
There follows a duel between Gurkhan and Chan Unkor. A stone thrown
unexpectedly from a sling stunned the Kabirean, but the Unicorn and the
iron hand save his life; while Chan is unconscious, the Unicorn, controls
the iron hand holding it and continues to fight. When Chan comes to his
senses he joins the battle, tears off the armour of the defeated Gurkhan
- and finds out that the leader of the Shulmus is a woman!
The ashamed nomads try to kill their former leader, but the
Kabireans prevent them from doing this. The body-guards of the impostor
Gurkhan take Chan's side believing him to be the god.
Epilogue: Ambassadors from Shulma (the shaman Kush-Tengry and a
friend of Chan Unkor's) come to the Kabirean Emirate. They meet the old
Emir and the jester Druddle who had survived only by pure chance. There's
no peace in the Emirate. The extremist part of the Batinites raised their
heads. The peace treaty with Shulma seems to promise a happy end - but
already a smith and an alchemist demonstrate in the presence of Emir the
first sample of an arquebuse and the action of a powder bomb, proposing
to use the new arms for the overcoming of the inner and external enemies.
A new epoch stnds on the threshold. This world would never again be
the same it had been before...
This tale is told in turns by the sword Unicorn and its Carrier Chan
Unkor. The action unfolds on the background of the crucial changing of
the whole world's destinies. The numerous battle episodes are followed by
philosophical discourses and dialogues, together with the psychological
portraits of the heroes; original ideas are formulated, both ethic and
fantastic. The adventures of the main heroes sometimes are tragical, but
here and there humour and soft irony are woven into them. Besides this
the novel contains several poetic fragments.
The novel is written on the merge of "fantasy" and "alternative
history". It combines dynamic plot with deep philosophical and
psychological problems, in particular with moral aspects of fighting
arts.
The novel "THE WAY OF THE SWORD" was highly appreciated by the
readers; it became an extremely popular book. This novel was published
five times in Russia, the number of copies amount to seventy thousands.
The novel "The Way of the Sword" got "The Great Zilant" prize at
"ZilantCon" SF & Fantasy Festival in Kazan (Russia) in 1999.
* * *
"THE HERO MUST BE ALONE" (novel in two parts, the whole volume is
about 148.000 words, 1995.)
First part: "THE SACRIFICES".
The first novel (written in the style that can be named
"mythological realism") tells about a scarcely known period in the life
of Hercules, the greatest hero of Ancient Greece: from his conceivement
to the beginning of his famous deeds. The young Alcydes (such is the real
name of Hercules) becomes the point where different interests are
clashed: those of the Olympic family, of the Tytans overthrown into the
Tartar and the mysterious Fallen that shared the fate of the older
generation of the Immortal as well as of many people. As the result the
future hero and his twin brother Iphycles (whom Pindar, Homer and
Appolodor remembered but the later authors have forgotten) become the
hostages of alien intrigues. Attempt upon the life of Alkmene, the last
beloved of Zeus the Thunderer even before she gave birth to the twins,
ominous fits of madness that pursue the young hero from his childhood,
the altars of the Obsessed by Tartar smoking with the blood of human
sacrifices, a deadly dangerous secret that the earthly father of Alcydes,
Amphitrion the grandson of Perseus, must keep all his life and even after
his death; and all this accompanied with concrete, specific details of
the period that later on the scientists will call the XIII century B. C.
The Amphitriad brothers, their mother Alkmene and father Amphitrion,
Olympic gods, satyres and centaurs are shown as live beings, without the
conventional features well-known to everybody who is acquainted with
adapted editions of Greek myths. The events and characters that are
mentioned in the books only in passing come unexpectedly to the scene,
and the pretty fairy-tale becomes a stern reality. The gods are tormented
with doubts, the heroes shed tears, and the inexorable shadow of the Iron
Age, cold and strange, hangs over the sunny Hellas.
Second part: "THE PRIESTS".
The second book tells about the events that took place after
Hercules (with the help of his twin brother) fulfilled his famous twelve
deeds (the deeds as such are but briefly mentioned).
Now Hercules must perform the most difficult deed: to overcome his
own madness. Even the almighty gods cannot help him (indeed they are not
too eager to help him). The gods need Hercules only as a weapon for the
future apocalyptic battle with the tribe of Giants, unassailable for the
Olympians but assailable for the mortal warriors.
And the hour of the decisive battle comes, and Hercules sees in
reality the nightmares that pursued him during many years.
The brothers together with the gods win the battle. But after it the
gods betray their saviours because their strength frightens them. And
they begin to persecute the heroes systematically throughout Hellas.
This novel was published in Russia twice in 1996 and one time in
1997.
The novel "The Hero Must Be Alone" got the Prize of the Writers'
Association of Moldavian Pridnestrovyan Republic in 1997.
* * *
"STEPCHILDREN OF THE EIGHTH COMMANDMENT" (novel, about 63.000 words,
1996.)
In a distant village Shaflary in the lower part of Tatra mountains
lives an old man Samuel-batsa; his adopted children are strangely gifted:
they seem to be like all other people, but they can do such things that
ordinary people shouldn't be able to do. They are thieves, all of them,
but not those who rob somebody's money or break into the houses; they
take only the other people's thoughts, hopes, abilities and knowledge and
they use all this for themselves. And those whom they robbed forget
completely all that had been taken from them and even ignore that they
have been robbed at all. Samuel's children live rather well: Jan is the
abbot in a Benedictine monastery, and he's soon to become a bishop, for
many people believe him to be a saint, because they feel relieved of all
sins and fears after they confessed to the reverend Jan; Teresa is the
wife of a rich merchant and her husband owes much of his success to her.
Michal is the voivode in a noble lord's castle, he married a girl whom he
loved, and not without profit; such luck is a rare thing, and besides
he's a skilled master of fencing and in XVII century such skills are very
good payed for. Only the youngest sister Martha was unlucky: she had been
the companion and the best friend of the Baroness von Eisendorf who
introduced her to the high society in Vienna, but she had lost her place
because she fell in love with a common thieve, the merry Joseph. And when
she got seriously ill and was at the verge of dying Joseph payed the
price of her life to the Death by selling his own soul to the Devil. They
agreed that in an appointed moment Joseph should commit the suicide. But
when the moment comes Martha succeeds to take the soul of her beloved
from the One who had the right to possess it. But a human soul is heavy,
heavier than petty thoughts or knowledge, it's difficult to carry it, and
Martha failed to retain Joseph's soul; it entered the body of his dog
that was sitting and vailing at his master's body... And the lovers flee
from the Devil, they cross many countries until they come to Martha's
native land and ask her borther Jan the abbot for help. But even within
the walls of his monastery evil people and strange creatures lie in wait
for Martha. When the news comes that the old Samuel had died in some
strange way all his adopted children come together. Short was their
travel to Shaflary, but full of dangers and adventures. There at last
they learn everything. The end is rather unexpected and almost happy...
This novel is written in a style usual for H. L. Oldie, that of
"philosophical fantasy hit", but this time it is more like a classical
historical novel and contains accordingly a good deal of romance,
jealousy, happy and unhappy love, duels, misticism and so on. The plot is
as complicated as it should be in the violent XVIIth century.
The novel was twice published in Russia: in 1996 and in 2000.
The novel "Stepchildren of the Eighth Commandment" was awarded in
1997 with the "MoonSword" prize as "the best mistic and horror novel";
some parts of it were used for a radio show.
* * *
"MESSIAH CLEANS THE DISK" (novel, about 133.000 words, 1996.)
The Shaolin monastery is famous in the Chinese Empire in the
enlightened XVth century. There live the monks highly skilled in the arts
of fighting and the Emperor himself regards them with favour. The
reverend Chzhan Vo belonging to the highest rank of the monastery
administration is at the same time the chief of the Emperor's secret
police; the Shaolin treasury is full ofprecious things, thousands of
peasants work in the fields belonging to the monastery. It is not strang
because about half a century ago the warriors clad in yellow attires
®ª § «¨ ãá«ã£¨ to the leader of the uprising of "red bandages" assisting
him to drive the Mongol invaders back to the northern steppes and helped
him, a simple peasant Chzhu Younchzhan, to ascend the throne of the
Emperors of China. The policy of the Middle Empire is silently and
inevitably directed by the invisible hands bearing the signs of the
dragon and tiger. But strange things do happen in this world of vanity...
In one of the towns of China an esteemed merchant all of a sudden came
secretly to the house of an eminent dignitary and tore to pieces a rare
flower and then pierced his own heart with a knife; then the Eighth Aunt,
the wife of a humble dyer, attacked the bodyguards of the Emperor's
brother and killed half of them, after which she broke the spine of the
favourite little dog of the concubine Suan and cut her own throat with
the governor's sword. Never before had the esteemed merchant attempted to
be a thieve, never had the Eighth Aunt been skilled in any fighting arts,
but on the third day after the death of both criminals very strange spot
appeared on their bodies: the signs of the dragon and tiger.
And it is not by chance that the monk with shaven head advised the
judge Bao who was appointed to investigate these strange cases to be not
too diligent in his enquiries. What in fact is going on in the famous
monastery, why the £à®§ë© shadow of the patriarch Damo haunts it? It is
he, the Bearded Barbarian, who long ago founded the monastery, but his
goal had been neither the hoarding of gold nor the political games... Why
were the Laws of Karma broken, where did the epidemic of the Buddah
Madness come from, why are the dead rising from their graves and how
could enter the monastery the strange boy now and then employing in his
speech the hackers' slang of the end of the XXth century? The answers to
all these questions the reader is to find together with the judge Bao,
the Daosian wizard Lan Daosin and other personnages of this novel
combining several genre of fiction: mistical fantasy, cyberpunk,
alternative history and, of course, the "philosophical thriller", which
still is the favourite style of Henry Lion Oldie.
The novel was published twice in Russia (in 1997 and 1999) and in
Lithuania in 1998.
The novel "Messiah Cleans the Disk" was admitted to the list of the
Moscow bestsellers (9th place in the general rating).
In 1997 it was given the prize of the Association of Russian-
Language Writers of Israel "For an outstanding contribution in the
development of modern Russian litterature".
In 1999, at "Star Bridge" SF & Fantasy Festival in Kharkov (Ukraine)
H. L. Oldie received "The Black Belt" (1-st dergee) as a "Fan-Do Master"
-- for some fighting fragments from the novel "Messiah Cleans the Disk".
* * *
"LET THEM DIE" (novel, about 72.000 words, 1996.)
This is the world described in the novel "The Way of the Sword", but
now about three or four hundred years have passed there. The few
"Brilliants" (cold arms having the mind of their own) that survived dwell
in "prisons" and "almhouse", i.e. in museums and private collections.
Human civilisation went completely out of their influence, and
intelligent swords and halberds remain only in the fairy-tales or in
endless TV "fantasy" serials like the famous "Chan-with-the-Iron-Hand".
The progress had been developing fast and wide during all these
centuries, and the former world of Chan Unkor his sword Unicorn became
almost similar the one familiar to us: skyscraper buildings, telephones,
television, automobiles, computers, fire arms and the regional conflicts
between the countries that appeared after the splitting of the Kabirean
Emirate... In short, the world becomes simple and comprehencive. But...
In this "simple and comprehencive" world very unusual things happen.
Almost for a month an epidemic of sleepiness rages throughout the whole
country which nobody can explain, people perish by tens because of a
mysterious and also unexplained "self-shooting" disease; it is manifested
in the sudden explosions of the fire arms held by one's hand or in the
arms beginning to shoot all by themselves; sometimes one and the same
nightmare haunts hundreds of people until, being not able to support it
any longer, they kill themselves...
In this novel the reader gets acquainted with a strange little girl
hiding beneath her old shawl a dozen of missile knives and killing with
them four heavily armed terrorists, with a historian Rashid-al-Shinby who
sees wonderful dreams, with the doctor Cadal Khanuman who tries to cure
people suffering from the schysoid nightmares and many others. Troubles
happened within the criminal klan "Alamut"; policemen began secret
investigation. And they found that all ways are leading to the priveleged
mekhteb (colledge) "Star hour" where all members of administration are a
bit too fond of astrology. When comes the night of Nauruse, the New Year,
all of the main heroes gather inside the colledge fence. What will be the
price that they'll have to pay in order to go out, to remain humans, not
to fall to the abyss of fear, à áâ¥àï®á⨠and inevitable tragedy? Is it
easy to be human when one can't discern visions from reality, when former
friends become enemies, the pistols fail to shoot but the knives don't
miss their targets as usual. Soon the atmosphere becomes tense, the
"spiders in the glass" are ready to fight for their lives, and the first
blood has been already spilled... What will be the end of this crazy
night of Nauruse? What will the coming year bring to the people locked in
the mekhteb -- and not only to them but to the whole Mankind?
This novel is not directly (by its plot) connected with "The Way of
the Sword" although the action takes place in the same world. Both books
can be read separately. But together they form a kind of dilogy.
The novel was published in Russia in 1997 and 1999. The book "Let
Them Die" was admitted to the list of the Moscow bestsellers (3rd place
in the general rating).
* * *
"TO PUT THE SOUL IN" (a long story, about 11.000 words, 1996.)
The troubles began in the fishermen settlement at the little Stream
Island near the South Carolina shores when the white shark had been
caught whose belly was ornamented with the blue patterns highly reminding
the tattooing. The McEvans brothers who caught the rare fish wanted to
sell it to the scientists, but nobody wanted to buy it. Then the brothers
got enraged and decided to kill the useless creature. But they failed to
do that because the net with which the bay was fenced turned out to be
broken and the shark had disappeared through a big hole. The following
day the sea became empty: the fishermen could catch not a single fish and
returned home empty-handed. Only the ominous triangular could be seen at
the sea surface around the unlucky island. So what had happened? Did the
shark itself broke the net or somebody helped it? How is related to these
dark events the mysterious death of an emigrant youth who at the
beginning asked himself for the permission to feed the keen-toothed
prisoner? The death of one of the McEvans brothers seems not very decent
too... All this story unfolds in the presence of a learned ichtiologist
Dr Alexander Flaxman who in his turn arrived to the Stream Island in
rather an unusual way. The tensions between people in the local bar grow
quickly for while the eye-witnesses are telling what they have seen still
new and new details come to the light, and in the end the last and bloody
act of the tragedy which began a fortnight ago was played. But only the
old priest Mbete Lakemba who once lived in the Fiji Isles seems to be
aware of the real state of affairs: the white people have awakened the
mighty spirit N'daku-Wanga and now are reaping the fruits of their own
imprudence...
The long story was published two times in Ukraine in 1997, one time
in Russia and one time in Israel the same year and one time in Russia in
2000.
* * *
"THE BLACK TROUBLE-MAKER" (novel in three volumes: "Thunderstorm In
Beznalya" (about 106.000 words), "Net For World Lords" (about 124.000
words) and "Go Where You Want" (about 111.000 words); 1996-1997.)
Our world stands on the verge of Kali-Youga, the Era of Darkness.
The lightnings of the heavenly weapons sparkle over the Fields of Kuru,
which became the scene of the greatest of battles. Great heroes and
ordinary warriors perish one after another and even Gods themselves are
now unable to stop this slaughter. The world approaches its end, daemons
penetrate to the gardens of Paradise, the souls of the dead refuse to go
to the Blissful halls and to the Hell, and a shadow of the future rises
over the ashes of past: it is the Lord Krishna, the Black Trouble-Maker
with his favourite flute in hand. Who is he in fact, a rebellious avatar
of divine entity, what does he want? But the Era of Darkness wasn't
finished after the world's end, it just began, as well as the stories of
the terrible god Indra the Thunderer the bull among the followers of
Rama-with-an-Axe, and three of his disciples who perished at the Fields
of Kuru. After you have read the book it is impossible to forget the
images of the giant Gangea the Terrible, or the priest-homunculus
Brahman-of-the-Casket, both passionate and passionless, or the merry
Karna-Long Ears who gave his invulnerability and the divine rank for the
possibility to live and to die by his own choice. In this book each
personnage has the personality of his own easily discernible from the
others.
"The Black Trouble-Maker" is a grandiose epopee in three volumes
based on the "Mahabharata", one of the greatest books of Mankind, but it
is not a retelling but a specific, individual approach to the destinies
of the Three worlds which became our reality, to the origins of the
Universe and the place of the Man in it. This is the book which is worth
reading many times.
The novel was published in Russia in 1997-1998.
* * *
"WE ARE TO LIVE HERE" (novel in two volumes: volume 1 -- "Armageddon
Happened Yesterday", volume 2 -- "To Drink Blood by Handfuls", written in
collaboration with A. Valentinov, each volume about 100.000 words, 1995-
1998.)
Amazing collaboration of the two authors differing so much from each
other could not but result in an interesting book. This novel was begun
as far as in 1995 and the last words were written in the summer of 1998.
And here it is: white letters run across the blue screen, offerings to
the gods of water-pipes and repairs are reeking at the "altars" made of
the household gas-stoves; centaurs on two wheels bring to the heart
attack the militia-men on duty at the roads, and the City is slowly
rehabilitating itself after the cataclism of the Great Toy War... But
soon the tanks get immersed into the asphalt pavement, the motorized
infantry shoots the inoffencive Minotaurus clad in jeans, and the radio
casts a desperate cry: "To all who hear us! We are the City, we perish!"
This cry for help will be heard.
The main heroes of the novel are: the writer Alik Zalessky, the
detective Era Giselo, the city centaur Faul and the corned Minnie in
jeans... human beings all of them. They don't know that the world has
changed without asking their permission; they want to live but they're
not allowed to. And so comes the day when the sons of the Yellow Serpent
Keynary come on the wings of a great storm and they dance over the
perishing City and transmute the elements one into another, taking under
their control the things created. "We are to live here!" -- and the sky
splitted forever is smiling with a precious smile. Fine humour and tragic
catharsis, conflicts of modernity and sparkles of mythology, dynamic plot
and philosophical view on the reality -- all this provides real pleasure
even to the most exigent readers.
The novel was published in Russia in 1999.
* * *
"THE BORDER" (novel in two volumes: volume 1 -- "Orphans Cost Much
in Winter" (about 100.000 words), volume 2 -- "The Time to Break a Bans"
(about 112.000 words); the novel is written in collaboration with Andrey
Valentinov and Marina & Sergey Dyachenko, 1998-1999.)
Beginning from the first pages of this novel the reader becomes
highly delighted and cannot stop until the whole book is read. We enter a
world which is divided by many borders and consists of a number of
separate worlds-containers. The Malakh angels have been guarding those
borders prohibiting the worlds to contact each other. The containers
perish one by one like the members of a body where the blood does not
circulate. And once a strange meeting took place: the two-souled hero,
the Wild Lord, the courageous captain's daughter Yaryna, the murderous
wizard Yehuda-ben-Joseph, the wise bee-master Rudy Panko and the
enchantress Salle Keval who is a kind of conductor between the worlds.
Among them is also a strange baby, the newly-born "devil's son", the
future Saviour, or may be the Antichrist? They met at their ultimate
border, and the majestic Malakhs shivered, those whose flesh is made of
light and the soul... but they have got no soul at all. Ukraine of the
Gogol times, ancient Judaic mistical theories of Kabbala, exotic lands of
fantasy and realistic village huts near Poltava; and among all this there
is a man, an ordinary man who strives to find his own personality, and
his fate and his dignity. This wonderful novel combines the features of
philosophical discourse, historical novel, thriller and melodrama. The
collective project of the writers widely known in the former USSR and
abroad is a success, and it's no wonder because Marina and Sergey
Dyachenko from Kiev and H. L. Oldie (Dmitry Gromov and Oleg Ladyzhensky)
and Andrey Valentinov from Kharkov are the laureats of most prestigeous
prizes in the field of fantasy in Ukraine, Russia, Moldavia in Europe and
in Israel. Each of their novels was successfully published and
republished. In general the volume of their work during last years
amounts to almost a million copies! The book written by such a team
thanks to its high level will be enjoyed both by most refined experts and
by ordinary reader.
This novel was published in Russia in 1999 as a Club (Collector's)
Edition and the same year as an ordinary edition in hard cover.
* * *
"I'LL TAKE IT MYSELF" (novel, about 125.000 words, 1998.)
Although this novel has a real historical background it is closely
connected with the worlds of the "ABYSS OF HUNGRY EYES" and "THE WAY OF
THE SWORD". It's plot is quite separate but to a certain extent this book
is the first part of the cycle "THE WAY OF THE SWORD" because its action
begins some centuries earlier. The Arabian poet of the Xth century al-
Mutanabbi is the man of the sword and the man of the word and... simply a
man in the full meaning of this word. But in the first place he's a poet
although he can wield his sword skillfully. And the life of a poet is his
song. "I'll take it myself" is a brilliant allegoric poem about the fate
of Mutanabbi who had been an emir if not even a shakh-in-shakh but
rejected the sword and entered the history as a poet. And this fate was
not at all easy... At the beginning of the book he succeded to survive in
a duel with a wild nomad, but very soon he failed to withstand a samoum
-- and got to another world where he became not only a shakh but a
carrier of the "farre". This world is for him a hell (although for
somebody else it could be like a paradise), but thanks to the "farre"
everyone becomes obedient to his wishes. And, what is more, they're
sincerely obedient, people render their services with joy, their souls
are changed as the pictures at the computer display. The former rival
becomes a devoted friend, women are ready to come to him and even a night
brigand attacks the shakh only because the latter yearns for battle. Such
a life is in fact real torment for a poet who used to deal with a word
which had been cruel -- but real. And the war victories over Kabir cannot
change the situation because the trouble is rooted in his own soul. He
refuses to accept life as alms and shouts desperately: "I'll take it
myself!" What is life and death, honour and dishonour, power and
responsibility -- all of these great questions are raised in this novel,
and there can hardly be a reader who'd remain indifferent to it.
The novel was published in Russia in 1998.
* * *
"NOPERAPON OR IN IMAGE" (novel, about 100.000 words, 1998.)
Japan of the XVth century and Kharkov of the XXth. Legendary actors
of the "No" theatre and our contemporaries, the art of ancient actors and
modern karate schools, curved streets of Kyoto and avenues lit with
bright neon lights, the meeting at the cimetery with a night creature
without face and an advertisment with an amazing slogan: "Your task is to
survive". It seems that there is nothing in common between all these
things. But there is a man, an ordinary man who was driven out of the
frames of time and space in order to win or to perish. When the young
actor Motoyoshi killed a "noperapon"-thieve with a wooden sword, when one
man became a mirror and the other a weapon; when Death was approaching
the Temple of Clear Waters, and the young postgraduate girl-student sent
to the hospital one after another six violators -- it means that the
times meet, their edges coincide and it becomes impossible to define who
had been living yesterday and who is living now, if everyone cherishes
deep in soul the wish to possess everything at a time and free of
charge... But since we get what we have wanted we cease to be human...
Try to take the place of the heroes of the new novel by H.L.Oldie, and
the dull reality of our usual world would seem not so dull to you... and
not so real at all.
The novel was published in Russia in 1999.
* * *
A lot of short stories also can be proposed for publishing. Some of
them are:
HUMOROUS FANTASY:
1. "Collapse" (Published in Ukraine three times: in 1994, 1995 and
1996 and one time in Russia in 1999). Included to the "Master-Radio" show
(Kharkov, Ukraine, 1994).
2. "The Hidden Wiring" (Published in Ukraine in 1994, 1996 and in
Russia in 1999).
3. "The Lacking Ingredient" (Published in Ukraine in 1994, 1996 and
in Russia in 1999).
4. "Happiness in the Written Form" (Published three times in Russia,
in 1991, 1992 and 1999 and in Ukraine: twice in 1994 and one time in
1996).
5. "The Cassandre Syndrome" (Published in Ukraine in 1994, 1996 and
in Russia in 1999).
6. "Mythurg" (Published in Ukraine in 1992, 1994, twice in 1996 and
in Kazakhstan in 1993 and one time in Russia in 1999).
7. "The Nightmares of Pavel Lavrentievich" (Published in Ukraine in
1994, 1996 and in Russia in 1999). Included to the "Master-Radio" show
(Kharkov, Ukraine, 1994).
8. "How the Atlantis Fell" (Published in Ukraine in 1993, 1994 and
1996 and one time in Russia in 1998 and 1999). Included to the "Master-
Radio" show (Kharkov, Ukraine, 1994). Listed in "The Best 10 SF & Fantasy
Short Stories" of the former USSR in 1994. (1-st place)
9. "The Second Day of Abundance" (Published in Ukraine in 1994,
1996 and in Russia in 1999).
10. "The Cinema until Coffin And..." (Published twice in Ukraine in
1994 and three times in Russia: in 1996, 1997 and 2000).
11. "The Grandfather Vampire Tales" (Published in Ukraine in 1993
and three times in 1994, five times (1996, 1997, 1997, 1999, 2000) in
Russia) and in 2000 in Lithuania. Included to the "Master-Radio" show
(Kharkov, Ukraine, 1994).
12. "The Report" (Published in Ukraine in 1994 and in Russia in
2000).
13. "The Last God's Assumption" (Published in Ukraine in 1993 and in
1994 and in Russia in 1997 and in 2001).
14. "Khipesh-Town" (By Dmitry Gromov, Oleg Ladyzhensky, Andrey
Valentinov and Alexander Krasovitzky. Published in Ukraine in 1998 and in
Russia in 2000).
THRILLERS:
1. "Nevermore" (Publised in Ukraine in 1993 and in 2000 and in
Russia in 1997 and twice in 2000).
2. "Nobody's Home" (This story was listed in "The Best 10 SF
Stories" at International SF Authors Meeting in Biysk (former USSR) in
1990 (#7). (Published in Russia in 1996 and in 2001).
3. "Monster" (Published in Ukraine in 1992 and in 2000).
4. "The Eighth Circle of the Underground" (Published in Ukraine in
1992, 1994 and in 2000 and in Russia in 1994 and twice in 1996). Included
to the "Master-Radio" radio show (Kharkov, Ukraine, 1994).
5. "The Prophet" (Published in Ukraine in 1995 and in Russia in
1997 and in 2001).
6. "Requiem to the Dream" (Published in Bielorussia in 1992 and in
Russia in 1993 and 1996).
PHILOSOPHICAL, PSYCHOLOGICAL AND LYRIC FANTASY:
1. "Master" (Published in Ukraine in 1993, 1994 and 1997 and in
Russia in 2001). Included to the "Master-Radio" show (Kharkov, Ukraine,
1994). This short story got in 1995 the "FANCON-95" Prize as "The Best
1994-95 SF & Fantasy Short Story".
2. "Tiger" (Published in Ukraine in 1994 and in 1996 and in Russia
in 1996).
3. "A Discount For The Talent" (Published in Russia in 2001).
4. "5 Minutes To Lend" (Published in Russia in 1996).
5. "Annabel-Lea" (Published in Russia in 1996, in Ukraine in 1997
and in Mexico in 2000).
6. "The Laughter Of Dionys".
7. "The Last" (Published in Russia in 2000).
8. "A Broken Circle".
9. "Hoanga" (Published in Ukraine in 1998 and in Russia in 1999). H.
L. Oldie received in 2001 "The 1-st Degree Fluffy Order" for this short
story.
10. "The Missed Life" (Published in Ukraine twice in 1999 and one
time in Russia in 1999).
Some of these short stories were integrated as parts into the novels
"To Enter into Image" and "The Way".
All these short stories are (c) H. L. Oldie, 1990-1998.
* * *
The abstracts given above are very brief and simplified; they don't
even follow all plot lines.
If You are interested in these novels and stories, You can translate
them from Russian for publishing.
All texts are availible as text files, in Russian. The texts can
be also translated from Russian to English (or some other languages) by
our translators.
HENRY LION OLDIE is a joint pen-name of two authors:
GROMOV DMITRY and
LADYZHENSKY OLEG.
ADDRESSES:
Mr. D. E. Gromov: Pushkinsky entry, # 10, apt. 28, Kharkov-24,
61024, Ukraine. tel.(home): (0572) 478905.
Mr. O. S. Ladyzhensky: Pushkinsky entry, # 10, apt. 30, Kharkov-24,
61024, Ukraine. tel.(home): (0572) 474830.
E-Mail: (Internet): oldie@kharkov.com
NetMail (FidoNet): 2:461/76.2 Dmitriy Gromov
* * *
DEAR PUBLISHERS AND EDITORS!
High quality of the novels given is guaranteed.
So don't have any doubts -- our novels are printable!
Read -- and see!
We are ready for any forms of collaboration.
All copyrights are the property of Henry Lion Oldie.
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