Swedish science fiction and fantasy: Suggested readings

I was recently asked about Swedish science fiction, and since my response ended up approximately blog-post length, I figured I’d edit it and put it up here. Also, I’m heading to Sweden for three weeks starting tomorrow, and not sure whether I’ll be posting anything while there–we’ll see. Possibly some vacay photos on Instagram though, and maybe some art, if I can find the time.

As far as science fiction and fantasy goes (or speculative fiction more generally), I would divide the texts I’m aware of into three sets: 1) fantasy/sci-fi/horror in the “mainstream” of Swedish literary history, whether genre authors or “literary” authors “slumming” (I’ve included a couple non-Swedish texts here just to fill out the range a bit more), 2) children’s lit, and 3) the pulp fantasy/sci-fi/horror that is more clearly derivative of/participatory in international fandom–this latter has been growing (English language material has always been popular, but the vernacular element has been increasing a lot), though this outgrowth of fandom/geek culture has been more “pulpy” in Sweden, vs the more literary “Finnish Weird“, which, according to a conversation I had with Johanna Sinisalo, is otherwise very similar in it’s fandom origins.

1) Mainstream

[not Swedish, but–Niels Klim’s Underground Journey by the Norwegian Ludvig Holberg seems like a good book to mention just in terms of the genealogy of otherworldly literature generally. From about the same time as Gulliver’s Travels, and perhaps even more suitable as a sort of predecessor to what we think of as science fiction now–plus Holberg is pretty prominent in Scandinavian literary history. See my previous post on this book here.]

Kallocain, by Karin Boye–this is dystopian literature from the same (general) period as 1984, Brave New World, etc (Boye’s novel came out in 1940 I think? she committed suicide not long after). You should be able to find this in Sweden no prob (I think it is considered a somewhat peripheral classic), and I thought the English translation was fine (click the title for a link to the online version–I believe it is still available in print too though) and had a good introduction to the author and the work. Translations of her poetry are available online as well.

Aniara by Harry Martinson–so yeah, pretty sure this is the only epic poem about a doomed spaceflight written by a Nobel Prize winning author that exists out there. Hard to find an English copy, last I checked (saw some translations going for crazy amounts of money), but shouldn’t be a problem getting Swedish copies over in Sweden, as Martinson is quite central to the canon. There is also an opera version, but I can only find small clips on youtube. 😦  A pretty difficult read, if you are accustomed to more popular sci fi and less experienced with poetry, but I still recommend it.

While I don’t have specific titles in my memory at the moment, Swedish physicist Peter Nilsson is worth looking out for, though I’m not sure how much his titles are still in print (I believe he passed away quite some time ago), and I don’t believe there were ever any English translations made (but of course, if anyone wants to hire me for such a project, I have a free summer…). I have an omnibus of three of his books, and have read the first (a long time ago). For the most part it was like a Carl Sagan book, imaginative and poetic meditations on science, the vastness of the universe, etc (though keep in mind that the science involved is from the 80s, maybe 90s at latest), with a final chapter that turns to straight-up speculation of the hard sci-fi sort. I believe his other work is more of the usual sort of science fiction narrative art, but I will need to find out myself one of these days…

Urminnes Tecken by Kerstin Ekman–another major name in Sw literary history, though this book (I’ve read part but it got pushed out of the way by more urgent reading) is very different from the crime novels she got her start with–a very literary take on the idea of the “small folk”, fairies, underearthers, whatever you want to call them.

[not Swedish, but: Smilla’s Sense of Snow by Peter Høeg is a crime novel that evolves into something with more of a science fictional premise. His novel The Quiet Man is a also interesting, more of a paranormal theme. Haven’t read anything else by him yet, alas.]

Books by John Ajvide Lindqvist, Sweden’s writer of “philosophical horror”. You’ve probably heard of Let the Right One In, either the book or the movie–I’ve only seen the movie (the book is pretty long I believe). I’ve taught his Handling the Undead, a sort of low-key zombie movie (this one probably edges more towards sci-fi, vs LTROI), and he’s got several other books out. I would think of him as a Steven King type, but that is not at all to suggest that he is derivative.

The Merman (Havsmannen) and The Horrific Sufferings of the Mind-Reading Monster Hercules Barefoot (Den vidunderliga kärlekens historia), by Carl-Johan Vallgren. I haven’t read anything else by him, and am on-pause with the latter book because the next plot point was apparently the rape of a young girl and I am not sure I have the nerve to read that atm (he seems to have pretty intense stuff in his books, so be warned), but as far as literary fiction with science fictional and horror elements, these two books seem to be the most obvious recommendations to me. I thought Havsmannen was really great, essentially sci-fi in that the Merman is the novum, but set in 80s small town Sweden–and involves enough trigger warnings that I’m hesitant to teach it…

And I’m currently reading Alkemistens Dotter (The Alchemist’s Daughter–not to be confused with an English-language novel of the same name) by one of the “Stockholm Surrealists” Carl-Michael Edenborg–really enjoying it. Nominated for the “August Prize” (named for famous Swedish author August Strindberg–and whoops, forgot to mention above that Vallgren won the Augustpriset in 2002 for Den vidunderliga kärlekens historia). Not sure to what degree it is period fiction, fantasy, sci-fi (or “steampunk” with the alchemy?), or horror, and given what else Edenborg has written it could turn into erotica. In any case, it seems very well done so far.

2) Children’s Literature

Astrid Lindgren is the obvious starting point here. Her Pippi books are great of course, but her The Brothers Lionheart, Ronja the Robber’s Daughter, and Mio My Mio (and probably others) will fit well enough with the expectations of fantasy readers. The last I found hard to read because it was so clearly written for very young kids, but TBL is pretty intense, despite some similar “oh my darling brother” moments. TBL deals with topics like premature death, suicide, and war, so, you know, brace yourself…

Tove Jansson’s Moomin/Mumintroll books are great, in case those fit what you are looking for. I used them to help improve my Swedish and found them slightly more difficult than, say Pippi.

Back in the 90s Niklas Krog started writing historical fiction and fantasy for young adults–I think he was sort of a prelude to the stuff we will see in the next section. I’ve read half of his En Krigares Hjärta, generally enjoyed the premise, pretty standard worldbuilding, what I’ve seen of the YA romance part of it is not so much my thing, but I think that has more to do with the fact that I don’t read YA (well, that is changing…). Looks like he has been pretty prolific since I first came across his work–Niklas, if you need a translator, I’m happy to oblige! 🙂

3) The Fantasy/Sci-Fi ghetto–this maybe mostly covers fantasy, which seems more connected to the gamer culture that, from what I’ve seen, drove a lot of the publication of Swedish language speculative fiction in the 2000s–I didn’t start seeing these till mid 2000s, but I think they were building momentum throughout that decade.
http://www.neogames.se/ (NOT .com) is the company I saw behind most of these books–Andreas Roman is a name on a lot of the books I picked up from that time, but… I actually haven’t read them yet (hard to prioritize fantasy reading when it doesn’t have to do with your PhD or teaching…). 😦  I did find an audio short story of his somewhere once–maybe even on amazon. The one book I did read of these (Korset och Tronen) was a fine enough read for a franchise novel–and I think that’s what you have to expect quality-wise for most of these (though it does look like Roman has transcended that pigeonhole a bit). Here are their novels: http://www.neogames.se/se/shopwindow.php?id=45876&shopwindow=8093605   I read “Korset och Tronen” quite a few years ago–I believe the “Cross” bit had a weird backstory in order to be able to bring this Christian symbol into a world that had no Christianity–I think it represented a faction that filled the “Christian” role… So you can kinda see how the worldbuilding is fairly “gaming-centric”, building with categories that will feel familiar to a broad range of folks.

More recently I picked up a huge tome, first in a series, called Svavelvinter. Seems to be very Game of Thrones/Malazan Book of the Fallen style fantasy. From what I understand it is related to another gaming system (don’t have links at the moment, sorry), and I think the first book originally came out in 2004–anyway, I’ve gotten a good way in and as far as I can tell it’s on par with the usual epic multi-volume fantasies on the market here. Story set-up is taking a while, but I believe that is standard enough for multi-volume fantasy…

So I think the gaming angle is still going strong, but two years ago when I was there I saw that different groups have been putting out collections of short stories. The collection Waiting for the Machines to Fall Asleep is in English, but I’ve been slow to get into it–two or three of the first stories I tried just did not sit well with me quality-wise, but I don’t want to write the whole thing off.

The collection Maskinblod has some sequels, so it seems there is a market for short sci-fi in Sweden. I did feel like there were still some weak stories, and many I’m a bit undecided about quality-wise, but others feel like they would be at home in some of the usual journals I read. Several are prize-winners as well, so worth a look even if you don’t end up liking all the stories…

Similar mixed feelings for I Varje Ångetag, Swedish “Oscarian” (sim. to Victorian) Steampunk–this one really feels like a franchise publication again, quality wise, and I think it is supposed to feel that way. Not sure to what extent it is a shared world, but it looks as though there are efforts in that direction. It’s fun, but most of the stories feel like a quick dip into an interesting “gee whiz!” world without the stories feeling as developed in their own right as I would like. But I think I may appreciate the stories better now that I know what to expect.

I also picked up a collection by the author KG Johansson, “translator, rock music professor, and prize winning author”, called Fyra Kvinnor Fyra Flickor (I think referencing the main characters in the stories). Seems promising from the little bit I’ve read so far, and Johansson does have an impressive list of awards. Hoping to get through more of Johansson’s work soon.

Final notes–the “big names” in the first set are your best bet if you are primarily interested in literary quality or literary history (though most of these are peripheral to the canon). The children’s books are fun (esp. the Moomin ones)–I don’t know whether you speak Swedish, are a learner, or are a native speaker, but the Moomins are great for an intermediate learner. Krog’s books and the ones in the third section are what you want if you want pulpy, geek-culture fantasy in Swedish (this is not to say you can’t get “literary” quality from this set, but it may be more hit or miss) and are able to get the books from Sweden (both the “Science Fiction Bokhandeln” and “NeoGames” have an online store, but I don’t know whether it is possible to order from outside Sweden).

I am really looking forward to visiting the Science Fiction Bokhandeln in Gamla Stan again in a couple weeks–as usual I can’t just buy out the store (as much as I would like to), but I may try ordering by mail some time (not certain whether this would work–ordering books from Sweden is not always an available option).

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