Péter Zsoldos
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Péter Zsoldos (April 20, 1930 – September 26, 1997) was a Hungarian science fiction author who largely wrote about themes common in US/UK
science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...
like space travel and robots. His best known work is probably ''Ellenpont'', which translates as ''Counterpoint''. The book explores the attempts of
artificial intelligences Artificial intelligence (AI) is intelligence—perceiving, synthesizing, and inferring information—demonstrated by machines, as opposed to intelligence displayed by animals and humans. Example tasks in which this is done include speech rec ...
abandoned by Man to uncover their origins and, ultimately, to rediscover mankind.


Biography

Influenced by Aldous Huxley and Aleksey Tolstoy, his ambition had been to become a writer since the age of fifteen. He was interested in
astronomy Astronomy () is a natural science that studies astronomical object, celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and chronology of the Universe, evolution. Objects of interest ...
,
geography Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth description") is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and ...
,
geology Geology () is a branch of natural science concerned with Earth and other astronomical objects, the features or rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Ear ...
and later in
archeology Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...
. Despite all these interests he obtained a degree in
music education Music education is a field of practice in which educators are trained for careers as elementary or secondary music teachers, school or music conservatory ensemble directors. Music education is also a research area in which scholars do origina ...
and choir leading in 1956. Subsequently, he became a music editor and reporter at
Radio Budapest Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmitt ...
from 1963 to 1967. His career in
science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...
literature started in 1963. The majority of his works are science fiction novels, but he also published articles in music. In his works he examines the progression of human relations in conditions different from today's circumstances. He freely travels among the possible ways of future seeking human-like intelligence and the contact with it. This contact can lead to successful co-operation (''Distant Fire''), but also to involuntary tragedy (''Counterpoint''). In his first book, ''The Viking Returns'', the first part of the later ''"Viking Trilogy"'', he tells the story of astronauts landing on an extrasolar planet and making contact with the inhabitants of the planet, similar to humans of the early
Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...
. In ''The Mission'', he describes an even closer contact: the dead astronauts' personalities revive in the brains of inhabitants of the distant planet, thus creating an exciting coexistence of differently evolved intellects sharing one body. Later, ''Counterpoint'' leads to an age after the annihilation of human civilization where self-developing robots attempt to find their origins, relying on faint memories and doubtful speculations.


List of works


Novels

* ''A Viking visszatér'' - ''The Viking Returns'' (1963) * ''Távoli tűz'' - ''Distant Fire'' (1969) * ''A feladat'' - ''The Mission'' (1971) * ''Ellenpont'' - ''Counterpoint'' (1973) * ''Portré négy ülésben'' (1979) * ''A holtak nem vetnek árnyékot'' - ''The Departed Do Not Cast Shadows'' (1983) * ''Az utolsó kísértés'' - ''The Last Temptation'' (1988) ''The Viking Returns'', ''Distant Fire'' and ''The Last Temptation'' are together also known as ''"Viking Trilogy"'' or ''"Avana Trilogy"''.


Short stories

* ''A jó testőr'' - ''The Good Bodyguard'' (in ''X Magazin'', 1997) * ''Severus'' (in ''Galaktika'', 2007)


Interesting facts

* A Hungarian science fiction association, ''Avana'' is named after a fictional city, scene of ''Distant Fire''. * The progressive rock band
Solaris Solaris may refer to: Arts and entertainment Literature, television and film * ''Solaris'' (novel), a 1961 science fiction novel by Stanisław Lem ** ''Solaris'' (1968 film), directed by Boris Nirenburg ** ''Solaris'' (1972 film), directed by ...
named their album ''Counterpoint'' after Zsoldos's book.


References

*''
The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction ''The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction'' (SFE) is an English language reference work on science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and f ...
'', page 604

1930 births 1997 deaths Hungarian science fiction writers {{sf-writer-stub