Juraj Červenák

Juraj Červenák
Juraj Červenák
Born (1974-06-16) June 16, 1974
Žiar nad Hronom, Czechoslovakia (now Slovakia)
Pen name Thorleif Larssen
Occupation Novelist, Short story writer, Film critic
Genre Historical fantasy, Sword and Sorcery, Westerns, Horror
Website
www.cervenak.sk

Juraj Červenák (born June 16, 1974[1]) is a Slovak author best known for his short stories and novels, which mix elements of sword and sorcery with historical fantasy and Slavic mythology.

He has published (under the pseudonym Thorleif Larssen) several novels featuring Robert E. Howard's classic character Conan the Barbarian, as well as (under his own name) the Warlock[2] trilogy, a set of historical fantasy novels following the adventures of the Slavic warlock Rogan in the historical setting of the 8th century Principality of Nitra and neighbouring lands.

Červenák's short stories range from themes similar to those used in his novels to westerns and horrors and can be found in various (mostly Czech) anthologies, Slovak science fiction/fantasy magazine Fantázia and Czech magazines Ikarie and Pevnost. Most of Červenák's books were published in Czech translation prior to publication of their original Slovak versions (as of September 2007 none of the novels have been published in Slovak).

Červenák is currently working on a new trilogy, based on Bylinas; the first novel, Bohatier: Oceľové žezlo (Bogatyr: The Iron Sceptre) was published in 2006, with two sequels scheduled for publication in 2007.

Biography

Juraj Červenák was born on June 16, 1974 in Žiar nad Hronom, Slovakia, but spent most of his life in the town of Banská Štiavnica. After graduating from secondary school he went through a series of odd jobs, finally settling in a position at the town's cultural centre, where his duties included managing the local cinema.[3] He ultimately made writing (as a novelist, short story writer and film critic for various magazines) his full-time career in 2005.[4]

Writing career

Červenák's early works, published under the pseudonym 'Thorleif Larssen', were moderately successful with readers but largely dismissed by critics as derivative of his literary influences (most notably Howard) and lacking in inventiveness and sophistication.[5]

After Tollrander, Červenák went on a nearly four-year writing and publishing hiatus, from which he emerged in 1998 with a short story called "Mŕtvi striebro nepotrebujú" (Dead Men Need No Silver), published in the Fantázia magazine.[6]

The short story introduced a new protagonist, Rogan the Warlock, along with his wolf-demon companion, Goryvlad, in an original world of high fantasy based on Slavic history and mythology. The readers' response was favourable and more short stories followed. "Krvavý oheň, biely oheň" (Blood Fire, White Fire), published a year later, received the O najlepšiu fantasy (Best Fantasy) Award.

Červenák returned to writing novels with 2000's Conan nelítostný (Conan The Relentless) (writing as Thorleif Larssen once again) and collected two more prestigious awards, Istron for "Z posvátné vody zrozená" (Born Of The Sacred Water) in 2002[7] and Raketa for "Hrdlorez" (Cutthroat) in 2003.[8]

2003 saw the publication of the first in the Warlock series of novels, Černokněžník – Vládce vlků (Warlock – The Master of Wolves). It was the first book to be published under Červenák's own name and marked his embrace of historical fantasy, as it brought Rogan into the historical setting of Central Europe at the turn of the 8th century. The novel earned positive reviews[9][10] and was followed by two sequels (2004, 2005) and a short story collection (2006).

Červenák is currently working on a new trilogy based on Bylinas; the first novel, Bohatier: Oceľové žezlo (Bogatyr: The Iron Sceptre), describing the exploits of the legendary hero Ilya Muromets was published in 2006, with two sequels scheduled for publication in 2007.[11]

Bibliography

Warlock Trilogy

  • The Master of Wolves (Vládce vlků, Czech edition 2003, Slovak edition 2010 as Vládca vlkov, Polish edition 2012 as Władca Wilków)
  • The Sword of Radhost (Radhostův meč, Czech edition 2004, Slovak edition 2010 as Radhostov meč, Polish edition 2014 as Miecz Radogosta)
  • The Blood Fire (Krvavý oheň, Czech edition 2005, Slovak edition 2011)

Bogatyr Trilogy

  • The Iron Sceptre (Ocelové žezlo, Czech edition 2006, Polish edition 2012 as Żelazny Kostur)
  • The Dragon Empress (Dračí carevna, Czech edition 2007, Polish edition 2013 as Smocza Cesarzowa)
  • The White Tower (Bílá věž, Czech edition 2008)

Bivoj Dilogy

  • Bivoj Demonslayer (Bivoj běsobijce, Czech edition 2008)
  • Bivoj Warrior (Bivoj válečník, Czech edition 2008)

The Adventures of Captain Bathory

  • Guardians of Oradea (Strážcové Varadínu, Czech edition 2009, Slovak edition 2010 as Strážcovia Varadína)
  • The Gate of Irkalla (Brána Irkally, 2010, Czech edition 2010)
  • The Devil's Fortress (Diablova pevnosť, 2011, Czech edition 2011)

Conan novels

  • Conan and the Shadows of Hyrth (Conan a stíny Hyrthu, 1993) (as George Callahan)
  • Conan the Relentless (Conan nelítostný, 2000) (as Thorleif Larssen)
  • Conan and the Twelve Gates of Hell (Conan a dvanáct bran pekla, 2002) (as Thorleif Larssen)

Other novels

  • Olgerd: The Sword from Thormaren (Olgerd: Meč z Thormarenu, Czech edition 1993) (as Thorleif Larssen)
  • Tollrander: The Jewel of the Enchanted Wizard (Tollrander: Klenot zakletého čaroděje, Czech edition 1994) (as Thorleif Larssen)
  • Mark Stone: The Holy War (Mark Stone: Svatá válka, Czech edition 2006)
  • The Axe of Bronze, the Fleece of Gold (Sekera z bronzu, rúno zo zlata, 2008, Czech edition 2009)
  • Rattlesnake Callahan and the Gate of Ghosts (Chřestýš Callahan a brána duchů, Czech edition 2012)

Other works

  • Stone and Blood (Kámen a krev, Czech edition 2010), collection of short stories and novellas (also from Warlock, Bogatyr, Bivoj, and Bathory series)

English titles of the actual future translations may differ.

References

Notes

  1. ↑ "Juraj Červenák's author profile at scifiworld.cz (in Slovak)". Archived from the original on 2007-09-28. Retrieved 2007-09-09.
  2. ↑ 'Warlock' is one of the possible translations of the Slovak term 'Černokňažník'
  3. ↑ "Červenák's biography at the author's official website (in Slovak)". Archived from the original on 2007-05-29. Retrieved 2007-09-09.
  4. ↑ "Červenák's profile at fantasya.cz (in Czech)". Retrieved 2007-09-09.
  5. ↑ "A review of Červenák's first novel at fantasyplanet.cz (in Czech)". Archived from the original on 2005-01-29. Retrieved 2007-09-09.
  6. ↑ "Complete bibliography at the author's official website (in Slovak)". Archived from the original on 2007-07-20. Retrieved 2007-09-09.
  7. ↑ "Winners of the Istron 2003 Award (in Slovak)". Archived from the original on 2007-09-21. Retrieved 2007-09-09.
  8. ↑ "Winners of the Raketa 2002 Award (in Slovak)". Archived from the original on 2007-09-28. Retrieved 2007-09-09.
  9. ↑ "A review of Vládce vlků at fantasyplanet.cz (in Czech)". Archived from the original on 2007-12-15. Retrieved 2007-09-09.
  10. ↑ "A review of Vládce vlků at fantazia.sk (in Slovak)". Archived from the original on 2007-09-28. Retrieved 2007-09-09.
  11. ↑ ""Coming soon" section at the author's official website (in Slovak)". Archived from the original on 2007-08-10. Retrieved 2007-09-09.
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