Loukko by 
We are thrilled to share the news that Johanna Sinisalo’s The Core of the Sun (Auringon ydin, Teos 2013) has been shortlisted for the prestigious Tähtivaeltaja (“Star Traveller”) award. Recognizing the previous year’s best science fiction book published in Finland, the award is given out by the Helsinki Science Fiction Association. Past winners have included Cormac McCarthy’s The Road and Philip K. Dick’s The Man in The High Castle. Emmi Itäranta’s Memory of Water was among last year’s nominees. The first Tähtivaeltaja award was given in 1986.
Finlandia Prize-winning Sinisalo is one of Finland’s most successful authors, and her works have been translated into 19 languages.
“[The Core of the Sun] is a chillingly intelligent dystopia about a health-fascist version of Finland that oppresses women,” the jury said.
Other nominees are Iain M. Banks (Transition), Lauren Beukes (The Shining Girls), Hugh Howey (Wool) and Peter Watts (Blindsight). The winner will be announced in May.
The Core of the Sun depicts the Finnish Eusistocratic Republic, a kind of North Korea of Europe. Here sex has been turned into a commodity, and women have been bred into two subspecies based on their ability to provide pleasure and bear children.
Rights sold:
Czech Republic, Euromedia
France, Actes Sud
Germany, Klett-Cotta
Original publisher: Finland, Teos
Reading materials:
German edition
English sample
Finnish edition
Contact: info@ahlbackagency.com