''Amatka'' is a 2012 novel by

Karin Tidbeck Karin Margareta Tidbeck (born 6 April 1977) is a Swedish author of fantasy and weird fiction. Tidbeck debuted with the short story collection ''Vem är Arvid Pekon?'' in 2010, followed by the novel ''Amatka'' in 2012. Their first work in English ...

, originally written in Swedish, and published in English in 2017. Set in a world shaped by language, it follows Vanja who is sent to the Amatka colony on a work assignment where she falls in love with her housemate. Central themes of the novel include political oppression, limited freedom and deep conspiracies.

Summary

Coming from the colony of Essre, Vanja (formally known as Brilars' Vanja Essre Two) is sent by a government body to Amatka in order to find out what hygiene products the people there use. She goes on to live in a house with three others, namely Nina (Ulltors' Nina Four), Ivar (Jondis' Ivar), and Ulla (Sarols' Ulla Three), all of whom have at present or at some time contributed to the workings of Amatka. Despite her misgivings about Vanja's mission, Nina introduces the Essre resident to the departments in the colony so she could gather more information for her research. As the days progress, however, Vanja meets specialists from different fields and is eventually led to discover that Amatka — along with the other colonies — may not be as it appears.

Translations

In addition to the original Swedish edition, published by Mix in 2012, the novel has been translated into multiple languages: * Spanish, published by Ediciones Nevsky, 2016 * English, published by Vintage, 2017 * Hungarian, published by Athenaeum, 2017 * French, published by La Volte, 2018 * Portuguese, published by 20, 20, 2018 * Turkish, published by İthaki, 2018 * Czech, published by Kniha Zlín, 2018

Awards

''Amatka'' was regarded as one of the best science fiction books of 2017 by ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

''. It was nominated for the following awards: * Locus Award Finalist 2018 * Compton Award 2018 * Prix Utopiales 2018

References

{{reflist 2012 fantasy novels Swedish fantasy novels Weird fiction novels