Jiří Kulhánek

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Jiří Kulhánek (born December 31, 1967) is a popular Czech science fiction and fantasy writer. He is probably the most successful author of the genre in the Czech Republic and he earns so much money that he does not have to work, which only two authors in Czech Republic could do; the commercial success allows him to tolerate the illegal distribution of his works on the Internet.

In 1996 he was awarded the Prize of the Czech Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror for promising new authors.

The heroes of Kulhánek's books possess extraordinary or even supernatural abilities (vampires, cyborgs etc.); they are usually assaulted in the beginning of the story and then take refuge from more numerous, though 'normal' enemies. In the end they face hidden leaders, who are even more powerful than the heroes themselves.

Kulhánek's narrative style is swift with lots of black humour and naturalistic descriptions of the violence and is sometimes compared to the style of Quentin Tarantino. The language used in his works is, however, rather simple and the plot sometimes has logical flaws.

[edit] Latest book Stroncium

Set in a post apocalyptic setting, a world struck by the next ice. Yet the beginning begins inside a world created by a computer, a world far worse than reality. Here we get introduced to the main character, who has no memories of his former life, yet he is helped out, back into reality. There his mind is placed into a "super body". The hero is solitary, and if he does make attachments to other people, then they die soon. The main story arc is filled with blood, ice, bullets, gore and black humour, which forms the main premise of the book. Yet the qustion still remains, what is true, and what is false.

[edit] Novels

Vládci strachu ("Rulers of fear"), 1995
Cesta krve ("The way of blood"), in two parts: Část I - Dobrák ("Part I - Good man"), 1996 and Část II - Cynik ("Part II - Cynic"), 1997. Third part "Kat" ("Hangman"), concluding the series and connecting them to Divocí a zlí was not written by Jiří Kulhánek, but by another Czech writer Martin Moudrý known as Jafff and distributed on the Internet.
Divocí a zlí ("Wild and evil"), four parts: Čas mrtvých ("Time of the dead") and Hardcore in 1999, Temný prorok ("Dark prophet") and Kříže ("Crucifixes"), 2000
Noční klub ("Night club"), two parts: in 2002 and 2003
Stroncium ("Strontium"), 2006