Books by Martin Vopenka

Science Fiction Book of the Month - The Times: 'Weaves a gloomy, gripping, spiritual spell all of its own.''A subtle and provocative meditation on the nature of faith and hope in the face of despair and chaos.' - AurealisIt's 2096. Scientists work to protect a baking planet. What a drought-stricken Europe needs is rain. What it gets is a messiah.Eli is born in a suburb of Prague. A rainstorm heralds the birth. Perhaps this messiah is for real. Eli's father abandons the family to become the dictator's right-hand man. Eli's elder brother Marek guides Eli through his short and powerful life.Can tales of a messiah be enough to heal a ravaged planet in which few babies are born? Marek works with the zeal of a prophet. Aged 72, he's still going strong. A new follower joins Marek's community, young Natalia. She awakens the old man to the joys of the body. But what's the worth of a human love when the environment is collapsing? Marek sets out to find his answer.My Brother the Messiah is a story about daring to seed the future of our planet.

A contemporary classic from the Czech Republic. To support his family, a man submits himself to a solo science experiment in the High Andes. A cosmic adventure story of big ideas and murder. 'I loved it: simple as that. I started reading thinking I'd start with a few chapters and pace it over a week or two, but I found I couldn't stop. A potent and haunting novel of black holes, solitude and the sublime, it is never less than immensely readable and absorbing.' - Adam Roberts, winner of the BSFA Award for Best Novel and the John W. Campbell Memorial Award. Your business is dead. It seems like a deal - leave your family behind in Prague for a year, isolate yourself in a research station in the Andes, and come home with a fortune. With a treatise on black holes for company, Jakob settles in at altitude. The air is thin. Strangers pass by on dangerous pilgrimage while his young wife and kids take life in his mind. In mountain starkness, the big questions take shape - like what happens to love inside a black hole?