The Lunar Trilogy (Trylogia Księżycowa aka Na Srebrnym Globie)
- Not just fascinating but historically important
(warning! some slight spoilers ahead)
For most people familiar with Polish science fiction literature, the name of Stanisław Lem is writ large. But, preceding Lem, and many other SF writers was Jerzy Żuławski (1874-1915) and Polish SF aficionados acknowledge his contribution to that specific literary genre, including Lem who called him "an inspiration." The Lunar Trilogy was written during the years (1903-1911) and parts of it appeared in serialized form. What makes it interesting is how Żuławski was able to build on the legacy of Jules Verne and H.G. Wells while introducing new concepts and social commentary into his stories. These ideas and the innovations he added, eventually filtered into western science fiction. Now, at last, the entire work is available in English from Zmok Books, translation by Elżbieta Morgan.
The first installment of the story On the Silver Globe utilizes the "message-in-a-bottle" concept (in this case it is a manuscript-bearing missile) to relate the story of a lost moon expedition. The group consists of several men, an international crew of adventurers, and one woman "Marta." They explore the surface of the moon by putting wheels on their space vehicle and, fighting against diminishing supplies of air, water and food, locate a place with atmosphere and arable land, where that they can set up a sustainable colony. Inevitably, they must face an unavoidable conflict as there is but a single woman among them. As the story ends, the remaining humans are Marta's descendants, and the "Old Man" (a Pole named Jan Korecki). It is Jan who launches his manuscript toward Earth hoping that someone will find it and be able to learn the fate of the expedition.
Life goes on in the Lunar Colony and the humans there evolve into a mini-folk who are dominated by the Shern, intelligent bat-like creatures who are native to the Moon. A few hundred years pass since the arrival of Korecki's manuscript on Earth. Marek (most of the main characters are Polish) pilots his "automatic" spaceship to the Moon and is greeted by a population of mini-humans. Some think that he is the long expected messiah, The Conqueror, a concept that is embedded within their religion (also the title of the second book in the story). He organizes the people to fight the Shern and leads an initially successful military campaign. Unfortunately, he gets enmeshed into the politics of the local priesthood who manipulate him and is opposed by a group of heretics who play the game for their own ascendancy. The Shern prove to be a tenacious and crafty enemy, difficult to eliminate. In the end, a priestess of the lunar cult stabs him to death.
The last part of the story is played out in The Old Earth. There, both political instability and a movement to create a scientocracy are gaining in strength. A leading character, among a diverse cast, is Jacek, a scientist who has invented an immensely destructive weapon that works at long distance over telegraph wires (!). Two of the mini-humans from the moon, Mataret and Roda, arrive in the middle of all this after they enter Marek's spaceship and press the start button. Landing in Egypt, where they are mistaken for some sort of monkeys, they are sold into captivity. Their liberation comes when they hear spoken Polish (the sacred language) and make themselves understood. Aza, an idolized singer, stages a musical performance in a ruined ancient Egyptian Temple (shades of the 2018 performance of Verdi's Aida!). A mystic who practices eastern supernatural arts, has a successful try at teleportation. The terrible weapon is on verge of being deployed. Fortunately, the plot is foiled and Earth survives. As the revolution ends Roda is appointed to a high government executive post. Gasp! There is almost enough here for two more sequels.
The book bears the indelible stamp of nineteenth century literature - with long descriptions that are almost poetic in parts. It is also identifiable as part of the serial-literature market where each segment had to end in a cliff-hanger - with the reader impatient to get to the next part in the following week; while the writer kept scratching to keep the pot boiling. Despite, or perhaps because of all these traits, the story has a kind of energy that keeps it moving along. In parts it is very much like modern Polish SF, concentrating on atmosphere and character building; then it transitions to being action and theme-centric. It is a long text (636 pages) but Elżbieta Morgan has created a translation that strives at being both interesting and charming to the English reading audience.
SF readers will recognize many of the ideas and concepts which appeared in later books and films: Frau im Mond (Thea Von Harbou), Planet of the Apes (Pierre Boulle), Star Trek (Gene Roddenberry) and Stanisław Lem's own First Spaceship on Venus, for a start. Not to mention trends popular in current society. Hard to tell if Żuławski was the inspiration for it all, but it is interesting to speculate. Ideas have a way of drifting around and being shared, regardless of language.
It should also be mentioned that Andrzej Żuławski (a grand-nephew of Jerzy) tried to make a film adaptation during the years 1976-77. Though the origin is recognizable, results were far from the original vision. The production ran into considerable problems with both financing and censorship (nudity, graphic violence and a possible political message) and the filmed footage was ordered destroyed by the People's Government Film Controllers. Apparently, it was not. A cobbled-together version, made from fragments that were completed, combined with narration for continuity, premiered at Cannes in 1988. Afterwards, some viewers called it the "best SF film never made." Segments from this work are floating around on YouTube and at one time a DVD version was available. View at own risk. The legacy of Jerzy Żuławski lives on.
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Top reviews from other countries
Rodrigo Valero Sancho
First and second instalment of the trilogy are great, pity about the third
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 11, 2022Phillip Kent
Finally there is an English version of this intriguing story
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 10, 2021
Thatmusicfan 101
Bit disappointed
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 22, 2021
Thatmusicfan 101
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 22, 2021
first time it's been printed in English. I'm still looking forward to reading it just have to buy a better version in the future.
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