Amatka

Author	Karin Tidbeck
Cover artist	Lisa Sjöblom
Country	Sweden
Language	Swedish
Publisher	Mix
Publication date	2012
Published in English	2017
Pages	223
ISBN	978-9186845346
Website	https://www.karintidbeck.com/amatka

Amatka is a 2012 novel by Karin Tidbeck, 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.^[1]

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

Awards

Amatka is regarded as one of the best science fiction book of Guardian in year 2017. It was nominated for following awards:

• Locus Award Finalist 2018
• Compton Award 2018 ^[2]
• Prix Utopiales 2018 ^[3]

References