Buland, Trond
Entry updated 19 November 2023. Tagged: Author.
(1958- ) Norwegian scientist dr.polit. (Phd in sociology) and sf author, belonging to a generation of new voices emerging in the 1980s. He began to publish work of genre interest with the title story of the Norwegian Original Anthology Siste reis ["The Last Journey"] (anth 1982) edited by Terje Wanberg (1939-2006), followed by "Carita" in the original anthology Asterveg ["The Road to the Stars"] (anth 1989) edited by Einar Gjærevold, and "Kunstneren" ["The Artist"] in the original anthology Evigskogen ["The Eternal Forest"] (anth 1991) edited by Ingar Knudtsen Jr. In 1989 he received the Norconprisen ["Norcon Prize"] for best sf story of the previous year for "Bird Lives!", a fine piece involving the music of world-famous jazz musician Charlie Parker. Other stories appeared in the Norwegian SF Magazine Sirius – where he was a member of the editorial staff – and the Fanzines Algernon and Galadriel.
Buland's debut collection S-O-S Jupiter (coll 1985) contained ten short stories dealing with Space Flight, Aliens, Time Travel, Parallel Worlds, et cetera; the protagonists experience doubt, anxiety, fear, but also wonder and joy over a mysterious universe. In "S-O-S Jupiter", "Skibbrudden i verdensrommet" ["Castaway in Space"] and "Glassburet" ["The Glass Cage"] space is being explored and conquered, but not without human costs, making these stories more than just adventurous Space Opera. "Terrorister" ["Terrorists"] and "Jesu legeme og blod" ["The Flesh and Blood of Jesus"] tell of a dark and disturbing near future. "Tunnel", "Skriket" ["The Scream"] and "Varulven" ["The Werewolf"] (see Werewolves) are frightening examples of how difficult it can be to distinguish sf from horror fiction or vice versa, if indeed this is necessary.
Seven years after his highly acclaimed debut, Buland published a second collection of twelve well-written stories: Den lange drømmen: Fortellinger fra grenseland ["The Long Dream: Tales from the Borderland"] (coll 1992). The author is at the peak of his skill when he describes real locations, and introduces unexpected phenomena. A couple of the stories have short notes at the end explaining the background: "Betton Wood" is about English Canal Holidays and a cursed wood hiding more frightening things than an old ghost; "Granaten" ["The Grenade"] uses a painting by the Norwegian artist Per Lasson Krogh (1889-1965) as the background for a dark story on War. "Shikake-Waza" is pure Paranoia about the dangerous secrets of the Internet; the title story "Den lange drømmen" is obscurely linked to H P Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos; "Kapret" ["Hijacked"] is an excellent story of Space Flight; and "Hjemkomst" ["Homecoming"] tells of a rock musician being fired from the band with unexpected consequences.
Buland's third full-length contribution to the genre, the novel Ild fra ukjent sted ["Flames From an Unknown Place"] (2005), takes place in his home town of Trondheim. Despite much local colour and historic detail, the tale of unexplained fires all over the town is especially unpleasant: people burn to death, but seem to be alive in the next instant, walking around like Zombies. This is perhaps his best published work, though unfortunately not released professionally: it can be found as a free download from the author's home page [see links below].
He has continued to write short stories and three unpublished novels: «Pottemakerens galskap» ["The Madness of the Potter"], «Varmebølge og istid» ["Heat Wave And Ice Age"] and «Fortellingen fra bygda» ["The Narrative From the Village"]; recently he has published new tales in the Norwegian online sf magazine Nye Nova ["New Nova"]. [CPe]
Trond Hallgeir Buland
born Selbu, Norway: 12 April 1958
works (sf and fantasy only)
collections
- S-O-S Jupiter ["S-O-S Jupiter"] (Oslo, Norway: Bok og Magasinforlaget, 1985) [coll: in the publisher's Nova series: pb/]
- Den lange drømmen ["The Long Dream"] (Oslo, Norway: Bok og Magasinforlaget, 1992) [coll: in the publisher's Nova series: pb/Kathrine Hårstad]
links
previous versions of this entry