Josef Pecinovsky was born in 1946 in Varnsdorf, 60 miles north of Prague.
In 1964 he completed his studies in Chemistry at the Technical School in Ostrava and since then he has been employed in the paper making industry, Initially as a factory worker, then as foreman and later as a teacher/instructor.
His first story "Signály zmlkly" (The signals stopped talking) was published in 1962 in the magazine "Veda a technika mladezi". The story was placed 7th in the International Science Fiction Short Story Competition.
The next collection of short stories was not published until 1984. The humorous stories were about a breeder of special rarity pets, such asspace birds. The first one "Jak nakrmit ptacatko" (How to feed the little bird) was published in the science fiction text "Navrat na Planetu Zemi" (Return to Planet Earth) in 1985.
After this Josef Pecinovsky changed the character of his writing to a darker vision. He twice won the Karel Capek prize for science fiction.
Mlok (The Newt) was titled in honour of the Capek novel "Valka s Mloky" (The war with the Newts)
Many more stories were published in magazines and Science Fiction Collections: "Jeji Velicenstvo" (Her Majesty), "Nos to Zavazi" ( Carry that Weight), "Neco" ( Something), "Mit Vsechno" ( Having Everything), "Sesta Kniha Mojzisova" (The sixth book of Moses).
Since 1990 he has published about four books annually.
These are some of his best.
"Plastev Jedu" (Honeycomb of poison)
A novel of an overcrowded world, where people live in constructions that look like beehives. The honeycombs are about 1000 yards high and cover all continents. "Desirables" live outside, but drones and workers live inside the honeycombs. A computer error assigns a drone, Mayo to the desirables and a supervisor, Mon Lester, to the drones. Trying to correct the error leads to some unpleasant events. Mon Lester’s niece Ella is kept captive in the honeycomb, because the honeycomb master, Zwada, knows that the genetic code of the Drones is in danger and wants to use Ella as a queen bee with Mayo. Mon Lester tries to rescue Ella and her little girl. They have to make their long journey by lifts; little cabs for drones and climbing deep shafts. Their endeavour leads to the destruction of the honeycomb, because there are breakdowns every day.
Abbey Road
A collection of short stories names after the Beetles record. The book contains the best short stories from 1986 to 1990.
- "Nos to Zavazi" (Carry that weight) Official Thomas Orten is condemned to carry 40 kilograms added to the weight of his muscles. He discovers other similar punishments and finds that by becoming a police informer, the condemned can have their weight reduced.
- "Maxwellovo Stribrne Kladivko" (Maxwell’s silver hammer). A little boy named Libor was returned two months ago, but an illusion remains in the present. A police investigator guards the immaterial vision and discovers surprising information.
- "Neco" (Something). A Tramp turns into a puppet and must obey the instructions of a wicked boy Alfred. In puppet form he meets au pair Karin, but she does not know of his other existence. She thinks the puppet is a tool. The two come to an understanding.
- "Vlezla koupelnovym oknem" ( She came through the bathroom window). Sexual intercourse is a crime and a young couple want to have a child.
- "Ubohy pan Mustard" (Mean Mr. Mustard) old vagabond Mustard was banished from town and met a strange object on the highway. It was a big seed containing strange space.
"Juta" (jute)
A gloomy story from an isolated world, where having intellect is the greatest crime. A child with an IQ above 100 is killed. Thomas Walker is saved, because his mother sacrifices a kidney and part of her intellect. His intelligence is reduced. He must live among the rats. Twenty years after, he is saved from the rats and must go to live among people. By chance his intelligence is restored. Because only stupid people live on Jute, he rises fast to become a scientist and to discover incredible natural laws. He also finds the truth about Jute. Two hundred years earlier the rest of the world was threatened by a nuclear war and Jute was separated from it by a force field. Tom Walker becomes president of Jute and finds that the nuclear war never happened. The People of Jute are being exploited and their intelligence is very valuable commodity on the world market.
"Hazim ti Laso, kamarade" ( I am throwing you a lasso, Friend)
This book contains the best stories from the period 1990 – 2000.
"Sinusoida 26" ( sinusoid number 26)
The crew of Spaceship Delta on a planet inhabited by Sinusoids, green circular snakes, which live in little lakes.
"Vejce s ozvenou" (The egg with an echo)
A novel from Earth 10,000 years after a nuclear war.
Josef Pecinovsly writes Westerns too, for example
"Mesto krkavcu" (Raven Town), "Zlomena podkova" (Broken Horseshoe), "Divka z hor" ( The girl from the mountains), Green Tony, "Zlato z Rocky Springs" Gold from Rocky Springs).
In 1995 Josef Pecinovsky met Rudolf Pecinovsky who is unrelated and they wrote "V zajeti pocitace" ( In the Captivity of the computer) together.
Since then he has written 13 computer manuals including MS Windows and MS Office.
