Josef Pecinovky 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.