Borders

Audiobook Hranice, by Alexey Osadchuk, translated by Kateřina Niklová. Read by Ondřej Novák, directed by Jakub Tabery. Last Life #2 No one knows exactly what caused the Shadow to form. Clerics claim that the gods have placed a curse on this world. Philosophers insist that Strix's shadow is a pure blessing and a new milestone in human evolution. Both sides agree that the Shadow will eventually devour the world and change it beyond recognition. But there are also magicians here, and according to them, the whole debate is about nothing. They accept the Shadow as it is, with all its horrors and wonders. Moreover, mages in recent centuries have risked their lives in an attempt to control the Shadow and harness its power for their own benefit. It will surprise no one that only a select few have access to information about the magic of the Shadow. Max Renard knows this, so he chooses a different, riskier path. He decides to go to the border in person and experience the power of the Shadow for himself. ALEXEJ OSADČUK Alexey Osadchuk was born in 1979 in Ukraine. At the end of the 1990s he moved with his family to the south of Spain, where he still lives today. Alexei has been an avid reader since childhood. He devoured the adventure novels of Edgar Rice Burroughs, Jack London and Arthur Conan Doyle. In 2010, he wrote his first fantasy novel, which was immediately accepted by one of Russia's leading publishers, Alpha Book. He also used to be an avid online gamer, which led him to write a story about a man who starts playing an MMORPG in the hopes of raising money for his daughter's heart surgery. The first book in this series was published in 2013 by EKSMO, Russia's largest publishing house. The English translation of the entire series is now available worldwide. Critics call Alexei "one of the best contemporary LitRPG authors". ONDŘEJ NOVÁK Ondřej Novák (1985) was born in Prague. He graduated in drama at DAMU and in journalism at Charles University. Theatre and film actor, known from the films LIDICE, MICIMUTR, FAIR PLAY and the series CYRIL AND METHODEUS - THE APOSTLES OF THE SLOVANIANS. He performs in various theatres: currently at the Drama Club, the Clubhouse in Jindřišská, the Theatre in Celetná and the Municipal Theatres in Slane and Děčín. His namesake is Ondřej Novák (1980), a native of Hradec Králové who works as an actor mainly in Brno.