Other songs

An adventurous alternate history from the pen of a master of European speculative fiction

Before Hieronim Berbelek confronted the Warlock residing in the Moscow Kremlin, he was a great strategist. He can regain his former power if he can find his lost Form. The world of Other Songs is ruled by Form, a materialisation of the ideas of ancient Greek philosophers, led by Aristotle. The Sun orbits the Earth, matter is not composed of atoms but of elements, and fiery beings inhabit the Moon. Flying pigs soar in the sky, xevras and tapalops roam the earth, and honey-oranges grow on trees. Power over the world is divided among the kratists, who impose their form on the landscape and the people.

However, this world of clear hierarchy is disrupted by the Distortion, the Skoliodoi—chaos sown by mysterious arrivals from space. Hieronim Berbelek is to lead the fight against them. With the help of the mysterious Moon Witch, he tries to gain the support of the powerful kratists and gathers the armies of Horror for a decisive battle. He ventures into the heart of the Crooked Realms, from where mysterious uncreatures are spreading into the world and where all known boundaries are collapsing. Gradually, however, he begins to suspect that everything might be completely different from what he originally thought. An adventurous tale from an alternate past turns into a sophisticated political game and a struggle for power. How can one defeat evil and remain true to oneself?

Here we find, among other things, a dreamlike description of Alexandria and its library, a city floating above the Mediterranean Sea, airships and interplanetary vessels, a lunar colony, Moscow under the rule of the Warlock, palaces, fortresses, and battlefields, all described with incredible vividness and unparalleled imagination.
— Gazeta Wyborcza

Other Songs is a fantasy novel, a tribute to nineteenth-century adventure literature full of African exoticism, and a philosophical parable.
— Polityka

Other Songs is probably Jacek Dukaj's most unrestrained book. Given the immensely sprawling story, the number of characters, and the dizzying pace, it must be said that it took a genius to make everything fall into place with the precision of a Swiss watch.
— Esensja.pl