Sierra i Fabra, Jordi
Entry updated 12 July 2023. Tagged: Author.
(1947- ) Prolific science fiction, fantasy, horror and mainstream writer, mainly of Young Adult literature and books for children in Spanish and Catalan. He has published more than fifty fantastic-themed books in Spain and Latin America, out of more than five hundred published books. His works have been translated into more than twelve languages and some of them adapted for Cinema, Television and Theatre.
Sierra started his literary career in 1970s writing articles and reviews in music magazines and biography books on pop and rock bands. In sci-fi stands out the best-seller El Ciclo de las Tierras ["Earth Cycle"], a trilogy whose plot takes place in a distant future where humans and machines, who saved humanity from the Holocaust, are equal before the law. In En un lugar llamado Tierra ["In a Place Called Earth"] (1983), winner of the Gran Angular Award in 1983, a man is accused of the murder of a machine. Regreso a un lugar llamado Tierra ["Return to a Place Called Earth"] (1986) tells how humanity rebels against the slavery of machines and both separate their destinies. Finally, in El testamento de un lugar llamado Tierra ["The Testament of a Place Called Earth"] (1986) two robots escape from the machine world to search for their human creators at the edge of the universe. The plot is inspired by Asimov's The Caves of Steel starring a humanoid robot named Balhissay and has two tie-in novels: Crónica de Tierra 2 ["Chronicle of Earth 2"] (2005) and Cuando la lógica falla, el Sistema llama a ... Zuk-1 ["When Logic Fails, the System Calls ... Zuk-1"] (1989).
Another important adult sf novel is En Canarias se ha puesto el sol ["The Sun Has Set in the Canary Islands"] (1979), winner of the Ateneo de Sevilla Award in 1979, a gritty political thriller set in 1985 Spain, where a terrorist group threatens to blow up a train loaded with radioactive material in Barcelona. Edad: 143 años ["Age: 143 Years Old"] (1990) poses a scenario where the ethical dilemma of Immortality through cryogenics is debated.
In his Young Adult sf there are adventure plots such as the Galactic Patrol series, slightly inspired by Asimov's Lucky Starr series, Dystopias such as Arkadya ["Arkadya"] (2016) or Palmyra ["Palmyra"] (2018) and murder plots such as Las voces del futuro ["Voices of the Future"] (1998). In fantasy, the series Las hijas de las tormentas ["Daughters of the Storms"] stands out, set in exotic places and starring a Lara Croft-style heroin who desperately searches for her parents. Among his latest works is La mente más prodigiosa ["The Most Prodigious Mind"] (2019), a Sherlock Holmes story set in a near future.
Jordi Serra i Fabra is the most widely read living author in schools in Spain. He has received numerous awards and prizes for his work, including the Cervantes Chico Award in 2012, the Lazarillo Award in 2019, Gold Medal for Merit in Fine Arts from the Ministry of Culture and Sports of Spain, Creu de Sant Jordi of the Generalitat of Catalonia, Ibero-American Prize for Children's and Youth Adult Literature, etc. In 2004 he created the Jordi Sierra i Fabra Foundation in Barcelona and Medellín (Colombia) to help young writers at the beginning of their career and encourage reading among young people. [MV]
Jordi Sierra i Fabra
born Barcelona, Spain: 26 July 1947
works
series
Ciclo de las Tierras ["Earth Cycle"]
- ... En un lugar llamado Tierra ["In a Place Called Earth"] (Madrid, Spain: SM, 1983) [pb/]
- Regreso a un lugar llamado Tierra ["Return to a Place Called Earth"] (Madrid, Spain: SM, 1986) [pb/José Manuel Navia]
- El testamento de un lugar llamado Tierra ["The Testament of a Place Called Earth"] (Madrid, Spain: SM, 1986) [pb/]
- Trilogía de las Tierras ["Trilogy of the Earths"] (Madrid, Spain: Siruela, 2008) [omnibus of the above three: hb/]
- Cuando la lógica falla, el Sistema llama a ... Zuk-1 ["When Logic Fails, the System Calls... Zuk-1"] (Barcelona, Spain: Pirene, 1989) [novella: pb/]
- Solo para Zuk-1 ["Just for Zuk-1"] (Madrid, Spain: Celeste, 1994) [vt of the above novella: pb/Luis Miguel Pérez González]
- Crónica de Tierra 2 ["Chronicle of Earth 2"] (Barcelona, Spain: Minotauro, 2005) [pb/]
Zack Galaxy
- Zack Galaxy. Una Aventura intergaláctica ["Zack Galaxy: An intergalactic adventure"] (Madrid, Spain: Alfaguara, 1996) [novella: pb/Azpiri]
- Zack Galaxy. Persecución total ["Zack Galaxy: Total Chase"] (Madrid, Spain: Alfaguara, 1997) [novella: pb/Azpiri]
- Zack Galaxy. Misión secreta ["Zack Galaxy: Secret Mission"] (Madrid, Spain: Alfaguara, 1998) [novella: pb/Azpiri]
Patrulla galáctica ["Galactic Patrol"]
- Aventura en la Tierra ["Adventure on Earth"] (Madrid, Spain: Bruño, 2001) [novella: pb/]
- Misión en Marte ["Mission on Mars"] (Madrid, Spain: Bruño, 2001) [novella: pb/]
- Por los anillos de Saturno ["Around Star Rings"] (Madrid, Spain: Bruño, 2001) [novella: pb/]
- Salvar la Luna ["Save the Moon"] (Madrid, Spain: Bruño, 2001) [novella: pb/]
- Fantasmas en Plutón ["Ghosts in Pluto"] (Madrid, Spain: Bruño, 2002) [novella: pb/]
- Peligro en Júpiter ["Danger on Jupiter"] (Madrid, Spain: Bruño, 2002) [novella: pb/]
Las hijas de las tormentas ["Daughters of the Storms"]
- El enigma maya ["The Mayan Enigma"] (Barcelona, Spain: Edebé, 2008) [hb/]
- La cruz del Nilo ["The Cross of Nile"] (Barcelona, Spain: Edebé, 2008) [hb/]
- El quinto cristal ["The Fifth Crystal"] (Barcelona, Spain: Edebé, 2009) [hb/]
individual titles
- En Canarias se ha puesto el sol ["The Sun Has Set in the Canary Islands"] (Barcelona, Spain: Planeta, 1979) [hb/Hans Romberg]
- La nave fantástica ["The Fantastic Aircraft"] (Madrid, Spain: Anaya, 1989) [novella: pb/Gerardo Amechazurra]
- Edad: 143 años ["Age: 143 Years Old"] (Barcelona, Spain: Ultramar, 1990) [pb/Antoni Garcés]
- El guardian de la Luna ["The Moon Guardian"] (Madrid, Spain: Anaya, 1994) [novella: pb/Pablo Núñez]
- El niño que vivía en las estrellas ["The Boy Who Lived in the Stars"] (Madrid, Spain: Alfaguara, 1996) [novella: pb/Carmen Solé]
- Jugando en las sombras de la luz ["Playing in the Shadows of the Light"] (Barcelona, Spain: Edebé, 1996) [novella: pb/Juan Espallardo]
- Las voces del futuro ["Voices of the Future"] (Madrid, Spain: SM, 1998) [pb/Federico Delicado]
- Los elegidos ["The Chosen Ones"] (Barcelona, Spain: Edebé, 1998) [novella: pb/]
- Shakanjoisha ["Shakanjoisha"] (Madrid, Spain: SM, 1999) [pb/Javier Calbet]
- Marte XXIII ["Mars 23rd"] (Colombia: Grupo Editorial Norma, 2001) [pb/]
- Los hombres de las sillas ["The Men in the Chairs"] (Madrid, Spain: SM, 2001) [novella: pb/]
- La asombrosa historia del Viajero de las Estrellas ["The Amazing Story of the Star Traveler"] (Colombia: Grupo Editorial Norma, 2003) [pb/]
- La balada del siglo XXI ["The Ballad of the 21st Century"] (Madrid, Spain: SM, 2003) [novella: pb/]
- El corazón de jade ["The Heart of Jade"] (Barcelona, Spain: Minotauro, 2005) [pb/]
- Una (estupenda) historia de dragones y princesas ... más o menos ["A (great) Story of Dragons and Princesses ... more or less"] (Madrid, Spain: Alfaguara, 2005) [novella: pb/Xan López Domínguez]
- El día en que Edu se convirtió en cucaracha ["The Day Edu Turned into a Cockroach"] (Madrid, Spain: Alfaguara, 2006) [novella: pb/Gabriel Pacheco]
- La biblioteca de los libros vacíos ["The Library of the Empty Books"] (Valencia, Spain: Algar, 2006) [novella: pb/]
- Gauditronix ["Gauditronix"] (Barcelona, Spain: Edebé, 2006) [hb/]
- El pueblo de los horrores ["The Village of Horrors"] (Mexico: Castillo MacMillan, 2008) [novella: pb/]
- ¡Pesadillas vivas! ["Living Nightmares"] (Mexico: Castillo MacMillan, 2008) [novella: pb/]
- El espejo diabólico ["The Devilish Mirror"] (Mexico: Castillo MacMillan, 2009) [novella: pb/]
- El fantasma del loco vengador ["The Ghost of the Mad Avenger"] (Mexico: Castillo MacMillan, 2009) [novella: pb/]
- El monstruo de la realidad virtual ["The Monster of Virtual Reality"] (México: Montena, 2009) [novella: hb/]
- Ocultos ["Hidden"] (Barcelona, Spain: Montena, 2012) [hb/]
- El extraordinario ingenio parlante del profesor Palermo ["The Extraordinary Talking Wit of Professor Palermo"] (Barcelona, Spain: La Galera, 2013) [hb/]
- El dia que en Gluck va arribar la Terra ["The Day Gluck Arrives on Earth"] (Valencia, Spain: Bromera, 2013) [novella: pb/]
- ¡Soy una máquina! ["I am a Machine!"] (Valencia, Spain: Algar, 2015) [pb/]
- Arkadya ["Arkadya"] (Madrid, Spain: Santillana, 2016) [pb/]
- El aprendiz de brujo ["The Sorcerer's Apprentice"] (Barcelona, Spain: Edebé, 2016) [pb/]
- Palmyra ["Palmyra"] (Madrid, Spain: Bruño, 2018) [pb/]
- La mente más prodigiosa ["The Most Prodigious Mind"] (Madrid, Spain: Diquesí, 2019) [pb/Xavier Bartumeus]
collections
- Relatos galácticos ["Galactic Tales"] (Madrid, Spain: Anaya, 1990) [coll: pb/Julio Mas]
- La puerta del Más Allá ["The Gate of Beyond"] (Madrid, Spain: Espasa Calpe, 1998) [coll: pb/Juan Pablo Rada]
- Tres (historias de terror) ["Three (Horror Tales)"] (Madrid, Spain: Espasa Calpe, 2000) [coll: pb/]
- El séptimo pasajero y otros relatos fantásticos ["The Seventh Passenger and other Fantastic Tales"] (Ecuador: Libresa, 2005) [coll: pb/]
- Cuentos para niños que creen en marcianos ["Tales for Children Who Believe in Martians"] (Colombia: Grupo Editorial Norma, 2006) [coll: pb/]
links
- Jordi Sierra i Fabra
- Internet Speculative Fiction Database
- Jordi Sierra i Fabra at La Tercera Fundación ["The Third Foundation"] (in Spanish)
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