Mirza Book Agency is the largest importer of books from parallel universes. Our literary agents have been to vast number of parallel Earths to bring you the best of what humanity has to offer in Speculative Fiction in all its incarnations. Here is a list of some of our titles and our authors from the beyond.
Jane Austin (1775-1860) was an English novelist from the 19th century who is now considered to be the one of the grandmothers of Science Fiction. Austin spent her early life as part of the landed gentry in England. Her life and literary output is usually divided into two halves. Her early work focused on critique of the status of women in the British society and is described as an early feminist. After her marriage to a British civil officer Henry Morris she moved to Calcutta in 1825 which was then the capital of British India. In India she was first exposed to the art of dastan-goi or long fantasy epics. This coupled with her friendship with many Hindu and Muslim women in India transformed her views on race, religion and imperialism. She became an early critique of British imperialism in India which landed her husband into trouble after the publication of her satirical novel Farewell to British Raj in 1838 which is employed science fiction elements like invisibility cloaks and a time machine. Her greatest work is considered to be All the Shah’s Men which is a satirical look at the customs of the Mughal gentry and is set around the awkward courting of a princess of Hyderabad with a Mughal price. She was spared the horrors of the Anglo-Indian War of 1854 which led to the ascension of a part Scottish part Mughal general of the British army to the Mughal throne and the end of British rule in India. Austen was made a noble in the newly established court in 1856 and was buried with honors after her death in Lahore in 1860. She is considered to be an icon of women rights in the India as well as Britain to this day.
Vladimir Ossimov (1924-1977) was a Soviet writer and long estranged brother of the American Geneticist Issac Asimov. While the elder Issac fled the Soviet Union via West Germany through a daring escape which was later immortalized in the Hollywood movie Strands of Honor, the younger Vladimir stayed behind and stayed loyal to the Soviet cause till the end. Starting from 1945 onwards Vladimir went on to write a series of Science Fiction novel that would influence generations of Soviet children to take up Science and Technology. His novel Chariots above us was the first story to propose Geosynchronous satellites. In the novel American Utopia Vladimir imagined a future Capitalist society where genetics determine which cast one belongs to how much money one can make. His novel The Worker’s Triumph is considered to be his most original and most controversial novel where he describes a society where magic and industrial technology exist side by side and how hobbit like farmers overthrow a greedy Elvish elite. Ossimov’s reputation has suffered somewhat after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1996 where many criticize him for being a mouth piece of the regime, although even his critics appreciate him as a great literary artist. The only time that the famous brother even met after Issac’s move to the US was during the Nobel Prize Ceremony in 1974 when Issac Asimov was awarded the Nobel prize for his discovery of the structure of DNA along with Rosalind Franklin.
Wilhelm Shakespeare (1564-1594) was an English writer, who changed his name from William to Wilhelm after fleeing from England to Bavaria in 1590. He is best known for his his play The Moor Cometh tale of ambition and betrayal that imagines an alternative history where the Spanish Armada is defeated by the English dropping gunpowder from hot air balloons and with the help of a Morisco revolt in Spain. The play is considered to be the first work of alternate history in modern literature. In reality of course the success Spanish Armada was instrumental in conquering England and Wales for the Spanish crown. The The Moor Cometh was an underground hit even though it banned by the Spanish in all of their realms. Some historians even say that the play was quite important in rallying the English to finally overthrow the Spanish yoke in 1659. After the success of The Moor Cometh Wilhelm was assassinated by Spanish agents in 1594.