Trzecia brama


Trzecia brama is an anthology of Polish speculative fiction short stories, published in 1987 as part of the Fantastyka polska series by Wydawnictwo Literackie. The collection features 15 texts selected by a five-member jury from 689 entries submitted to a contest held by the magazine Fantastyka. These stories represent a variety of voices from the emerging Polish science fiction scene between 1982 and 1983.

Critique

According to, this anthology "records the 'struggles of national imagination'" from the 1980s and represents the best works of its time as a result of the contest. He compares it to the anthology ' for the 1960s and ' for the 1970s. Smuszkiewicz notes that this comparison illustrates the evolution of Polish science fiction beyond classical science fiction, while also critiquing it – subjectively – as representing a lower artistic level than that found in Wołanie na Mlecznej Drodze. He writes that Polish science fiction of the 1980s, of which this anthology is a good representation, has moved beyond mere contestation, as within its conventions "anything goes". Thus, this anthology reflects the search for new forms of literary creativity.
Robert Klementowski states that the volume presents "works unafraid of linguistic experimentation; an ecological trend appears, alongside fantasy, with authors drawing inspiration from mysticism, surrealism, and romanticism".
In Posłowie by Maciej Parowski, he remarks: "This is both a representation and just a representation – certainly not the entirety. Some of the shortcomings of these stories are representative as well – such as the lack of respect for fine writing, something shared by the whole generation their strengths: wide-ranging interests, reflective nature, ties to many currents of culture and literature, breaking away from the conventions of traditional science fiction, literary seriousness in dealing with real problems, and inventiveness. This prose, which at times feels less polished, less professional than what we’ve published in Fantastyka, nonetheless appears to be mature literature – literature with a face".

Contents

I. Taki był początek
  • Jerzy Strusiński – Bariera
  • Jacek Martynik – Okrąg czasu
  • Dariusz Romanowski – Świat za szkłem
  • Leszek Kraskowski – Inspekcja
  • Michał Szarzec – Taki był początek
II. Człowiek publiczny
  1. Feliks W. Kres – Mag
  2. Marek Hemerling – Droga
  3. Grzegorz Stefański – Kawałek końca
  4. Andrzej Tuziak – Człowiek publiczny
  5. Maciej Gałaszek – Manuał skazanego
III. Trzecia brama
  1. Marek Hemerling – Deneb III
  2. Andrzej Augustynek – Atak
  3. – Piloci ultrafioletowych dali
  4. Jan Wojewódzki – Dziedzictwo
  5. Andrzej Bogusław Boryczko – ''Trzecia brama''