SF BASED ON FINNISH MYTHOLOGY FROM THE NEBULA NOMINEE AUTHOR!
In a bland, planned, regimented future, a strange new alloy extruded from
another dimension is used in millions of products, triggering murderous
impulses in everyone who touches them. The rational, benign leaders of
government are helpless, but two daring scientists Dr. Clifford Enoch
and his niece Silia believe they have the answer. Through a dimensional gap, the metal has come into contact with the Pahaliset, evil, God-like aliens who attempted to invade Earth long ago – but were driven back by the four legendary heroes of Finnish mythology, whose powers and
exploits were chronicled in the Finnish national saga, the Kalevala. To stop these destructive, near omnipotent beings, Enoch and Silia suggest scanning all computer records to find the genetic descendent of the
greatest of the heroes of the Kalevala, the lover, warrior
Lemminkainen. Enter Carl Lempi, a restless misfit in the perfectly
designed future utopia, who just may have the power to overcome the
Pahaliset. But, first he and Silia must journey alone to the frozen
north, then cross the dimensional barrier to seek out Ilmarinen, the
wonder-smith who hammers out magical weapons. Then, when Silia is
kidnapped, Carl Lempi he must confront the vile star witch, Louhi in her own demon-haunted island in space time, the dark realm known as
Pohyola, where imprisonment and ignominy wait. Finally, defenseless and unarmed he must face the assembled Pahaliset. In all its might – armed only with his own uncertain beliefs and the help of a Goddess who may
not exist! Emil Petaja, who was nominated for a Nebula Award by the
Science Fiction Writers of America in 1967 for Best Short Story, was of
Finnish descent and first learned the lore of the Kalevala in
childhood. From it he crafted a quartet of science-fantasy masterpieces inspired by the four heroes of Kalevala – the Cosmic Kalevala – which
begins with the Star Mill.
