Xavras Wyzryn
Encyclopedia
Xavras Wyżryn is an alternate history novel
written in 1996, published in 1997, by Jacek Dukaj
, famous Polish
science fiction
writer. It is considered as one of the best Polish alternate history novels, discussing Polish martyrology
, circling around the philosophical aspects of war, showing the thin line between terrorism
and fighting for freedom, and last but not least, "packing lots of action", making it also part of a military science-fiction genre.
The story's divergence point is set during the Polish–Soviet War, which in this alternate reality ends with a decisive Soviet
victory. The actual story takes place in the 1990s and is told from the point of view of an American reporter, who is an embedded journalist
with anti-Soviet Polish resistance
.
and Second Chechen War
(which started while he was writing). It is clear that Xavras' guerrillas fighting against Soviet forces resemble Chechens battling with the Russian army
. As in the Chechen conflict, it is hard to decide which side is the right one, as both commit crimes and horrible acts to reach their goals. After the September 11 attacks in 2001, a story about terrorists calling themselves "freedom fighters" gains much more meaning, and dialogues in the book concerning morals, ethics and freedom become deeper than ever.
of Poland, to document guerrilla actions of Polish freedom fighters against the Soviet regime. His task includes interviewing the charimastic leader of Polish Freedom Army, Colonel Xavras Wyżryn. Ian does not realize that during his long trip from Ukrainian steppe
s to Moscow
, alongside hardened veterans of Polish forces, he will experience the horror of war in which there is no good and evil side. Neither does he expect to find himself in the midst of the most reckless of Wyżryn's campaigns - when the Polish forces capture a Soviet atomic bomb and start to smuggle it towards Moscow.
Poland
managed to regain its freedom, but not for long - the Polish–Soviet War was lost in 1920 and Poland became a Soviet republic, alongside with the Ukraine
and other Baltic states. In the USSR Joseph Stalin
quickly took the chair of first secretary
and his regime tried to eradicate the Polish culture to prevent any Polish uprisings of the kind that shook the Russian Empire
in the 19th century. Thousands of Polish civilians were sent to Siberia
. Speaking Polish
or using Polish national symbols was punishable by death.
The increased power of the Soviet Union and the Republic of China
meant that the League of Nations
soon signed treaties with the USSR, allowing it to annex
Poland. Meanwhile another power rose in the south - the followers of Islam
created a huge empire in the Middle East
. The United States
was far enough to ignore European problems, but supported those armies which were in conflict with the Soviet forces. Those conflicts were relatively minor, mostly only "border engagements", as the media called them.
But then, in 1939 came the Great Bolshevik
War, as the Soviet Union tried to take control over Western Europe. The war, taking place mostly on former Polish and Ukrainian territories, lasted until 1944, when allied forces dropped three atomic bombs on Lviv
, Kiev
and Warsaw
to stop the huge Soviet armies. Millions were killed in the explosions, and many more died of radiation poisoning
. The area between the three bombed cities became known as "The Atomic Triangle". Children born there died at a young age from radiation sickness, and the few who survived were consumed by mutations.
The Bolshevik War ended with the Treaties of Berlin, documents which were signed on Prussia
n territory. The Soviet Union and the League of Nations agreed to stop the bloodshed. Still, countries taken by force in 1920 remained Soviet republics.
After Stalin's death at the end of 1981 the Soviet regime in Poland eased up a bit, but Soviets still maintained a huge force there, remembering all the Polish uprisings during earlier occupation
. People living inside the "Atomic Triangle" became hardened, nearly soulless creatures, balancing on the edge of death and rendered numb because of the great suffering of the whole nation. Meanwhile, the USSR had some minor border conflicts with China, Sweden and Prussia
.
The status quo
lasted until the 1988, when Xavras Wyżryn appeared. He quickly organised a considerable guerrilla force and commanded his troops with uncommon charisma and valor, fighting Soviets on their own ground. His legend quickly spread around the world, and his victories inspired other nations to fight against the Soviet Union. Many local conflicts started, when Hungary
, the Balkans
, Czechoslovakia
and the Ukraine
also started their own revolutions against Soviet occupants. In the south, the power of the Islam
ic empire increased, and under the command of a figure known only as Muhammad
's Son, the war in the Middle East
began, reminiscent of the old wars between the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire. In the east China took the opportunity to attack the weakened USSR and started yet another conflict. The whole Central-Eastern Europe was now known as EWZ or European War Zone, reaching as far as Constantinople
in the south, Finland
in the north, the Prussian border in the west and the Dnieper River
in the east, with battles taking place mostly on radiated, polluted territory.
The plot of the novel starts in the year 1996. The whole European War Zone is a no man's land
, where Soviet control is based on a 'shoot first, ask questions later' strategy. Various partisan groups, in an uneasy truce with each other, are scattered throughout the area and engaged in battles with small Soviet garrisons, German troops are making occasional raids across the borders to test Soviet defences, Soviets retaliate in kind, China's forces are advancing towards the Ural
, and Muhammad's Son is preparing a Jihad
in the Middle East. The US government finances guerrillas secretly, while Western Europe fortifies its borders to defend against presumed Soviet or, more feared, Chinese attack.
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
written in 1996, published in 1997, by Jacek Dukaj
Jacek Dukaj
Jacek Dukaj is a Polish science fiction writer. Winner of the Janusz A. Zajdel Award , Śląkfa , Żuławski Award , Kościelski Award and the European Union Prize for Literature .-Career:Dukaj studied philosophy at the Jagiellonian University...
, famous Polish
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
writer. It is considered as one of the best Polish alternate history novels, discussing Polish martyrology
Martyrology
A martyrology is a catalogue or list of martyrs , arranged in the calendar order of their anniversaries or feasts. Local martyrologies record exclusively the custom of a particular Church. Local lists were enriched by names borrowed from neighbouring churches...
, circling around the philosophical aspects of war, showing the thin line between terrorism
Terrorism
Terrorism is the systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion. In the international community, however, terrorism has no universally agreed, legally binding, criminal law definition...
and fighting for freedom, and last but not least, "packing lots of action", making it also part of a military science-fiction genre.
The story's divergence point is set during the Polish–Soviet War, which in this alternate reality ends with a decisive Soviet
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
victory. The actual story takes place in the 1990s and is told from the point of view of an American reporter, who is an embedded journalist
Embedded journalist
Embedded journalism refers to news reporters being attached to military units involved in armed conflicts. While the term could be applied to many historical interactions between journalists and military personnel, it first came to be used in the media coverage of the 2003 invasion of Iraq...
with anti-Soviet Polish resistance
Polish resistance movement in World War II
The Polish resistance movement in World War II, with the Home Army at its forefront, was the largest underground resistance in all of Nazi-occupied Europe, covering both German and Soviet zones of occupation. The Polish defence against the Nazi occupation was an important part of the European...
.
Inspiration and background of the novel
Dukaj wrote his novel inspired by the FirstFirst Chechen War
The First Chechen War, also known as the War in Chechnya, was a conflict between the Russian Federation and the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, fought from December 1994 to August 1996...
and Second Chechen War
Second Chechen War
The Second Chechen War, in a later phase better known as the War in the North Caucasus, was launched by the Russian Federation starting 26 August 1999, in response to the Invasion of Dagestan by the Islamic International Peacekeeping Brigade ....
(which started while he was writing). It is clear that Xavras' guerrillas fighting against Soviet forces resemble Chechens battling with the Russian army
Russian Ground Forces
The Russian Ground Forces are the land forces of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, formed from parts of the collapsing Soviet Army in 1992. The formation of these forces posed economic challenges after the collapse of the Soviet Union, and required reforms to professionalize the force...
. As in the Chechen conflict, it is hard to decide which side is the right one, as both commit crimes and horrible acts to reach their goals. After the September 11 attacks in 2001, a story about terrorists calling themselves "freedom fighters" gains much more meaning, and dialogues in the book concerning morals, ethics and freedom become deeper than ever.
Editions
The story of Xavras Wyżryn has had two editions. It was first published in 1997, in a book entitled Xavras Wyżryn, which contained the title story together with a second one, "Zanim Noc" ("Before the Night"). In 2004 the story was reprinted in Xavras Wyżryn i inne fikcje narodowe (Xavras Wyżryn and Other National Fictions), this time accompanied by the following three short stories: "Sprawa Rudryka Z." ("The Case of Rudryk Z."), "Przyjaciel prawdy" ("Friend of the Truth") and "Gotyk" ("Gothic").Plot summary
In 1996, a young American reporter, Ian Smith, is sent by his news network to the Soviet republicSoviet republic (system of government)
A Soviet Republic is a system of government in which the whole state power belongs to the Soviets . Although the term is usually associated with communist states, it was not initially intended to represent only one political force, but merely a form of democracy and representation.In the classic...
of Poland, to document guerrilla actions of Polish freedom fighters against the Soviet regime. His task includes interviewing the charimastic leader of Polish Freedom Army, Colonel Xavras Wyżryn. Ian does not realize that during his long trip from Ukrainian steppe
Steppe
In physical geography, steppe is an ecoregion, in the montane grasslands and shrublands and temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biomes, characterized by grassland plains without trees apart from those near rivers and lakes...
s to Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
, alongside hardened veterans of Polish forces, he will experience the horror of war in which there is no good and evil side. Neither does he expect to find himself in the midst of the most reckless of Wyżryn's campaigns - when the Polish forces capture a Soviet atomic bomb and start to smuggle it towards Moscow.
Alternative world in the novel
The world as we know it does not exist. After World War IWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
managed to regain its freedom, but not for long - the Polish–Soviet War was lost in 1920 and Poland became a Soviet republic, alongside with the Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
and other Baltic states. In the USSR Joseph Stalin
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
quickly took the chair of first secretary
General Secretary
The office of general secretary is staffed by the chief officer of:*The General Secretariat for Macedonia and Thrace, a government agency for the Greek regions of Macedonia and Thrace...
and his regime tried to eradicate the Polish culture to prevent any Polish uprisings of the kind that shook the Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
in the 19th century. Thousands of Polish civilians were sent to Siberia
Siberia
Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...
. Speaking Polish
Polish language
Polish is a language of the Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages, used throughout Poland and by Polish minorities in other countries...
or using Polish national symbols was punishable by death.
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
meant that the League of Nations
League of Nations
The League of Nations was an intergovernmental organization founded as a result of the Paris Peace Conference that ended the First World War. It was the first permanent international organization whose principal mission was to maintain world peace...
soon signed treaties with the USSR, allowing it to annex
Annexation
Annexation is the de jure incorporation of some territory into another geo-political entity . Usually, it is implied that the territory and population being annexed is the smaller, more peripheral, and weaker of the two merging entities, barring physical size...
Poland. Meanwhile another power rose in the south - the followers of Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
created a huge empire in the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
. The United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
was far enough to ignore European problems, but supported those armies which were in conflict with the Soviet forces. Those conflicts were relatively minor, mostly only "border engagements", as the media called them.
But then, in 1939 came the Great Bolshevik
Bolshevik
The Bolsheviks, originally also Bolshevists , derived from bol'shinstvo, "majority") were a faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party which split apart from the Menshevik faction at the Second Party Congress in 1903....
War, as the Soviet Union tried to take control over Western Europe. The war, taking place mostly on former Polish and Ukrainian territories, lasted until 1944, when allied forces dropped three atomic bombs on Lviv
Lviv
Lviv is a city in western Ukraine. The city is regarded as one of the main cultural centres of today's Ukraine and historically has also been a major Polish and Jewish cultural center, as Poles and Jews were the two main ethnicities of the city until the outbreak of World War II and the following...
, Kiev
Kiev
Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....
and Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
to stop the huge Soviet armies. Millions were killed in the explosions, and many more died of radiation poisoning
Radiation poisoning
Acute radiation syndrome also known as radiation poisoning, radiation sickness or radiation toxicity, is a constellation of health effects which occur within several months of exposure to high amounts of ionizing radiation...
. The area between the three bombed cities became known as "The Atomic Triangle". Children born there died at a young age from radiation sickness, and the few who survived were consumed by mutations.
The Bolshevik War ended with the Treaties of Berlin, documents which were signed on Prussia
Prussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...
n territory. The Soviet Union and the League of Nations agreed to stop the bloodshed. Still, countries taken by force in 1920 remained Soviet republics.
After Stalin's death at the end of 1981 the Soviet regime in Poland eased up a bit, but Soviets still maintained a huge force there, remembering all the Polish uprisings during earlier occupation
Partitions of Poland
The Partitions of Poland or Partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth took place in the second half of the 18th century and ended the existence of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, resulting in the elimination of sovereign Poland for 123 years...
. People living inside the "Atomic Triangle" became hardened, nearly soulless creatures, balancing on the edge of death and rendered numb because of the great suffering of the whole nation. Meanwhile, the USSR had some minor border conflicts with China, Sweden and Prussia
Prussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...
.
The status quo
Status quo
Statu quo, a commonly used form of the original Latin "statu quo" – literally "the state in which" – is a Latin term meaning the current or existing state of affairs. To maintain the status quo is to keep the things the way they presently are...
lasted until the 1988, when Xavras Wyżryn appeared. He quickly organised a considerable guerrilla force and commanded his troops with uncommon charisma and valor, fighting Soviets on their own ground. His legend quickly spread around the world, and his victories inspired other nations to fight against the Soviet Union. Many local conflicts started, when Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
, the Balkans
Balkans
The Balkans is a geopolitical and cultural region of southeastern Europe...
, Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
and the Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
also started their own revolutions against Soviet occupants. In the south, the power of the Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
ic empire increased, and under the command of a figure known only as Muhammad
Muhammad
Muhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...
's Son, the war in the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
began, reminiscent of the old wars between the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire. In the east China took the opportunity to attack the weakened USSR and started yet another conflict. The whole Central-Eastern Europe was now known as EWZ or European War Zone, reaching as far as Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
in the south, Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
in the north, the Prussian border in the west and the Dnieper River
Dnieper River
The Dnieper River is one of the major rivers of Europe that flows from Russia, through Belarus and Ukraine, to the Black Sea.The total length is and has a drainage basin of .The river is noted for its dams and hydroelectric stations...
in the east, with battles taking place mostly on radiated, polluted territory.
The plot of the novel starts in the year 1996. The whole European War Zone is a no man's land
No man's land
No man's land is a term for land that is unoccupied or is under dispute between parties that leave it unoccupied due to fear or uncertainty. The term was originally used to define a contested territory or a dumping ground for refuse between fiefdoms...
, where Soviet control is based on a 'shoot first, ask questions later' strategy. Various partisan groups, in an uneasy truce with each other, are scattered throughout the area and engaged in battles with small Soviet garrisons, German troops are making occasional raids across the borders to test Soviet defences, Soviets retaliate in kind, China's forces are advancing towards the Ural
Ural Mountains
The Ural Mountains , or simply the Urals, are a mountain range that runs approximately from north to south through western Russia, from the coast of the Arctic Ocean to the Ural River and northwestern Kazakhstan. Their eastern side is usually considered the natural boundary between Europe and Asia...
, and Muhammad's Son is preparing a Jihad
Jihad
Jihad , an Islamic term, is a religious duty of Muslims. In Arabic, the word jihād translates as a noun meaning "struggle". Jihad appears 41 times in the Quran and frequently in the idiomatic expression "striving in the way of God ". A person engaged in jihad is called a mujahid; the plural is...
in the Middle East. The US government finances guerrillas secretly, while Western Europe fortifies its borders to defend against presumed Soviet or, more feared, Chinese attack.
Main characters
- Colonel Xavras Wyżryn is the commander of the AWP or Armia Wyzwolenia Polski (Polish Liberation Army), a considerable guerrilla force fighting the Soviet army in the European War Zone. His past is a mystery. He was born within the "Atomic Triangle" and has a visible mutation - the skin on his hands is red, as if burned. He was a junior officer in the Red Army, until he deserted and formed the AWP. He is a truly charismatic leader, inspiring his men to do unbelievable things, even sacrificing their lives for the "higher cause". For the freedom of his country he is capable of killing everyone standing in his way, including women, children and even his own men, calling this a "sacrifice for a better future". He is seen as a terrorist by the Soviets and as a romantic, tragic hero in the West. In the United StatesUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, MGM has even made a blockbusterBlockbuster (entertainment)Blockbuster, as applied to film or theatre, denotes a very popular or successful production. The entertainment industry use was originally theatrical slang referring to a particularly successful play but is now used primarily by the film industry...
movie about him, entitled "Uncatchable". A major US news network signed a contract with Wyżryn, offering him $250 million for exclusive interviews and footage from battlefields. Xavras understands the importance of media and propagandaPropagandaPropaganda is a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position so as to benefit oneself or one's group....
in modern warfare, so he censors the footage before it is sent to the network and makes himself a TV celebrity.
- Ian Smith - US news reporter sent by the network to film Xavras' actions. Because of his Polish descent and linguistic abilities, he is the network's natural choice after the previous reporter attached to Wyżryn was killed in action. Raised in a democratic country, he has moral doubts about Xavras and considers his brutal methods no better than the Soviet ones. The story is told from his point of view.
- Jewriej (English: Yevrey) - Xavras' mysterious aide and advisor, with his face hidden behind a Balaclava, because of his alleged disfigurement, the result of mutation. It is said that radiation gave him precognitionPrecognitionIn parapsychology, precognition , also called future sight, and second sight, is a type of extrasensory perception that would involve the acquisition or effect of future information that cannot be deduced from presently available and normally acquired sense-based information or laws of physics...
abilities and that Xavras is using them to escape Russian ambushes and to plan his actions.
- Sienkiewicz's Triple - Three trusted companions of Xavras, who took their names (Michał, AndrzejAndrzej KmicicAndrzej Kmicic is best known as a fictional character created by Henryk Sienkiewicz featured in the novel The Deluge. He is a typical szlachcic from Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth; unruly yet patriotic...
and JanJan SkrzetuskiJan Skrzetuski is a fictional character created by Polish author Henryk Sienkiewicz in the novel With Fire and Sword. He is a man of honour, always faithful to his master, duke Jeremi Wiśniowiecki. He loves Helena Kurcewiczówna, who was kidnapped by the Ukrainian Cossack Bohun, who is also in...
) after the characters from the books of Henryk SienkiewiczHenryk SienkiewiczHenryk Adam Aleksander Pius Sienkiewicz was a Polish journalist and Nobel Prize-winning novelist. A Polish szlachcic of the Oszyk coat of arms, he was one of the most popular Polish writers at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, and received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1905 for his...
. Their missions are mostly undercover and they can almost literally disappear. It is they who lead Smith to Xavras' hideout.
- Two Bodyguards - Xavras' guards, which are named by Ian after the biblical quotes printed on their T-Shirts, because he does not know their real names and they look like twin brothers: "Another Horse Came Out, a Fiery Red One" (Revelation 6:4) and "The Sea Gave Up the Dead" (Revelation 20:13). Their fighting skills are exceptional and they are Xavras' most trusted soldiers.
External links
- "Stronice Dukaja" - Jacek Dukaj's official website, English version