The Knight of the White Deer is the latest literary work by Branko Pihač, a well-known Croatian science fiction writer. Although the author is known as a writer of hard science fiction, in this novel he combines it with motifs of pure fiction and is therefore a hybrid between the two genres. The topics this novel touches on range from scientific, historical, political, artistic, philosophical, moral, psychological, and last but not least love. Precisely in the wide range of issues that the author deals with the complexity, creativity, rich inspiration, but also the maturity of the writer are manifested.
The plot of the novel takes place far in the future when people have already realized the possibility of interplanetary travel, but the civilization they encounter on their journey has almost medieval features, as indicated by the title of the novel. The Daneon kingdom on the planet Teuron is a world they encounter and is nuancedly different from the history of the Earth, and it is precisely these similarities that are the very core of the novel. There are also people who have similar characteristics to those on Earth, and the planet itself is full of various striking features, mostly flora and fauna, but also mysterious properties.
The story that this novel tells takes place through the eyes of the main character, Valdemar, the captain of the spaceship “Light Arrow V”, but on two narrative levels – in the past and the present. On one side is the world of advanced technology represented by Captain Valdemar, and on the other the fantastic world of Alai Bimbur, a violin teacher, and Fedor, Prince of the Daneon Kingdom. Both worlds, i.e. the levels of narration, are intertwined and connected in ways that draw the reader into mosaic and complex relationships between their temporal, spatial, moral and other dimensions.
On the one hand, the novel is deeply imbued with dynamic action, tension, twists, motifs that are conventional for the science fiction genre, and on the other hand with humanistic motifs and a philosophical message. One of the key motives is music, which in a broader sense can be understood as art, and in this novel it is manifested in the violin. Friendship is also a motive that transcends the boundaries of the usual notion of interpersonal relationships, it is the initiator of the action, its essence and guiding thought. Furthermore, the author focuses on the philosophical concepts of good and (radical) evil, and consequently on the issues of destiny, freedom and responsibility for one’s own deeds. But these individual questions impose a broader sphere of questioning – the relationship between body and soul, that is, science and humanity.
The peculiarity of the almost black-and-white characterization, unusual for postmodern literature, results in the romanticization of the characters, which at the very end of the novel makes an even stronger impression and offers a powerful moral message. The boundaries of genres and classic features of the novel are surpassed by a kaleidoscope of motifs and themes that provide a comprehensive reading experience, and the open end hints at the continuation of the fantastic story of the Knight of the White Deer and provides an opportunity for another exciting reading.