Buyan: Isle of the Dead

Set in the midst of the Mongolian invasion of medieval Russia, Buyan tells a powerful story of love and loss as one man embarks on a dangerous quest, fighting his way through soldiers, spirits, and even ancient gods in a desperate attempt to be reunited with his wife. 

The grandson of Genghis Khan, Batu, and his Golden Horde have just begun a ruthless march across Siberia. Batu intends to spread his Mongolian empire all the way to Europe and to conquer the great city of Novgorod. Meanwhile, the Teutonic Knights of Europe spread the Crusades eastward, burning cities one by one in their unstoppable advance. But in the midst of all this fighting, a small village in Nenetsia is attacked, and a simple hunter named Maansi tragically loses the love of his life. 

Determined to be reunited with his wife, Maansi travels toward the sea in search of the mythical island of the dead—Buyan. But the path to Buyan is fraught with not only bloodthirsty warriors and religious zealots, but also ancient spirits who have been angered by the war as well as the unforgiving gods of old. Still, desperate to see his wife’s face again, Maansi will not let anything stand in the way of his quest to find Buyan. 

Martin Etxeberria is a Basque author and screenwriter who is known for his poetic works, most notably his books The Bottom of the Cup (1999), I Will Make a Bike with Your Name (2005), and Dog Poem and Other Bones (2011), all of which were written in the Basque language. He works predominately with his brother Xabier, and has coauthored a number of novels for both adults and children, including their award-winning children’s story, The Smell of Winter is in the Air, which won the Lizardi Prize. His latest work is the poetry book Winston (2018).

Xabier Etxeberria is a Basque author and screenwriter whose first novel, Everyday Is Not the Same, won the Igartza Prize in 2001. He has since published more than twenty books for both adults and children in the Basque language, many of which he coauthored with his brother Martin. His most recent work is the novel Adventum (2018) and the script for the film The Painter (2018), cowritten with his brother Martin.

Aritz Trueba is an up-and-coming comic artist who has worked on numerous cartoons and animation projects over the last ten years with Ikastolen Elkartea, the Federation of Basque Schools dedicated to promoting quality education.