I’m Janos Honkonen, a writer of speculative fiction and video games. After a career spanning rainbow trouts, computational linguistics, TV production, a psychogeriatric ward, sniffing acetone and grading it on a scale, journalism (technology, games, science and adult entertainment), wrangling Moon Nazis and diving as a marine biologist, I finally landed in the games industry as a writer and narrative designer. In addition to squeezing out words, I make occasional noise with a theremin.
I write in both Finnish and English, so this page is an unfortunate mix of the two.
Bibliography
Novels
- “Kaiken yllä etana” – Finnish, Osuuskumma-kustannus 2013
Interactive Fiction
- “The Rocket Man From The Sea”, 2012
Comics
- “The Big Wind Up”, 2014 – English, Torsobear Volume 1: Yarns from Toyburg
- “…But When Geppetto Talks to You”, 2015 – English, Torsobear Volume 2: All Stitched Up
- “Red Flag, Black Flag, False Flag” – English, Torsobear Volume 3: Back on the Blocks
Short Stories
- “Zeppelin II”, 2010 – English, Hilobrow.com – Finalist for the Radium Age Flash Fiction Competition
- “On The Beaten Path”, 2010 – English, Black Static #17 – one of the Campaign for Real Fear winners
- “Walking Past My Life”, 2012 – English, Out of Place, Out of Time anthology, Telling of Tales podcast
- “Vespula”, 2013 – Finnish, Ruumiittomat, an anthology of ghost stories in Finnish.
- “Ajatustason ohjausvirhe”, “Tiedä mitä haluat”, “Dinosaurukset rääkyvät ulkona” – Finnish, Kummalinnun munia series. Drabbles.
- “Itse ilma syttyi tuleen”, 2015 – Finnish, Käärmeenliekit – an anthology of Finnish dragon stories.
- “Formicidae”, 2012 – English, Usva International 2015
- “Maailmanlopun meininki”, 2015 – Finnish, ROCKNOMICON – an anthology of heavy rock & metal stories
- “Piru erehtyi vuodella”, 2015 – Finnish, Kristallimeri – an anthology of pirate stories
- “Ne ovat niin helppoja saaliita”, 2017 – Finnish, Varjoisilta kujilta – an anthology of spefi cat stories.
- “Eläimet huutaa, ihmiset ei huuda”, 2017 – Finnish, Tämä jalka ei ole minun – Kauhuja omasta kehosta – an anthology of body horror stories.
- “Toiseksi tulleita ei lasketa”, 2017 – Finnish, Meliwas ja muita kaupunkeja – an anthology of urban fantasy.
- “Kello ei ollut mitään, ei minään päivänä” – 2017, Finnish, Murtumia maisemassa – an anthology of urban exploration stories.
- “Sadan vuoden huuto”, 2017 – Finnish, a standalone story published in Portti 4/2017 magazine and the winner of the yearly Portti competition.
- “Sen silmärei’istä paistoi tyhjyys”, 2018 – Finnish, Naamiot – an anthology of stories about masks.
- “Me kaikki nähdään sut”, 2020 – Finnish, Haloo? – an anthology of stories about problems with online communications
- “Paljon tavaraa yhdelle miehelle”, 2021 – Finnish, Kuolon tähti – an anthology of stories about the end of the world
- “Kuin peileistä heijastuvia auringonsäteitä”, 2021 – Finnish, Aurinkosydän – an anthology of stories about positive visions of the future
- “Veen alle on meillä matka”, 2025 – Finnish, Pinnan alla – an anthology of stories about water-based mythological creatures
Download Sadan vuoden huuto: pdf, epub. Print copies are 3€+postage and free for libraries, etc., contact me via this site or on Facebook.
Translations
- “The Air Itself Caught Fire”, 2017 – English, Never Stop – Finnish Science Fiction and Fantasy Stories – an anthology of speculative fiction for the Worldcon 75. Original: “Itse ilma syttyi tuleen”
- “Black Ice”, “The Dinosaurs Screech Outside” – 2017, English, The Self-Inflicted Relative – 33 Fantastic Stories in 100 Words – an anthology of drabbles. Originals: “Mustaa jäätä”, “Dinosaurukset rääkyvät ulkona”
- “El diablo se equivocó por un año”, 2016 – Spanish, Luces del norte – Antología de ciencia ficción finlandesa – an anthology of Finnish spefi stories. Original: “Piru erehtyi vuodella”
- “Arde cerul”, 2019 – Romanian, Helion Online #95. Original: “Itse ilma syttyi tuleen”
- “Aus den Augenlöchern strahlte Leere”, 2021 – German, Zeitstücke: Neue Nordische Novellen VII. Original: “Sen silmärei’istä paistoi tyhjyys”
Non-Fiction
- Näin tehtiin Iron Sky – eli kuinka lakkasin olemasta huolissani ja opin rakastamaan internetiä – 2012, Finnish, contributor
- Hyvinvoinnin muotoilu – 2013, Finnish, editor
- Designing for Wellbeing – 2013, English, editor
Awards & Nominations
- 2010 Campaign for Real Fear, one of the winners with “On the Beaten Path”
- 2010 Radium Age Apocalypse Microfiction Contest, finalist with “Zeppelin II”
- 2012 Spring Thing 2012, 1st place with “The Rocket Man from the Sea”
- 2017 Portti, 1st place with “Sadan vuoden huuto”
- 2018 Best Story / Storytelling, Game Connection Europe 2018 Development Awards, “Thief of Thieves: Season One”
- 2019 Best Creative Achievement of the Year 2018, The Finnish Game Awards, “Thief of Thieves: Season One”
- 2019 Atorox, “Sadan vuoden huuto”
- Several Atorox nominations.