The Fiery Three: Expulsion

Slavic tribes under the leadership of Ognjen (Fiery), the commander of the Slavic army, finally settle at the confluence of the two Sava rivers following a long journey from the east. Families are reunited, huts are erected, millet is sown. Kupalo – the bonfire festival marking the summer solstice – ushers in new love. Ognjen’s son Plamen (Flame) and Živa, the daughter of the commander’s deputy, fall in love. But Živa’s father has some reservations about this new union. Fists fly and death and expulsion get in the way of true love.

Expulsion is the first novel in the new historical saga Ognjeni trije (The Fiery Three) by Igor Karlovšek, who is known, among other things, for his collection Ognjeno pleme (The Tribe of Fire). The suspenseful adventure novel takes place during the settlement of the Slavs on the territory of present-day Slovenia, before the formation of Samo’s Empire, a Slavic tribal union, and the Principality of Carantania. Historical facts (the novel is also accompanied by a foreword by historian Miha Pohar) are interwoven with the coming-of-age story, (first) love, finding one’s place in the world, and fighting for survival.