{"id":793,"date":"2024-04-03T23:40:20","date_gmt":"2024-04-03T20:40:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sisu.ut.ee\/ewod\/jans\/"},"modified":"2026-08-28T17:08:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-28T14:08:09","slug":"jans","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sisu.ut.ee\/ewod\/j\/jans\/","title":{"rendered":"Joel Jans"},"content":{"rendered":"

Joel Jans (earlier also used the pseudonym J. J. Metsavana, born 19 VII 1982) is a science fiction and crime writer. <\/font><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\tJans was born in V\u00f5ru. He completed R\u00f5ngu secondary school in 2002 and in 2002\u20132004 studied information technology at Tartu Vocational Education Centre, becoming a system administrator<\/span>. He is a board member of the Estonian Science Fiction Association<\/span>, founder and long-time chief editor of the science fiction magazine Reaktor<\/span><\/i>. He is a member of the Estonian Writers\u2019 Union since 2017.<\/font><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jans has published short stories in science fiction magazines T\u00e4heaeg<\/i> and Reaktor<\/i> and in collections since 2011. He has often written in cooperation with other authors like Maniakkide T\u00e4nav<\/a><\/span> and Veiko Belials<\/a><\/span>. He has been a prolific author in several subgenres of science fiction.<\/font><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\tAmong other genres, Jans has been fascinated by cyberpunk, which he has applied in the Estonian context. For example, in the science fiction stories Hallvanake ja Ussikuningas<\/i> (\u2018Grey Old Man and King of Snakes\u2019) in the collection \u00dclest\u00f5usjad ja koduk\u00e4ijad<\/i> (\u2018Resurrectors and Revenant Ghosts\u2019, 2020) and Tarkmees taskus<\/i> (\u2018A Wiseman in the Pocket\u2019) in the collection of horror stories Vinguv jalaluu<\/i> (\u2018Howling Legbone\u2019, 2018), the protagonists act in a game located in virtual reality constructed on the basis of Fr. Kreutzwald\u2019s Eesti rahva ennemuistsed jutud<\/i> (\u2018Ancient Tales of the Estonian People\u2019). <\/font><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\tThe 2019 novel Kosmose pikk vari<\/i> (\u2018The Long Shadow of Outer Space\u2019) can be read as a humorously crazy science fiction adventure. Nonetheless, this book by Jans and Maniakkide T\u00e4nav deals with serious topics: irresponsible waste of resources until their exhaustion, destructive results of mindless greed, the wealth of a few big corporations and the accompanying power which proves greater than that of states. An essential place belongs to love, friendship and loyalty. <\/font><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jans\u2019 fourth novel Tondilatern<\/i> (\u2018Ghost Lantern\u2019, 2019) achieved the second place at the novel competition of the Estonian Writers\u2019 Union. This can be defined as science fiction for young people where two school students from the small Estonian town Elva fight with invaders from a high-tech parallel universe; finally, the Estonian Defence League and NATO have to intervene. <\/font><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>Ajudraiver<\/em> (\u2018Brain Driver\u2019, 2022) is a cyberpunk novel where someone somehow creates virtual worlds for recently dead people. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jans\u2019s collection of crime stories R\u00f5ngu roimad<\/em> (\u2018Atrocities in R\u00f5ngu\u2019 2023), in which the Baltic German pastor of R\u00f5ngu village in Southern Estonia Alexander Magnus Karl Lenz solves crimes, gained wider popularity. Jans has also written two sequels to R\u00f5ngu roimad<\/em>. In the collection R\u00f5ngu roimad. 2. P\u00f5rgut\u00f5ld<\/em> (\u2018Atrocities in R\u00f5ngu 2. A Chariot from Hell\u2019, 2025) the folklore and beliefs of the rural people play an important role, in the novel R\u00f5ngu roimad. 3. Viimnep\u00e4ev<\/em> (\u2018Atrocities in R\u00f5ngu 3. Judgement Day\u2019, 2026) the action reaches the turbulent year of 1812, when the Russian Empire is crushed by Napoleon\u2019s army. The R\u00f5ngu roimad<\/em> series is largely based on real events and documentary material and allows us to take a look at the history and situation of Southern Estonia at the beginning of the 19th century.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joel Jans has won the Stalker award of the Estonian Science Fiction Association for eight times. In 2013\u20132020, Jans and his colleagues compiled five volumes of Tuumahiid<\/i> (\u2018Nuclear Giant\u2019) \u2013 collections of works by the authors who have gathered around the Reaktor<\/i> magazine. Jans and J\u00fcri Kallas also compiled the science fiction anthology L\u00e4bi valu ja vaeva<\/i> (\u2018Through Pain and Toil\u2019, 2020).<\/font><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\tL. P. (Translated by I. A.)<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\tBooks in Estonian<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Novels<\/em><\/strong>
Maniakkide T\u00e4nav, J. J. Metsavana, Saladuslik tsaar. 3. Kettm\u00f5\u00f5gaga m\u00f5\u00f5detud Maa<\/strong>. Tartu: Fantaasia, 2015, 249 lk.
Maniakkide T\u00e4nav, J. J. Metsavana, Saladuslik tsaar. 4. Kui rumalad surid<\/strong>. Tartu: Fantaasia, 2016, 240 lk.
Maniakkide T\u00e4nav, Joel Jans, Kosmose pikk vari<\/strong>. Tartu: Lummur, 2019, 221 lk.
Tondilatern<\/strong>. Tartu: Lummur, 2019, 258 lk.<\/span><\/span><\/span>
Ajudraiver<\/strong>. Tartu: Lummur, 2022, 288 lk.<\/span><\/span><\/span>
R\u00f5ngu roimad. 3<\/strong><\/strong>. Viimnep\u00e4ev<\/strong><\/strong>. Elva: Mooses, 2026. 178 lk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stories<\/strong><\/em>
R\u00f5ngu roimad<\/strong><\/strong>. Elva: Lummur, 2023. 174 lk.
R\u00f5ngu roimad. 2<\/strong><\/strong>. P\u00f5rgut\u00f5ld<\/strong><\/strong>. Elva: Lummur, 2025. 190 lk.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Joel Jans (earlier also used the pseudonym J. J. Metsavana, born 19 VII 1982) is a science fiction and crime writer. Jans was born in V\u00f5ru. He completed R\u00f5ngu secondary school in 2002 and in 2002\u20132004 studied information technology at …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":43,"featured_media":0,"parent":620,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-793","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sisu.ut.ee\/ewod\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/793","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sisu.ut.ee\/ewod\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sisu.ut.ee\/ewod\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sisu.ut.ee\/ewod\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/43"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sisu.ut.ee\/ewod\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=793"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/sisu.ut.ee\/ewod\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/793\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11476,"href":"https:\/\/sisu.ut.ee\/ewod\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/793\/revisions\/11476"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sisu.ut.ee\/ewod\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/620"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sisu.ut.ee\/ewod\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=793"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}