Translating the eco-political program of Risto Isomaki's Sarasvatin hiekkaa Translation of a text from one language to another invariably gives rise to a number of problems. The kaleidoscope of problems to be solved may become extremely specific when the source text is science fiction, which uses a great deal of scientific terminology. This paper treats some such problems observed during the translation of Sarasvatin hiekkaa (2005), a novel by Risto Isomaki. The project was a co-operation between the Department of Uralistics at the University of West Hungary and the Department of Finno-Ugrian Studies at the University of Debrecen. The translations were done by the students of each department. The aim of this paper is to highlight some of the questions that arose during the translation of the technical terminology used in the novel. Therefore, this paper is something of a report of the observations made when examining the Finnish source text and its possible Hungarian translations side by side. In highlighting the concems emphasized in contemporary theory of translation, which states that a translation must transfer the style and content of the source in the most adequate fashion possible for the recipient, this paper approach es translation of aspects like realia, which are very important in the translation of science fiction. In translation, the communicative goal of a text cannot always be achieved by adherence to the principle of formaI equivalence, but the translator has more complicated a role; the translator must consider the global knowledge of both the author's implied reader and the potential reader of the translation itself, as well as the function of the text. Much of the essential work of the translator involves decisions about which aspect of the multiple and hierarchically organized meanings of linguistic units should be emphasized in the translation. In translation of realia in Sarasvatin hiekkaa, the translators have a very specific job. They have to find the most correct, corresponding units in the target language so that they will be able to transfer the complete eco-political program of the novel into Hungarian.