Castor Times Two

by Klaus N. Frick

May 13, 2003


June 10, 2003, will be a special day for Perry Rhodan fans. On that day, two booklet novellas by Rainer Castor will be published concurrently. Although the two issues are being published within different series and may not seem to be connected at first glance, they will nevertheless increase our insight into the intricacies of the Perry Rhodan universe. Taken together, these two novels are true gems, especially for those readers who enjoy cosmic revelations and are virtually electrified by time loops and super-intelligences, matter wells and cosmic nucleotides.

I’m talking about Atlan #11 and Perry Rhodan #2180. For obvious reasons I can’t say anything about their contents. Both novels speak for themselves, and, incidentally, the plot of each one can be enjoyed without prior knowledge of cosmic secrets. Nevertheless, it’s interesting to imagine the author sweating it out while working on the two novels.

“This is my first Perry Rhodan novel in which I’m letting Atlan tell the story from the first-person perspective," Rainer Castor said about the pleasure that he derived from working on PR 2180.   Of course, with Atlan 11, this is almost “standard procedure," with readers expecting a strong internal point of view featuring the Arkonide adventurer.

To at least just hint at the fascination of the two novels: While already quite exciting and entertaining in its own right, Atlan issue 11 makes several cross-references to past PR plot elements. The planet Zeut plays a role, as valuable information about the former fifth planet of the Solar System is conveyed. Additionally, a very interesting connection is made to the four-part Perry Rhodan comic book miniseries “Die Kristalle von Di’akir" (The Crystals of Di’akir).

Consequently, the alert reader will discover parallels between that Atlan novel and Perry Rhodan issue 2180. This story provides the fan with a veritable abundance of facts, making it a kind of “Kosmos-Chronik" (Cosmic Chronicle) in booklet novella form. Rainer Castor is able to present both Atlan’s personality and recollections as well as breathtaking revelations about the Perryverse. A stellar map that’s included in this novel is already available and clarifies the events even further. Having become a steady reader of PR around the time of Pan-Thau-Ra (a long, long time ago), I repeatedly found myself mumbling, “Ah, that’s what that was about," while reading Castor’s novel.

Additionally, I detected several sly “Kneifelisms" in issue 2180. Rainer Castor spent many years researching important background information for Hans Kneifel, basically as a student of that Perry Rhodan author. No wonder, then, that in PR issue 2180, Atlan is listening to the music of a composer whom Hans Kneifel introduced into the series many, many years ago. Readers who are interested in such details will discover further allusions along these lines. Others will enjoy the story just the same.

Oh, I could just go on and on as I go over these two novels in my mind, having just delivered them to the printer. Much can be gained by reading them back to back. And so-called veteran readers, to whom I, too, belong, will simply get quite a kick out of the two volumes. You really have something to look forward to!