Perry Rhodan InfoTransmitter
July 2004
Welcome to the English version of the official newsletter for the world’s greatest science fiction series!
This inaugural issue picks up where the news postings at www.perry-rhodan.us left off. For this reason, the news here starts in March 2004. Future issues will get us up to date.
For now, have fun reading about Perry Rhodan, and write to us with your feedback: newsletter@Perry-Rhodan.net.
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A Perry Rhodan family
March 1, 2004 - The loyalty of Perry Rhodan readers is almost proverbial. Again and again we hear from readers thanking us for decades of gripping stories. We want to introduce one of these loyal fans to you today.
Gertrud Mueller, born 1921, has been reading Perry Rhodan for 35 years. What’s more: Not only does she reads the series, but most of her family as well. This is how it works: Her younger son Manfred (born 1957) buys the booklets, devours them in one sitting, and hands them over to his mother Gertrude (as already mentioned, born in 1921—and a big admirer especially of  Perry, Atlan, and Pucky). Then it’s younger brother Werner’s turn (born 1952, and thanks to whom we heard about this family saga)—and the booklet has completed its rounds. In the past, Werner’s daughter Alexandra (born 1980) used to read the series too but is currently taking a break from it because her university studies take up all her time.
Not bad, eh? Or can anyone else among you top that? |
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An Editor’s Log Entry
by Klaus N. Frick
March 4, 2004 - Anniversaries by the dozen are inevitable with a series as long-standing as Perry Rhodan. Writers’ birthdays, the launch of a new story arc or new edition, countless specials—we could just be celebrating with no end in sight and with no time left to look ahead into the future and publish the current novels.
All the better that there are fans who just forge ahead and create projects of their own. An example is Norbert Mertens, who has already appeared in a Perry Rhodan novel as Trebron Snertem and probably will do so more often …
“You know, there’s this anniversary coming up,” he recently e-mailed me, referring to the Perry Rhodan “Planetenromane” (Planet Novels) paperback edition. This edition “really has been a big part of my leisure activities,” Norbert reports. The first volume, Planet der Mock [Planet of the Mocks] by Clark Darlton, was published on February 15, 1964. That’s indeed forty years ago. As Norbert writes: “If this edition were still around, then we would be celebrating its 40th birthday today!”
Unfortunately the edition no longer exists in its previous form. Over 400 paperbacks were published, written by various authors and featuring a diverse range of contents. Some were crime stories set in space, some involved cosmic mysteries; at times, Atlan’s adventures in time and Michael Rhodan’s youth adventures were practically alternating back to back. Of equal interest to both collectors and to anyone who did not read these novels “back then,” a selection of these classic stories are now being reissued in a nice hardcover edition by Weltbild.
In any event, Norbert has been proactive and put together a web site. In addition to his personal views on different topics, it includes an extremely delightful survey of various mistakes that have occurred in the course of the forty years, such as cover page mix-ups and wrong summary blurbs.
It’s comforting to learn this way that mistakes happened even in the past. All the more cause for appreciating Norbert’s ongoing involvement as demonstrated by his highly enjoyable and informative web site. |
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Guest appearance in the Perry Rhodan series
March 15, 2004 - Perry Rhodan 2235 will be a special treat of the highest order: After a break of almost 1,000 volumes, Thomas Ziegler will be making an appearance as a guest writer!
By way of reminder: Following William Voltz’s untimely demise in 1984, Thomas joined Ernst Vlcek in developing the storyline for the series over two important years. He also wrote 13 issues of the weekly series that by now have attained cult status.
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The Perry Rhodan team meets in Rastatt in April
March 22, 2004 - Initial memoranda are already reaching the editor’s office and are being hotly debated internally: The 2004 Perry Rhodan planning meeting is approaching. The course going forward will be plotted in April.
What direction will the series be taking up to volume 2500? The recently launched Sternenozean [Stellar Ocean] story cycle opens, and forms part of, a plot arc that will extend to jubilee issue 2500.
As plot outline developer Robert Feldhoff explains, the challenge facing the writers is to “lay the foundation that will get us there.” Rough ideas have already been developed; what’s needed now are cornerstones for the storyline.
One thing is already certain: the focus of the storyline through volume 2500 will be announced after the meeting.
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The William Voltz Award supports up-and-coming authors
March 24, 2004 - William Voltz (1938 – 1984) is considered among the most important authors of post-war German science fiction. Though especially known for his work on the Perry Rhodan series, he began his writing career with short stories.
Today marks the twentieth anniversary of William Voltz’s death. In his memory, and in collaboration with the publisher of Perry Rhodan, his family is offering the first William Voltz Award. Quite in the spirit of William Voltz, who had dedicated himself to supporting up-and-coming talent, the award is intended to lend a hand to new writers taking their first steps.
The William Voltz Award will honor the best short story of the genre. Serving as judges, a panel of experts will select the three best stories among the entries. The recipients of the monetary awards will be announced at the Frankfurt Book Fair.
Further information on the award can be found at: www.williamvoltz.de.
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Selected design drafts on the Perry Rhodan web site
April 8, 2004 - Through his company Casascania GmbH, Marcus O. Rosenmueller, who has made a name for himself as a director of sophisticated German-language crime shows for television (Sperling, Bloch, etc.), has been moving along the work on the Perry Rhodan movie. One of the many interim steps on the way to the final product can now be seen at the Perry Rhodan web site.
Rosenmueller explains: “As part of the so-called digital pre-production for the movie project, we contracted for a design draft of the spaceship Sol.” This was handled by the renown Stuttgart-based Elektrofilm company. Until now, the results have only been shown at trade shows and press conferences.
“The complete scene serves above all as a test for demonstrating the physical size of the Sol,” Rosenmueller comments on the design draft.
Additionally, Rosenmueller also presented a “Making Of”: “It shows how the various layers of design and animation are meshed.”
Further digital design drafts have been created among other things for Pucky the mouse beaver. These scenes are being kept “internal” for now.
Beyond that, work on the movie project continues at an international level. Says Rosenmueller: “In order to explore options for an international co-production, discussions about financing are currently taking place in the United States.”
The Preview can be downloaded here: 40.8 MB / 4.2 MB (mov)
The Making Of can be downloaded here: 53.6 MB / 5.9 MB (mov)
And this technical note: The animation is in the Quicktime format and ought to run automatically in your browser window. If not, first simply install the free Quicktime player, which can be downloaded here.
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An Editor’s Log Entry
By Sabine Kroop
April 21, 2004 - Most Perry Rhodan readers know by now that another Atlan miniseries is on its way: Atlan—Obsidian starts in May of this year. Volume 1 of the 12-volume booklet novella series will hit the stores on May 7, 2004. Subsequent volumes will be released every 2 weeks through October 8, 2004.
We, the editors, already began thinking about a new Atlan miniseries in the fall of 2003. We immediately agreed that the storyline would be developed by Uwe Anton. As he had already created the concept for the Atlan-Centauri miniseries, assigning its sequel to him was an obvious choice.
Once management at the publishing company green lighted the series, I knew that as the editor in charge, I could expect to become very busy very quickly. First, I developed various timelines, without which publishing a booklet novella series on time and on a regular basis would be impossible. This starts with the work on the storyline. When must the concept papers be ready so that the authors still have enough time to write the novels? And what are the deadlines for the authors so that production can be completed on time?
Concurrently, deadlines have to be assigned to the cover artists. Moreover, internal processes such as typesetting, repro, and proofing must be considered. I like to compare this with a clockwork: All of the wheels have to engage with each other; only then will everything work out.
Once these preliminary steps are completed, the creative side, specifically, the content, can finally take center stage. Titles and writers for the first four volumes have already been determined.
Hubert Haensel will kick off the series; his novel “ Im Licht des Kristallmondes” [In the Light of the Crystal Moon] will already have been printed when this log entry is published. Volume 2, “ Insel der Verdammten” [Island of the Damned], will not be done as originally planned by Michael Nagula, who had to cancel due to scheduling conflicts. Uwe Anton will step in in his place.
Michael Marcus Thurner is contributing the third segment of Atlan-Obsidian, “Die Savannenreiter von Vinara” [The Savanna Riders from Vinara]. Uschi Zietsch’s story, “Tamiljon,” is coming off my printer as we speak, and this time she’s also responsible for the readers’ letters pages.
I’m also very pleased that other renown authors such as Hans Kneifel, Claudia Kern, Bernd Frenz, and Dirk Hess are on the team as well. At the same time, if all goes well, we’ll also be seeing some new names: Bernhard Kempen, Ralf Schuder and Michael Buchholz. The readers certainly have much to look forward to.
For the first four covers, I was also able to recruit no less an artist than Dirk Schulz. Perry Rhodan readers already know Dirk as one of the four regular illustrators for that series.
Hank Wolf is currently reviewing the contents of volumes 5 through 8. I’m looking forward to seeing which scenes he’ll be featuring on the covers. Some readers might still remember him: He is the artist who previously did the covers of issues 9 to 12 of the Centauri miniseries.
The artist for the third and final group cannot be announced yet, as he’s not yet aware of his good fortune … |
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An Editor’s Log Entry
by Klaus N. Frick
April 26, 2004 - The great thing about weekends is that one can finally deal with those things for which there just isn’t any time on a normal workday. For example, last weekend I took the time to watch the video covering last year’s Perry Rhodan Con in Garching.
It’s roughly four hours long and available both on tape and DVD. Though I didn’t watch the whole thing in one sitting and also not every minute of it—some segments simply didn’t interest me as much as others—I did scan through all four hours.
In fact, that’s what’s good about a well-programmed con: You attend those bits that interest you and otherwise chat with friends and acquaintances or sit outdoors enjoying a fresh weizen beer. And that’s also what’s good about a video documentary that captures all the important events across four hours: Viewers can select and watch just those segments and impressions that interest him or her the most.
Featured in the video are presentations, discussion rounds, mini talk shows, and—of course!—the brilliant performance by Perry Rhodan writer Leo Lukas in his parallel existence as a cabaret artist. Performing on stage alone with a guitar, he more than once elicited waves of thunderous applause from the audience.
Mixed between the longer segments are short interviews with the various guests who appeared at the various events. Some of these exchanges are pithy and humorous, others more serious and more closely related to the programming.
Overall, this is a great video documentary that many fans will find worth watching. Those who were there on site are getting an extremely comprehensive memento of an enjoyable weekend. Others can learn more about the background of the Perry Rhodan series by getting that kind of information firsthand through presentations given by the creators of the series.
The video can be ordered at the web site of the organizers of the con, the Munich-based Perry Rhodan roundtable “Ernst Ellert”. Both versions cost 17 Euros per copy (19 Euros with shipping within Germany).
For orders from outside Germany, write directly to Erich Herbst at: espost@gmx.de. |
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Titles and authors of the new paperback miniseries have been determined.
April 30, 2004 - Starting this November, Heyne is launching another Perry Rhodan paperback miniseries: Lemuria.
Authors and titles are:
Uwe Anton and Frank Böhmert, who were on the team for the last two paperback miniseries (Andromeda and Odyssey), are taking a break due to other commitments. Meanwhile, we feel that we’ve been able to recruit excellent new authors cohorts with Perry Rhodan doyen Thomas Ziegler and Andreas Brandhorst (who recently reported back with the ambitious space opera Diamant [Diamond]).
One thing is certain: The journey to Lemuria will be worthwhile!
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A new look for Atlan’s classic adventures!
May 3, 2004 - Effective immediately, subscribers of the Atlan e-book edition are getting more for their money. We have “revamped” the PDF version—one of several formats being offered—that is to say, given it a new layout.
All volumes, including the ones released to date, are now available in versions that resemble the layout of the original booklets—including the original covers!
Curious? Then download this excerpt from volume 3 and stop by our ebook Shop—subscriptions can be started anytime and cost only 99 Cents per volume.
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Perry Rhodan Space Opera Online
May 5, 2004 - In December 1996, the musician and composer Christopher Franke released “Perry Rhodan: PAX TERRA,” his musical homage to the Perry Rhodan series.
In celebration of the 35th anniversary of the world’s greatest science fiction series, an impressive mélange of tone painting and celestial synthesis was created with the help of the Berlin Symphonic Film Orchestra (BSFO).
Due to the anniversary’s uniqueness, the CD unfortunately was only in the stores for a short time and has been unavailable since 1998. In April 2004, the editors of Perry Rhodan and the artist Christopher Franke decided to re-release the space opera that has long since attained cult status among Perry Rhodan readers.
A partnership with the readersplanet GmbH company made it possible to offer downloading as an alternative and contemporary method of distribution. The complete “Perry Rhodan: PAX TERRA” can now be bought at the eBook Shop as an MP3 download for only 9.99 Euros.
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 The Perry Rhodan writer announces his departure—for now.
May 10, 2004 - “I’ve achieved a lot as a writer, and for many years I’ve been focusing my energies on Perry Rhodan. Now the time has come for me to retire from writing.” That’s how Ernst Vlcek announced his departure from the writers’ team at the recent Perry Rhodan writers’ conference. “After more than 170 booklet novellas and dozens of paperbacks, I’d like to treat myself to a break.”
The Vienna-based Vlcek made his début in the series with Perry Rhodan volume 509, “Die Banditen von Terrania” [The Bandits from Terrania]. Not only has he written many booklet novellas and paperbacks over the course of a few decades, but for 16 years he was also responsible for developing the plot outlines based on which his colleagues prepared their novels.
However, he won’t be giving up writing altogether. “I’m working on a new Dämonenkiller novel, and I’d also like to pursue a few ideas of mine that have been on the back burner for ten to twenty years,” he said. And it also won’t be the end of the line for Perry Rhodan. “What would be ideal is if I were to contribute a novel once a year—just like Hans Kneifel.” Thus, Ernst’s goal is to work as a “permanent guest author” for Perry Rhodan starting in 2005.
His final “regular” novel for the series is expected to be volume 2231 which will be released under the title “ Der Klang des Lebens” [The Sound of Life].
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An Editor’s Log Entry
By Klaus N. Frick
May 11, 2004 - This log entry doesn’t have a particularly positive undertone. I have to announce that we won’t be continuing the PERRY RHODAN-Autorenbibliothek hardcover series as part of Moewig’s book program. The series is on hold for now, though we are thinking about whether we might be able to build upon the current concept.
When we launched the series in 2000, we actually were quite optimistic. The exciting action in Im Netz der Nonggo [In the Net of the Nonggo] by Arndt Ellmer introduced the reader to the world of the humanoid Nonggo, including their type of an advanced Internet and the complications that result when humans encounter extraterrestrials.
The visual design of each self-contained novel was directed especially at those readers to whom the appearance of the Perry Rhodan hardcovers appeal; though lacking a 3D cover image, but in any event with a glossy silver cover. At 224 pages, the series was also targeted at those readers who want more than ‘just” a booklet novella.
Four additional volumes were released within the Autorenbibliothek, fulfilling the concept of introducing various Perry Rhodan authors with self-contained works.
With Die Verlorenen von Chearth [The Lost Ones of Chearth], Ernst Vlcek contributed a novel that once more picks up on those Perry Rhodan issues that were set in the distant galaxy of Chearth.
With Fleisch der Erinnerung [Flesh of Remembrance], Frank Borsch takes a look at the past of the planet Ferrol and leads none other than Perry Rhodan through an exciting story full of interesting twists and turns.
Hubert Haensel’s Die Sterne voller Hass [Stars Full of Hatred] describes an adventure in which arch-enemies Reginald Bull and Bostich I of Arkon are caught up in a unique duel.
Susan Schwartz’s Quinto-Center was the last volume in the series. The novel got its title from the scene of the action and it depicts Perry Rhodan’s son Roi Danton in a true dream role.
Good stories alone aren’t enough. Commercial success is necessary as well, without which a business-like publishing house won’t continue a product line. That’s what’s happening now with the Autorenbibliothek: it’s simply taking a break.
In that regard, the word “break” strikes the right chord. One should never say “never,” even, or particularly, as someone in the publishing industry. Perhaps the PERRY RHODAN -Autorenbibliothek might continue after all, though not in 2004 … |
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The prize winners have been announced!
May 19, 2004 - Just announced: the winners of the Kurd Laßwitz awards for the best works in German science fiction in 2003—and even though Perry Rhodan might not be featured at the top, we made a respectable showing.
In the Best Novel category, Frank Boehmert achieved a great third place with his Die Sternenhorcher [Eavesdropping on the Stars], the fourth volume of the Andromeda miniseries.
In fact, Andromeda made two appearances: in the Best Artwork category, Oliver Scholl was ranked fourth.
And Ertugrul Edirne came in ninth place with his cover for issue 4 of the Atlan-Centauri booklet miniseries.
The complete results can be found at the web site for the awards:
www.kurd-lasswitz.de.
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 Cover artist working on new projects
May 25, 2004 - News from across the Atlantic: Perry Rhodan cover artist Ralph Voltz, who lives in the United States, has sent us an update on his current projects.
At the moment he’s working on two children’s books for publisher Tommy Nelson. The first one, Quiet Times, will be published this summer, the second one next year. A small preview can be seen on the left.
Other projects in the hopper: sequels to the “Hermie and Friends” and “The Pond” DVDs. Ralph is responsible for the storyboards as well as character and set designs. A sample can be seen here.
Ralph’s web site is at www.ralphvoltz.com.
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Perry Rhodan in metal
May 26, 2004 - It’s been a long wait for the fans, and the time has finally come: Starting in December 2004, new Perry Rhodan figurines will be distributed exclusively by HJB. The prototypes are currently being developed by Perry Rhodan cover artist Swen Papenbrock.
In fact, two of the figurines will be released concurrently at the outset: None other than Perry Rhodan, and a Blue. The figurines are being manufactured in China and will be done in metal. Each figurine will be individually wrapped in bubble pack.
More figurines are currently in preparation.
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Perry Rhodan hardcover volume 86 has been published!
May 27, 2004 - With “Inferno der Dimensionen” [Inferno of the Dimensions], the Aphilia campaign enters round six—and humankind’s situation is more hopeless than ever. Earth is still trapped in the maelstrom, lost in space at an infinite distance from the Milky Way galaxy, and on the verge of being hurled into a maw of cosmic forces.
Meanwhile, on board the Sol, Perry Rhodan continues the search for the home galaxy. But the ship has been captured by the Dakkardim Balloon of the Zgmahkonans… will Perry be able to free the Sol?
More information on hardcover volume 86 and its availability can be found here.
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Masthead
The Perry Rhodan InfoTransmitter is a free e-mail and Internet publication of Pabel-Moewig Verlag KG, Rastatt, Germany
Postal Address:
Pabel-Moewig Verlag KG
PERRY RHODAN-Kommunikation
Postfach 23 52
D-76413 Rastatt
Germany
E-Mail:
newsletter@Perry-Rhodan.net
Internet:
www.Perry-Rhodan.net (German)
www.Perry-Rhodan.us (English)
Managing Editor: Miriam Hofheinz (v.i.S.d.P)
English Translation: Arnold Winter
We have no control over the design and contents of any third-party web sites and web pages. In accordance
with a decision of the Hamburg (Germany) District Court issued on May 12, 1998, we disclaim all liability
for any views, opinions, and contents found in any linked web pages.
Wir haben keinen Einfluss auf die Gestaltung und die Inhalte fremder Seiten. Gemäß eines Urteils des Landgerichts
Hamburg vom 12. Mai 1998 distanzieren wir uns von Aussagen und Inhalten gelinkter Seiten.
If you would like to receive the German edition of the Perry Rhodan InfoTransmitter, please subscribe at the
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