Perry Rhodan Infotransmitter
November 2004

Perry Rhodan “Silver Volume” 87 released!

October 5, 2004 – In late 3580, a ghost ship is terrifying the forces occupying the Milky Way. What they don’t know is that they’re dealing with a segment of the  Sol, Perry Rhodan’s long-distance vessel, which has returned home after a decades-long odyssey.

The two immortals  Julian Tifflor and  Perry Rhodan finally see each other again. Their reunion, however, is threatened by a festering disagreement.  Atlan the  Arkonide wants to continue hiding from the all-powerful Larens and build his own power base. In contrast, Rhodan is not willing to remain passive in the face of all the suffering in the Milky Way. Instead, he wants to strike right away.

448 pages long,  Silver Volume 87 (ISBN 3-8118-4065-7) includes a cut-away drawing of the Marco Polo and costs 15.80 Euros.

The new Sol is here.

October 6, 2004 – “Lemuria” is almost upon us, and issue 36 of the Sol magazine is dedicated entirely to the new Perry Rhodan paperback series that will be published by Heyne starting in November.

And what can we expect? Well, editor and writer  Frank Borsch has a confession to make. Ulrich Betterman grills  Frank Borsch and storyline developer  Hubert Haensel in an interview and gets them to spill the beans on everything that Frank forgot to confess. Cover artist  Oliver Scholl presents a selection of design treasures hidden on his hard drive. Thomas Harbach interviews  Andreas Brandhorst, author of “Lemuria” volume 3.  Rainer Castor and  Michael Thiesen bring us up to date on the Lemurians, etc. etc.

Where can you get Sol? Simple: Through the  PERRY RHODAN-FanZentrale e.V.

An Editor’s Log Entry

By  Frank Borsch

October 6, 2004 – A happy outcome is well worth the wait: On the day before the opening of the Frankfurt Book Fair, the first two volumes of the Perry Rhodan role playing game arrived at the editor’s office—and we almost collapsed under their weight.

Both volumes are in a large format, come with a sturdy cover, and are very comprehensive. The basic rulebook runs almost 350 richly illustrated pages, and the Basis scenario volume almost 140. Their combined content is literally overwhelming, with the table of contents of the rulebook reading almost like an index to an encyclopedia.

The rulebook provides background information on the Perryverse, including the cosmological backstory and profiles of various races, psi powers, and technologies ranging from antigrav fields to weapons. This gives the serious gamer a solid foundation for the game play, while the general Perry Rhodan fan is exposed to a treasure trove of materials concerning the Perryverse. All this has been carefully researched and written in a fluid, catchy style that’s simply enjoyable.

Overall, this new role playing game promises to deliver a faithful rendition of the Perryverse, which is to be expected considering the team that's behind the project: These volumes were prepared by Perry Rhodan experts Alexander A. Huiskes, Juergen E. Franke, and Rainer Nagel, with the support of walking Perry Rhodan encyclopedia  Rainer Castor and of many, many others (the entire list would be too long for this editorial).

One thing is clear: Once the book fair is over, we’ll be scheduling an editorial meeting of a special kind! You can already guess what that’ll be, right?

P.S. More information on the role playing game can be found at  www.dorifer.com.

First “Lemuria” volume hits the stores!

October 11, 2004 – At the recently ended Frankfurt Book Fair, advance copies of “ Die Sternenarche” [The Stellar Ark] by  Frank Borsch, the first volume of the new six-part paperback series “ Lemuria,” evoked thunderous acclaim. No matter whom we showed it to, the “must have” effect was universal! (Except that nobody could get it; after all, we only had a few copies …)

You can now check at any bookstore whether you’ll feel the same effect—and subsequently convince yourself at home that the handsome cover does indeed contain a novel that’ll thrill you …

P.S. If your retail store doesn’t yet have “ Die Sternenarche”: It’s ISBN is 3453530039. Orders are being accepted now!

At last: Digital editions of ATLAN-Traversan, Centauri, and Obsidian

October 18, 2004 – By now they’ve become a favorite tradition in the Perryverse: The “Atlan” miniseries. The high-octane “ Traversan” kicked things off in early 1998, based on a concept developed by head writer  Robert Feldhoff. “ Centauri” and “ Obsidian” followed, based on concepts by Perry Rhodan old hand  Uwe Anton.

All three series have one thing in common: They all offer pure adventure. They are set in locations that so far have been excluded in the main Perry Rhodan series. Conveying a touch of the exotic, they invoke the proverbial “sense of wonder” of early Perry Rhodan—and they are a playing field for the writers: The established ones can let loose liberated from the bounds of the main series, and the newcomers can earn their first stripes with “Atlan.”

There has been one area so far where the Atlan miniseries have taken a back seat: e-books. But that’s about to change! Today, barely a week before the launch of  “ Die Lordrichter” [The Lord Judges], the brand new miniseries, “ Traversan,” “ Centauri” and “ Obsidian” are being released in e-book editions at readersplanet.de—under the proven approach “one price, many formats.”

Each 12-issue subscription costs 11.90 Euros, and all three only 29.90 Euros. Thus, on to the page where you can order:  www.perry-rhodan.net/ebookshop/!

The Arkonide’s own web site

October 20, 2004 – The web site dedicated to Atlan was under construction “in secret” for some time, and now it’s done:  www.atlan.de is online!

This was driven by the fact that the  Arkonide has finally returned to his regular place at the newsstands. Starting with this week’s “Atlan”  13 titled “ Kytharas Erbe” [Kythara’s Legacy], fans can follow  Atlan’s adventures in booklet form every two weeks. The web site itself concerns everything  Atlan: The booklet series, the hardcover series, the e-books from readersplanet, and, of course, all related news.

For the time being, there’s a strong connection with the “Perry Rhodan” web site, but that too can change.

A childhood dream comes true

October 29, 2004 – Finally  Perry Rhodan has actually left Earth’s bounds. Though the journey wasn’t to the moon or even to distant galaxies, at least it was to the International Space Station in Earth orbit, thanks to ESA astronaut André Kuipers.

Pictures that document this event show a copy of the Dutch edition of Perry Rhodan that André took with him on a flight to the space station. André’s grandmother gave him this copy 33 years ago, and he regards reading this novel as a key experience for his desire to become an astronaut.

André has now fulfilled his dream. Last April, he flew on board a Russian Sojus rocket for a one-week research assignment at the space station. The so-called Delta Mission received much attention in The Netherlands and provided an incentive for many high-school students to participate in experiments (to learn more about this mission, visit the  ESA’s web site).

Of course, we will keep you informed about Perry’s further steps in exploring the universe.

Meanwhile, click here to see the pictures mentioned in this article:  www.perry-rhodan.net/aktuell/news/2004110302.html.