The finalists for the 2024 Kurd Laßwitz Preis were announced on April 3. The award, named after German author Kurd Laßwitz, is given to works written in or translated into the German language and published during the previous year.
The ballot was compiled from 513 nominations submitted by 77 eligible voters plus 256 evaluations and comments from the pre-selection committee. Over 280 eligible voters will have until the end of May to vote on all the categories except for translation and radio play, which a jury of experts will judge.
A new Special Award category is being introduced this year to highlight and reward achievements that combine social commitment with artistic, organizational or scientific excellence. In the tradition of the pacifist and humanist Kurd Laßwitz, the new special prize is intended to honor “critical, committed, intersectional” work that makes the world of German-language science fiction more accessible, diverse and tolerant. The prize sends out a positive signal against anti-Semitism, racism, ableism, sexism, queer hostility and classism and makes the work and commitment that people in science fiction are already demonstrating more visible to the public.
The award ceremony will take place at ElsterCon, to be held September 27-29 at the Haus des Buches in Leipzig.
Best German SF Novel
From 113 nomination proposals for 52 novels, the eight most nominated were selected in consultation with the pre-selection committee:
Reda El Arbi, [empfindungsfæhig]Lector Books
Sven Haupt, Niemandes SchlafEridanus
Christian Kellermann, Adam und AdaHirnkost
Aiki Mira, NeurobiestEridanus
Jacqueline Montemurri, Skábma – Das Nanobot-ExperimentEdition Roter Drache
Brandon Q. Morris, Tachyon – Die Waffe (Tachyon, vol. 1)Fischer Tor
Lena Richter, Dies ist mein letztes LiedOhneOhren
Michael Marcus Thurner, Die Terrania-Trilogie (Perry Rhodan, vol. 3208-3210)VPM
Best German SF Story
Out of 124 nomination proposals for 61 short stories, novelettes and novellas, the eleven most nominated were selected in consultation with the pre-selection committee:
Christian Endres, Die Straße der Bienenin: Fritz Heidorn and Sylvia Mlynek (ed.): Klimazukünfte 2050 – Geschichten unserer gefährdeten WeltHirnkost
Uwe Hermann, Die End-of-Life-Schaltungin: René Moreau, Hans Jürgen Kugler and Heinz Wipperfürth (ed.): Exodus 46Exodus Selbstverlag
Dieter Korger, Nur ein Werbespotin: Hans Jürgen Kugler and René Moreau (ed.): Ferne Horizonte – Entfernte VerwandteHirnkost
Michael Marrak, Der Mann, der Räume glücklich machte (Stellaris, Folge 94)in: Robert Corvus, Cyberflora (Perry Rhodan, vol. 3234)VPM
Aiki Mira, Nicht von dieser Weltin: Team Nova (ed.): Nova 32p.machinery
Michael Schneiberg, Die Frau in der Wandin: René Moreau, Hans Jürgen Kugler and Heinz Wipperfürth (ed.): Exodus 47Exodus Selbstverlag
Yvonne Tunnat, Der Spielplatzin: Marianne Labisch and Gerd Scherm (ed.): Jenseits der Traumgrenzep.machinery
Yvonne Tunnat, Trauergeschäftein: René Moreau, Hans Jürgen Kugler and Heinz Wipperfürth (ed.): Exodus 47Exodus Selbstverlag
Melanie Vogltanz, No Filterin: Judith C. Vogt, Lena Richter and Heike Knoop-Sullivan (ed.): Queer*Welten 10Ach je
Wolf Welling, Stulpain: René Moreau, Hans Jürgen Kugler and Heinz Wipperfürth (ed.): Exodus 47Exodus Selbstverlag
Charline Winter, Grüne Herzenin: Judith C. Vogt, Lena Richter and Heike Knoop-Sullivan (ed.): Queer*Welten 11Ach je
Best non-german SF Work translated first time in 2023
From 59 nomination proposals for 32 foreign works, the eleven most nominated were selected in consultation with the pre-selection committee:
Ned Beauman, Der gemeine Lumpfisch (Venomous Lumpsucker)Liebeskind
Peter Cawdron, Der Sturm (The Tempest) (Erstkontakt, vol. 2)A7L Books
Guy Hasson, Das perfekte Mädchen (The Perfect Girl)in: Sheldon Teitelbaum and Emanuel Lottem (Hrsg.): Zion’s FictionHirnkost
Polly Ho-Yen, The Mothers (Dark Lullaby)Piper
Lucy Kissick, Projekt Pluto (Plutoshine)Heyne
Rebecca F. Kuang, Babel (Babel. Or the Necessity of Violence)Eichborn
Ursula K. Le Guin, Immer nach Hause (Always Coming HomeCarcosa
Emily St. John Mandel, Das Meer der endlosen Ruhe (Sea of Tranquility)Ullstein
Cheon Seon-Ran, Tausend Arten von Blau (천개의파랑)Golkonda
Neil Sharpson, Ecce Machina – Die Seele der Maschine(When the Sparrow Falls)Piper
Out of 26 nomination proposals for ten translations, seven were selected in consultation with the pre-selection committee and are available for the translation jury to choose from:
Jan Henrik Dirks for the translation of Cheon Seon-Ran, Tausend Arten von Blau (천개의파랑)Golkonda
Matthias Fersterer, Karen Nölle und Helmut W. Pesch for the translation of Ursula K. Le Guin, Immer nach Hause (Always Coming Home)Carcosa
Jennifer Michalski for the translation of Donna Barba Higuera, Die letzte Erzählerin (The Last Cuentista)Dragonfly
Hannes Riffel for the new translation of Gene Wolfe, Der fünfte Kopf des Zerberus (The Fifth Head of Cerberus)Carcosa
Jakob Schmidt for the new translation of Samuel R. Delany, Babel-17 (Babel-17)Carcosa
Jakob Schmidt for the new translation of Roger Zelazny, Straße nach überallhin (Roadmarks)Piper
Sharyn Wegmann for the translation of Peter Cawdron, Der Sturm (The Tempest) (Erstkontakt, vol. 2)A7L Books
Best SF Art (Cover, Illustration) related to a German edition in 2023
From 63 nomination proposals for 27 cover graphics, the seven most nominated were selected in consultation with the pre-selection committee:
Arndt Drechsler-Zakrzewski for the cover art of Torsten Scheib and Marc Hamacher (ed.), New DodgeLeseratten
Olaf Kemmler for the cover art of Klaus Bollhöfener (ed.): phantastisch! 92Atlantis
Detlef Klewer for the cover art of Christoph Grimm (ed.), Weltenportal 5Weltenportal Selbstverlag
Ingo Lohse for the cover art of René Moreau, Hans Jürgen Kugler and Heinz Wipperfürth (ed.): exodus 47Exodus Selbstverlag
Horst Rellecke for the cover art of René Moreau, Hans Jürgen Kugler and Heinz Wipperfürth (ed.): exodus 46Exodus Selbstverlag
Dirk Schulz for the cover art of Oliver Fröhlich and Christian Montillon, Facetten aus Eis(Perry Rhodan, vol. 3241)VPM
Thomas Thiemeyer for the cover art of Hans Jürgen Kugler and René Moreau (ed.), Ferne Horizonte – Entfernte VerwandteHirnkost
Best German SF Radio Play
From four nomination proposals for three radio plays, two were selected and are available for the radio play jury to choose from:
Der Ernstfall byPaula Dorten andKerstin Schütze Director: Kerstin Schütze; Composer: The Z & Noir Desir; Production: ORF
Slughunters – Jagd auf die Jäger byBodo Traber Director: Bodo Traber; Composer: André Abshagen; Production: WDR
Best German Non-fiction Texts related to SF
Out of 30 nomination proposals for 17 non-fiction texts, the five most nominated were selected in consultation with the pre-selection committee:
Gunther Barnewald, Handbuch der Planeten – Reiseführer durch die Welten von Jack VanceFanPro
Hans Frey, Vision und Verfall – Deutsche Science Fiction in der DDRMemoranda
Olaf Kemmler, Big Data is watching you! Werden wir durch unsere Smartphones belauscht?Tor Online
Alfred Vejchar, Von Andromeda bis Utopia – Eine Zeitreise durchs österreichische Fandomp.machinery
Felix Wirth, Science Fiction im Radio – Programm und Sound utopischer Hörspiele in der Deutschschweiz von 1935 – 1985transcript
Special Achievement Award for actual SF activities in 2023
Out of 43 nomination proposals for 15 actual sf activities, the nine most nominated were selected in consultation with the pre-selection committee:
Olaf Brill and Michael Vogt for the Comic Der kleine Perry, which introduces children to SF
Robert Corvus for the organization of the German participation in the European Science Fiction Award
Fritz Heidorn, the Klimahaus Bremerhaven, the Deutsche Klimastiftung and the Hirnkost-Verlag for the Climate Futures 2050 literary competition and the publication of the anthology
Marianne Labisch, Uli Bendick, Mario Franke and Torsten Low for the edition of Science Fiction Art & Kalendergeschichten
The Team around Claudia Rapp for the organization of MetropolCon 2023
Hannes Riffel for the founding and first program of Carcosa, in particular the German publication of Ursula K. Le Guin’s work Always Coming Home
Rainer Schorm and Jörg Weigand for the edition of the anthology Die Zukunft im Blick. Rainer Erler zum 90. Geburtstag
Gregor Sedlag for the artistic organization of the SF Tear Drawing Exhibition In Linearträumen in the Industriesalon in Berlin-Schönweide
Yvonne Tunnat for her literary podcast Literatunnat
Special Achievement Award 2023 for long term activities
From 30 nomination proposals for eleven long term sf activities, the three most nominated were selected in consultation with the preselection committee:
Arndt Drechsler-Zakrzewski for his lifetime achievement (posthumously)
René Moreau, Olaf Kemmler, Heinz Wipperfürth and Hans Jürgen Kugler for 20 years of publishing Exodus (since restart)
Jörg Weigand for decades of commitment in the field of SF, fantasy and entertainment literature as an editor and non-fiction author
Special Achievement award critical, committed, intersectional 2023
From 21 nomination proposals for ten sf activities, the four most nominated were selected in consultation with the preselection committee:
Aşkın-Hayat Doğan for his video series Diverser Lesen mit Ask
The Team of Hirnkost publishing house for the publication of the first German anthology of Israeli SF, Zion’s Fiction
Klaus Farin, Hans Frey, Christian Kellermann, Hardy Kettlitz and Karlheinz Steinmüller for the project Kongress der Utopien
Lena Richter, Judith C. Vogt, Heike Knopp-Sullivan and Kathrin Dodenhoeft for the edition of the magazine Queer*Welten
The Kurd Laßwitz Preis 2023 winners have been announced. The award, named after German author Kurd Laßwitz, is given to works written in or translated into the German language and published during the previous year.
The award ceremony will take place on May 19 as part of MetropolCon, a multimedia event on science fiction, fantasy, and horror to be held May 18-20 in Berlin
BEST GERMAN LANGUAGE SF NOVEL FIRST PUBLISHED IN 2022
Aiki Mira, Neongrau – Game Over im Neurosubstrat (POLARISE)
BEST GERMAN LANGUAGE SF STORY FIRST PUBLISHED IN 2022
Uwe Hermann, Die Nachrichtenmacher in: René Moreau, Hans Jürgen Kugler and Heinz Wipperfürth (ed.): Exodus 44, (EXODUS SELBSTVERLAG)
BEST NON-GERMAN SF WORK TRANSLATED FIRST TIME IN 2022
Becky Chambers, Die Galaxie und das Licht darin (The Galaxy and the Ground Within) (Wayfarer, Vol. 4) (FISCHER TOR)
BEST TRANSLATOR FOR A WORK OF SF FIRST PUBLISHED IN 2022
Eva Bauche-Eppers for the translation of Jeff VanderMeer, Veniss Underground (Veniss Underground) (WANDLER)
BEST SF ART (COVER, ILLUSTRATION) RELATED TO A GERMAN EDITION IN 2022
Thomas Thiemeyer for the cover art of René Moreau, Hans Jürgen Kugler and Heinz Wipperfürth (ed.): Exodus 44 (EXODUS SELBSTVERLAG)
BEST GERMAN SF RADIO PLAY FIRST BROADCAST IN 2022
Die Nacht war bleich, die Lichter blinkten by Emma Braslavsky based on her novel; Director and Composer: Lorenz Schuster, Editor: Katarina Agathos, Production: BR
BEST GERMAN FACTUAL TEXT RELATED TO SF, FIRST PUBLISHED IN 2022
Hardy Kettlitz and Melanie Wylutzki (ed.), Das Science Fiction Jahr 2022 (HIRNKOST)
SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARD FOR ACTUAL SF ACTIVITIES IN 2022
Wolfgang Both, Mario Franke and Ralf Neukirchen for SF in DDRas part of the exhibition Leseland DDR
SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARD 2022 FOR LONG TERM SF ACTIVITIES
Christian Hoffmann and Udo Klotz for the edition of Magazine !Time Machine
The finalists for the 2023 Kurd Laßwitz Preis were announced on March 15. The award, named after German author Kurd Laßwitz, is given to works written in or translated into the German language and published during the previous year.
The ballot was compiled from 510 nominations submitted by 81 eligible voters plus 135 evaluations and comments from the pre-selection committee. Over 260 eligible voters will have until mid-April to vote on all the categories except for translation and radio play, which a jury of experts will judge.
The award ceremony will take place during MetropolCon, to be held May 18-20 in Berlin.
Best German SF Novel first published in 2022
From 150 nomination proposals for 50 novels, the eleven most nominated were selected in consultation with the pre-selection committee:
Kris Brynn, A.R.T. – Coup zwischen den SternenKnaur
Theresa Hannig, Pantopia Fischer Tor
Sven Haupt, Wo beginnt die Nacht Eridanus
Lisa J. Krieg, Drei Phasen der Entwurzelung – Oder: Die Liebe der Schildkröten Wortschatten
P.M. [= Hans Widmer], Die Leitung – Ein Libretto Hirnkost
Aiki Mira, Neongrau – Game Over im Neurosubstrat Polarise
Aiki Mira, Titans Kinder p.machinery
Jacqueline Montemurri, Der verbotene Planet Plan9
Brandon Q. Morris, Die letzte Kosmonautin Fischer Tor
Jol Rosenberg, Das Geflecht – An der Grenze OhneOhren
Nils Westerboer, Athos 2643 Klett-Cotta Hobbit Presse
Best German SF Story first published in 2022
Out of 130 nomination proposals for 69 short stories, novelettes and novellas, the ten most nominated were selected in consultation with the pre-selection committee:
C.M. Dyrnberg, Fast Forwardin: N.N. (ed.): Nova 31, p.machinery
Christoph Grimm, Die Summe aller Teilein: Christoph Grimm (ed.): Alien Contagium, Eridanus
Uwe Hermann, Die Nachrichtenmacherin: René Moreau, Hans Jürgen Kugler and Heinz Wipperfürth (ed.): Exodus 44, Exodus Selbstverlag
Yvonne Tunnat, Morsche Hautin: Janika Rehak and Yvonne Tunnat (ed.): Der Tod kommt auf Zahnrädern, Amrûn
Best non-german SF Work translated first time in 2022
From 51 nomination proposals for 23 foreign works, the eight most nominated were selected in consultation with the pre-selection committee:
Becky Chambers, Die Galaxie und das Licht darin (The Galaxy and the Ground Within) (Wayfarer, Vol. 4) Fischer Tor
Jennifer Egan, Candy Haus (Candy House)S.Fischer
Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone, Verlorene der Zeiten (This Is How You Lose the Time War)Piper
N.K. Jemisin, Die Wächterinnen von New York (The City We Became)(The Big Cities, Vol. 1)Tropen
Mary Robinette Kowal, Die Berechnung der Sterne (The Calculating Stars) (Lady Astronaut, Vol. 1)Piper
Arkady Martine, Am Abgrund des Krieges (A Desolation Called Peace) (Teixcalaan, Vol. 2)Heyne
Adrian Tchaikovsky, Die Scherben der Erde (The Shards of Earth) (Architekten, Vol. 1)Heyne
Tade Thompson, Fern vom Licht des Himmels (Far from the Light of Heaven)Golkonda
Best Translation of SF into German, first published in 2022
Out of 17 nomination proposals for 10 translations, six were selected in consultation with the pre-selection committee and are available for the translation jury to choose from:
Eva Bauche-Eppers for the translation of Jeff VanderMeer, Veniss Underground(Veniss Underground)Wandler
Claudia Kern for the translation of Ada Palmer, Dem Blitz zu nah (Too Like the Lightning) (Terra Ignota, Vol. 1)Panini
Matita Leng for the new translation of the interviews with Andre Norton and Joan D. Vinge in: Charles Platt, Weltenschöpfer, Vol. 3 (Dream Makers)Memoranda
Simon Weinert for the translation of Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone, Verlorene der Zeiten(This Is How You Lose the Time War)Piper
Best SF Art (Cover, Illustration) related to a German edition in 2022
From 66 nomination proposals for 29 cover graphics, the eight most nominated were selected in consultation with the pre-selection committee:
Michael Böhme for the cover art ofRené Moreau, Hans Jürgen Kugler and Heinz Wipperfürth (ed.): Exodus 45Exodus Selbstverlag
Arndt Drechsler-Zakrzewski for the cover art series of Perry Rhodan – AtlantisVPM (12 volumes)
Jan Hoffmann for the cover art of Klaus Bollhöfener (ed.): phantastisch! 88Atlantis
Detlef Klewer for the cover art ofChristoph Grimm (ed.): Weltenportal Nr. 3Weltenportal Selbstverlag
Per Prada for the cover art ofBernd Schuh, Irre real – 49 seltsame Begebenheitenp.machinery
Alexander Rommel for the cover art ofSylvana Freyberg and Uwe Post (ed.): Future Fiction Magazine 03/22 FFM Selbstverlag
Thomas Thiemeyer for the cover art of René Moreau, Hans Jürgen Kugler and Heinz Wipperfürth (ed.): exodus 44 Exodus Selbstverlag
Best German SF Radio Play first broadcasted in 2022
From 13 nomination proposals for seven radio plays, the seven most nominated were selected and are available for the radio play jury to choose from:
Animate byChris Salter based on the comics of Kate Story; Director: Chris Salter and Anouschka Trocker, Composer: Caterina Barbieri, Limpe Fuchs and Sam Slater, Production: DLFK
Für immer wir alle zusammen byThilo Reffert; Director: Stefan Kanis, Composer: Michael Hinze, Editor: Thomas Fitz, Production: MDR/SR (2035 – Die Zukunft beginnt jetzt, part 3)
Marie Ka Ih – Schluss mit Gurkensalat byLiza Szabo; Director: Claudia Johanna Leis, Composer: Gilda Razani and Hans Hermann Wanning, Editor: Ulla Illerhaus, Production: WDR
Die Nacht war bleich, die Lichter blinkten byEmma Braslavsky based on her novel; Director and Composer: Lorenz Schuster, Editor: Katarina Agathos, Production: BR
Pyramidenkorrektur byTom Heithoff; Director and Composer: Tom Heithoff, Editor: Cordula Huth, Production: HR
Rückwärts-Hannah byMartin Heindel; Director: Martin Heindel, Composer: Hans Fuss, Production: BR (2035 – Die Zukunft beginnt jetzt, part 2)
Unter Drohnen byTim Staffel; Director: Tim Staffel, Composer: Alexandra Holtsch, Editor: Natalie Szallies, Dramaturgy: Hannah Georgi, Production: WDR
Best German Non-fiction Texts related to SF first published in 2022
Out of 26 nomination proposals for 15 non-fiction texts, the three most nominated were selected in consultation with the pre-selection committee:
Aiki Mira, Was ist Queer*SF? Mehr als nur Science Fiction! Tor Online
Jörg Weigand, Autoren der fantastischen Literatur.Ein Leitfaden durch die deutschsprachige Sekundärliteratur – Monografien, Erinnerungen und Festschriften p.machinery
Special Achievement Award for actual SF activities in 2022
Out of 22 nomination proposals for ten actual sf activities, the six most nominated were selected in consultation with the pre-selection committee:
Wolfgang Both, Mario Franke and Ralf Neukirchen for »SF in DDR« as part of the exhibition Leseland DDR
Christoph Grimm for the edition of Weltenportal magazine
Christoph Grimm andJana Hoffhenke for publication of the anthology Alien Contagium
The Kurd Laßwitz Preis is a literature award for German-language science fiction that is awarded annually in up to eight categories. The other winners were announced earlier this year. For the Kurd Laßwitz Award radio category, the radio play jury (eight radio play authors, directors and radio play experts) selected the finalists. The winner was decided after a runoff due to close ranking of the first two nominations.
The award ceremony is planned as part of the 16th ElsterCon, which will take place this year the third weekend in September in Leipzig.
The Kurd Laßwitz Preis 2022 winners have been announced. The award, named after German author Kurd Laßwitz, is given to works written in or translated into the German language and published during the previous year.
The awards ceremony will be on September 17 at the ElsterCon at the Haus des Buches (House of the Book) in Leipzig.
BEST GERMAN LANGUAGE SF NOVEL FIRST PUBLISHED IN 2021
Nanopark by Uwe Hermann
BEST GERMAN LANGUAGE SF STORY FIRST PUBLISHED IN 2021
“Utopie27” (Utopia 27) by Aiki Mira in Am Anfang war das Bild (In the beginning, there was the image), edited by Uli Bendick, Aiki Mira and Mario Franke
BEST SF IN GERMAN TRANSLATION FIRST PUBLISHED IN 2021
Das Ministerium für die Zukunft (The Ministry for the Future) by Kim Stanley Robinson
BEST TRANSLATOR FOR A WORK OF SF FIRST PUBLISHED IN 2021
Pia Biundo for Das Licht der Hohlwelt (Una nueva consciencia) by Carlos Suchowolski
BEST COVER FOR A WORK OF SF FIRST PUBLISHED IN 2021
Hubert Schweizer for the cover of exodus 43, edited by René Moreau, Heinz Wipperfürth and Hans Jürgen Kugler
BEST GERMAN LANGUAGE SF AUDIO DRAMA FIRST BROADCAST IN 2021
Dein haploides Herz (Your haploid Heart) by Martin Heindel, based on the story by James Tiptree Jr, broadcast by WDR
Das neue Vertrauen (The new trust) by Aline Bender and Alex Schaad, based on a short film by Alex and Dimitri Schaad, broadcast by BR
r_crusoeTMby Christian Wittmann and Georg Falk-Huber, broadcast by Deutschlandfunk
Der Untergang der Stadt Passau (The demise of the city of Passau) by Bernadette Sonnenbichler, based on a novel by Carl Amery, broadcast by BR
SPECIAL AWARD FOR ONE-TIME EXCEPTIONAL SERVICES IN THE FIELD OF SF 2021
René Moreau and Hans Jürgen Kugler for the anthology Macht und Wort (Power and Word)
Uli Bendick, Aiki Mira and Mario Franke for the anthology Am Anfang war das Bild (In the beginning, there was the image)
Monika Niehaus for the collection Geschichten aus Donnas Kaschemme (Stories from Donna’s disreputable bar)
Uli Bendick and Michael Tinnefeld for the anthology Diagnose F: Science Fiction trifft Psyche (Diagnosis F: Science fiction meets the psyche)
SPECIAL AWARD FOR LONG-TIME EXCEPTIONAL SERVICES IN THE FIELD OF SF 2021
Thomas Hofmann for 70 issues of the fanzine Neuer Stern (New Star) as well as his graphic work and support for fandom
Ralf P. Krämer for a lifetime of running SF-Clubs and organising cons, particularly Penta-Con
Franz Rottensteiner for a lifetime of editing, reviewing and writing essays about SF
Jörg Weigand for a lifetime of writing and editing SF and supporting young writers
BEST GERMAN SF RADIO PLAY FIRST BROADCAST IN 2021
In consultation with the radio play jury, four were selected from twelve proposed radio plays and provided to the radio play jury (radio play authors, directors and radio play experts). The evaluation is still ongoing.
Dein haploides Herz by Martin Heindel based on the story of James Tiptree jr.;Director: Martin Heindel, Production: WDR
Das neue Vertrauen by Aline Bender and Alex Schaad based on the short movie of Alex and Dimitrij Schaad;Director: Alex Schaad, Composer: Richard Ruzicka, Production: BR
Der Untergang der Stadt Passau by Bernadette Sonnenbichler based on the novel of Carl Amery;Director: Bernadette Sonnebichler, Composer: Jacob Suske, Production: BR
R_crusoe™ by Christian Wittmann and Georg Falk-Huber [= Zeitblom]; Director and Composer: Christian Wittmann and Georg Falk-Huber, Production: DLF
[Thanks to Udo Klotz for the press release, and to Cora Buhlert for the story and the translations.]
The finalists for the 2021 Kurd Laßwitz Preis were announced on March 15. The award, named after German author Kurd Laßwitz, is given to works written in or translated into the German language and published during the previous year.
The German language editions of Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro, The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson, Goldilocks by Laura Lam, The Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson, Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir, and Network Effect by Martha Wells are some of the finalists for Best SF in German Translation.
And the translators of The Better Part of Valor by Tanya Huff, The Carhullan Army by Sarah Hall, and The Stars are Legion by Kameron Hurley are among the nominees in the Best Translator category.
The winners will be announced on September 17, 2022, at the ElsterCon at the Haus des Buches (House of the Book) in Leipzig.
BEST GERMAN LANGUAGE SF NOVEL FIRST PUBLISHED IN 2021
Mars Discovery (KI Goliath, Book 3) by Andreas Brandhorst
Dave by Raphaela Edelbauer
Stille zwischen den Sternen (Silence between the Stars) by Sven Haupt
Nanopark by Uwe Hermann
Von Zeit zu Zeit (From time to time) by Hans Jürgen Kugler
Der Koloss aus dem Orbit (The colossus from orbit) by Jacqueline Montemurri
Klima-Korrektur-Konzern (Climate-Correction-Corporation) by Uwe Post
Memories of Summer – Wer bist du ohne Vergangenheit? (Memories of Summer – Who are you without your past?) by Janna Ruth
Anarchie Deco (Anarchy Deco) by Judith and Christian Vogt
Der vierte Mond (The Fourth Moon) by Kathleen Weise
BEST GERMAN LANGUAGE SF STORY FIRST PUBLISHED IN 2021
“Der stille Besucher” (The Silent Visitor) by Galax Acheronian in Singularitätsebenen (Singularity Levels), edited by Peggy Weber-Gehrke
“Notizen zur Beobachtung von Schildkröten nach einer Bruchlandung” (Notes on observing turtles after a crash landing) by Lisa Jenny Krieg in exodus 42, edited by René Moreau, Heinz Wipperfürth and Hans Jürgen Kugler
“Davida” by Hans Jürgen Kugler in Macht und Wort (Power and Word), edited by René Moreau and Hans Jürgen Kugler
“Salvation” by Sybille Lengauer in Singularitätsebenen (Singularity Levels), edited by Peggy Weber-Gehrke
“Das Universum ohne Eisbärin” (The universe without a female polar bear) by Aiki Mira in c’t Magazin 5/2021
“Utopie27” (Utopia 27) by Aiki Mira in Am Anfang war das Bild (In the beginning, there was the image), edited by Uli Bendick, Aiki Mira and Mario Franke
“Vorsicht Synthetisches Leben!” (Careful, synthetic life!) by Aiki Mira in exodus 43, edited by René Moreau, Heinz Wipperfürth and Hans Jürgen Kugler
“Regenmädchen” (Rain Girl) by Markus Müller in Nova 30, edited by Michael K. Iwoleit and Michael Haitel
“Onkel Nate oder die hohe Kunst, aus dem Fenster zu schauen” (Uncle Nate or the high art of looking out of the window) by Janika Rehak in Am Anfang war das Bild (In the beginning, there was the image), edited by Uli Bendick, Aiki Mira and Mario Franke
“Das Ding” (The Thing) by Norbert Stöbe in exodus 43, edited by René Moreau, Heinz Wipperfürth and Hans Jürgen Kugler
BEST SF IN GERMAN TRANSLATION FIRST PUBLISHED IN 2021
Klara und die Sonne (Klara and the Sun) by Kazuo Ishiguro
Erde 0 (The Space Between Worlds) by Micaiah Johnson
Das ferne Licht der Sterne (Goldilocks) by Laura Lam
Die Anomalie (L’anomalie) by Hervé Tellier
Das Ministerium für die Zukunft (The Ministry for the Future) by Kim Stanley Robinson
Things from the Flood (Flodskörden) by Simon Stålenhag
Der Astronaut (Project Hail Mary) by Andy Weir
Der Netzwerkeffekt (Network Effect) by Martha Wells
BEST TRANSLATOR FOR A WORK OF SF FIRST PUBLISHED IN 2021
Pia Biundo for Das Licht der Hohlwelt (Una nueva consciencia) by Carlos Suchowolski
Pia Biundo for “Glühwürmchen” (Luciémagas) by Vlad Hernández in Am Anfang war das Bild (In the beginning, there was the image), edited by Uli Bendick, Aiki Mira and Mario Franke
Frank Böhmert for Der lange Nachmittag der Erde (Hothouse) by Brian W. Aldiss
Oliver Hoffmann for Die Klügere gibt nach (The Better Part of Valor) by Tanya Huff
Sophia Lindsay for Die Töchter des Nordens (The Carhullan Army) by Sarah Hall
Helga Parmiter for Der Sterne Zahl (The Stars are Legion) by Kameron Hurley
BEST COVER FOR A WORK OF SF FIRST PUBLISHED IN 2021
Uli Bendick and Mario Franke for the cover of Diagnose F: Science Fiction trifft Psyche (Diagnosis F: Science fiction meets the psyche), edited by Uli Bendick and Michael Tinnefeld
Dirk Berger for the cover of phantastisch 84, edited by Klaus Bollhöfener
Arndt Drechsler-Zakrzewski for the cover of phantastisch 83, edited by Klaus Bollhöfener
Timo Kümmel for the cover of phantastisch 81, edited by Klaus Bollhöfener
Simon Lejeune for the cover of exodus 42, edited by René Moreau, Heinz Wipperfürth and Hans Jürgen Kugler
Rainer Schorm for the cover of Fantastische Wirklichkeiten (Fantastic Realities), edited by Jörg Weigand
Hubert Schweizer for the cover of exodus 43, edited by René Moreau, Heinz Wipperfürth and Hans Jürgen Kugler
Michael Vogt for the cover of Macht und Wort (Power and Word), edited by René Moreau and Hans Jürgen Kugler
Michael Vogt for the cover of phantastisch 82, edited by Klaus Bollhöfener
BEST GERMAN LANGUAGE SF AUDIO DRAMA FIRST BROADCAST IN 2021
Dein haploides Herz (Your haploid Heart) by Martin Heindel, based on the story by James Tiptree Jr, broadcast by WDR
Das neue Vertrauen (The new trust) by Aline Bender and Alex Schaad, based on a short film by Alex and Dimitri Schaad, broadcast by BR
r_crusoeTMby Christian Wittmann and Georg Falk-Huber, broadcast by Deutschlandfunk
Der Untergang der Stadt Passau (The demise of the city of Passau) by Bernadette Sonnenbichler, based on a novel by Carl Amery, broadcast by BR
SPECIAL AWARD FOR ONE-TIME EXCEPTIONAL SERVICES IN THE FIELD OF SF 2021
René Moreau and Hans Jürgen Kugler for the anthology Macht und Wort (Power and Word)
Uli Bendick, Aiki Mira and Mario Franke for the anthology Am Anfang war das Bild (In the beginning, there was the image)
Monika Niehaus for the collection Geschichten aus Donnas Kaschemme (Stories from Donna’s disreputable bar)
Uli Bendick and Michael Tinnefeld for the anthology Diagnose F: Science Fiction trifft Psyche (Diagnosis F: Science fiction meets the psyche)
SPECIAL AWARD FOR LONG-TIME EXCEPTIONAL SERVICES IN THE FIELD OF SF 2021
Thomas Hofmann for 70 issues of the fanzine Neuer Stern (New Star) as well as his graphic work and support for fandom
Ralf P. Krämer for a lifetime of running SF-Clubs and organising cons, particularly Penta-Con
Franz Rottensteiner for a lifetime of editing, reviewing and writing essays about SF
Jörg Weigand for a lifetime of writing and editing SF and supporting young writers
[Thanks to Cora Buhlert for the story and the translations.]
Nancy Kress is the multiple-award winner of science fiction and the occasional fantasy. Her most recent works are the stand-alone novella Sea Change, about the genetic engineering of crops, and the space-opera The Eleventh Gate. Based in Seattle with, Nancy divides her time between writing and trying to train a very stubborn Chihuahua puppy.
Kim Stanley Robinson
Kim Stanley Robinson is a multi-award winner of science fiction probably best known for his Mars trilogy. His most recent novels are Red Moon and The Ministryfor the Future. He lives in Davis, California.
(2) JEMISIN’S STATEMENT. Following publication of the Vox article “How Twitter Can Ruin A Life”, based on an interview with Isabel Fall, author of “I Sexually Identify as an Attack Helicopter,” some of N. K. Jemisin’s tweets about the topic from 2020 (see the Wikipedia) have been criticized. Today Jemisin posted an explanatory “Statement on Isabel Fall comments” at her blog.
… The reporter also reached out to me while researching this article, because there’s been a lot of internet chatter about my involvement. I shared what I could with her (off the record), and since she let me know that she was in direct contact with Ms. Fall, I took the opportunity to send a private apology at that time. I had hesitated to do so publicly before this because I didn’t know if it would just bring more unwanted attention to Ms. Fall — but since we’re talking about all of this again, now seems like a good time….
Jemisin recaps in some detail what she was trying to say and what went wrong, followed by this short summary:
…I am deeply sorry that I contributed to Ms. Fall’s distress, and that I was not as thoughtful as I should have been in my response. Let me also apologize specifically to my trans and NB readers, some of whom caught flak because I RTed them, and others who may have been hurt or confused by what I said. I just should’ve done a better job of it.
By now I hope it’s clear that I never wanted to hurt Ms. Fall and was trying to offer support….
…Now a new FX TV series based on the franchise is in the works from Fargo showrunner Noah Hawley—who says it’s about time for the facehuggers and xenomorphs to sink their claws into the white-collar executives who have been responsible for sending so many employees to their doom.
In a conversation about the symbolism of season four of Fargo, Hawley also offered an update on the Alien series, as well as his new novel, Anthem. The show, however, will have to wait a little while, since the crush of new productions after the pandemic has consumed all of Hollywood’s resources. How appropriate….
…Vanity Fair:What’s next for you? Is there a season five in the works forFargo?
Noah Hawley: Yeah, I think so. I don’t have it yet. I have pieces that will have to survive. They’re not connected. I think it would be good to create an ending, and deliberately come to something, knowing it’s the last one and see how one might wrap up this anthology. What’s next for me, it looks like, is [an] Alien series for FX, taking on that franchise and those amazing films by Ridley Scott and James Cameron and David Fincher. Those are great monster movies, but they’re not just monster movies. They’re about humanity trapped between our primordial, parasitic past and our artificial intelligence future—and they’re both trying to kill us. Here you have human beings and they can’t go forward and they can’t go back. So I find that really interesting.
(4) SPEED READING. Cat Rambo will be part of the July 2 First Friday Quick Read Zoom event. It’s free – register at the link.
Join us for a lunchtime tasting menu of science fiction, fantasy, and horror stories written by women and non-binary authors. We’ll feature 6 authors who will each have 8 minutes to tempt and tantalizing you with their reading. Our readings are like Forrest Gump’s box of chocolates – you never know what you’ll get!
(5) RADIO PLAY WINS KURD LAßWITZ AWARD. The radio play jury of Kurd Laßwitz Award has finished voting reports award trustee Udo Klotz. The winner is Der zweite Schlaf by Heinz Sommer.
The late 1970s to the mid-1980s, a period commonly referred to as the post-Mao cultural thaw, was a key transitional phase in the evolution of Chinese science fiction. This period served as a bridge between science-popularization science fiction of the 1950s and 1960s and New Wave Chinese science fiction from the 1990s into the twenty-first century. Chinese Science Fiction during the Post-Mao Cultural Thaw surveys the field of Chinese science fiction and its multimedia practice, analysing and assessing science fiction works by well-known writers such as Ye Yonglie, Zheng Wenguang, Tong Enzheng, and Xiao Jianheng, as well as the often-overlooked tech–science fiction writers of the post-Mao thaw.
Exploring the socio-political and cultural dynamics of science-related Chinese literature during this period, Hua Li combines close readings of original Chinese literary texts with literary analysis informed by scholarship on science fiction as a genre, Chinese literary history, and media studies. Li argues that this science fiction of the post-Mao thaw began its rise as a type of government-backed literature, yet it often stirred up controversy and received pushback as a contentious and boundary-breaking genre. Topically structured and interdisciplinary in scope, Chinese Science Fiction during the Post-Mao Cultural Thaw will appeal to both scholars and fans of science fiction.
The fourth and final installment of the Rebuild of Evangelion. Misato and her anti-Nerv group Wille arrive in Paris, a city now red from core-ization. Crew from the flagship Wunder land on a containment tower. They only have 720 seconds to restore the city. When a horde of Nerv Evas appear, Mari’s improved Eva Unit 8 must intercept. Meanwhile, Shinji, Asuka, and Rei wander around Japan.
(8) MARS IN CULTURE. “Exploring the Red Planet through History and Culture” with Nick Smith (past President of LASFS) will be hosted by the Pasadena Museum of History. This free virtual presentation* will be available for viewing Thursday, July 22 through Sunday, July 25. Sign up for email notification here.
The planet Mars has long been connected to humankind through religions, literature, and science. Join Nick Smith, guest curator of PMH’s 2018 exhibition Dreaming the Universe, to explore our fascination with Earth’s neighboring planet, and discover some of the many ways Mars is part of our culture.
This free virtual presentation* will be available for viewing Thursday, July 22 through Sunday, July 25. An email with the link to the presentation will be sent to all of our email subscribers on Thursday, July 22.
*Pre-recorded presentation from Spring ArtNight 2021.
…The ULS has acquired the papers of Linda D. Addison, the most decorated horror poet today with a total of six Bram Stoker literary awards. Addison became the first African American writer to win a Stoker in 2001 for her collection, Consumed, Reduced to Beautiful Grey Ashes and has also received the Lifetime Achievement (2018) and Mentor of the Year (2016) Awards from the Horror Writers Association as well as the title Grand Master from the Science Fiction and Fantasy Poetry Association (2020). Her poetry explores themes of race, gender, loss, struggle, hope, and the resiliency of humanity through a lyrical style that employs both traditional horror tropes of the supernatural as well as stark realism. Her archive will include drafts and manuscripts of her poetry as well as ephemera such as convention programs and awards which help demonstrate her impact on the genre. On her hopes that her archive will inspire others, she says:
“Having my writing journey from journals, through edits to final versions, become part of the University of Pittsburgh Horror Studies Collection is a dream, I never imagined, come true! To think that others, studying my process, could find value and inspiration will allow my work to safely exist past the length of my life, is an incredible blessing.”
The ULS has also acquired the papers of Kathe Koja, who is a true iconoclast whose works push boundaries, expand our conceptions of horror, and prove that horror is indeed a true literary genre. Her first novel, The Cipher (1991), won both a Bram Stoker Award and Locus Award and solidified her impact as a force within new horror. She employs a striking and unique prose style to explore themes of alienation and social isolation as well as transcendence, often through art. Her collection will include drafts, manuscripts, and notes from her novels and short stories. On her decision to establish her archive at the University of Pittsburgh, Koja said:
“A book is its writing as well as its words: the thoughts and notes and drafts and edits (and edits, and edits) that comprise the final text. To have all that making made available for scholars, readers, and fans of horror literature is a real boon, and I’m beyond delighted that my own horror novels will now be available this way.”
Lastly, the ULS has acquired the archives of the Horror Writers Association (HWA), the premiere professional organization for writers working in the genre. This collection, established by current HWA President John Palisano with support from former President Lisa Morton, documents the history of the organization through its newsletters, convention booklets and programs, and other published materials. Collectively, these materials illustrate the work of the HWA, as well as the community it has built. The HWA has been the main space for writers working within the genre to collect and collaborate since the late 1980s and has issued the Bram Stoker literary awards since 1987 at yearly conventions, such as the World Horror Convention and, since 2016, StokerCon.
(10) HUGO NOMINEE IS PLEASED. Best Professional Artist Hugo finalist Maurizio Manzieri tweeted –
It is somehow dreamlike to receive the official logo of my nomination for the Hugo Award directly from the organizing committee… here is one of the illustrations included in the Voter Packet: SEVEN OF INFINITIES by @aliettedb (@SubPress, 2020) pic.twitter.com/ODm94orMap
2003 – Eighteen years ago, Iain M. Banks’ only non-fiction book was published. It was Raw Spirit: In Search of The Perfect Dram. Of course he published it as Iain Banks as only his SF was under published under Iain M. Banks. It was his tour of the small whisky distilleries of Scotland in the small red sports coupe that he’d bought with the advance from the publisher who’d underwrote the entire affair on the word of Banks that it was a Great Idea. And being Banks about the Iraq War as well. As he says in his introduction, “After doing extensive research, I can definitely tell you that single malt whiskies are good to drink”. If you want to know more about this book, we reviewed it here at Green Man Review. And yes, it is available from the usual suspects.
(12) TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS.
[Compiled by Cat Eldridge.]
Born July 1, 1891 — Otis Adelbert Kline. Early pulp writer and and literary agent whose great claim to fame was a possibly apocryphal feud with fellow author Edgar Rice Burroughs, in which he supposedly raised the latter’s anger by producing close imitations of Burroughs’s Mars novels. Wollheim and Moskowitz believed in it having happened, Lupoff did not. (Died 1945.)
Born July 1, 1934 — Jean Marsh, 87. She was married to Jon Pertwee but it was before either involved in Dr. Who. She first appeared alongside The First Doctor in “The Crusade” as Lady Joanna, the sister of Richard I (The Lionheart). She returned later that year as companion Sara Kingdom in “The Daleks’ Master Plan”. And she’d return yet again during the time of the Seventh Doctor in “Battlefield” as Morgana Le Fay. She’s also in Unearthly Stranger Dark Places, Return to Oz, Willow as Queen Bavmorda and The Changeling. (CE)
Born July 1, 1935 — David Prowse. The physical embodiment of Darth Vader in the original Star Wars trilogy. Ok, it’s been a very long time since I saw Casino Royale but what was Frankenstein’s Creation doing there, the character he played in his first ever role? That he played that role in The Horror of Frankenstein and Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell, Hammer Films a few later surprises me not. He shows up in Gilliam’s Jabberwocky according to IMDB as Red Herring and Black Knights (and no I’ve no idea what that means). Finally he’s the executioner in The People That Time Forgot, a film that’s very loosely based off of several Burroughs novels. (Died 2020.)
Born July 1, 1952 — Dan Aykroyd, 69. Though best known as Dr. Raymond Stantz in the original Ghostbusters films (which he wrote with Harold Ramis), he actually shows up a year earlier in his first genre role in Twilight Zone: The Movie as Passenger / Ambulance Driver. He’s reprising his role in the recent Ghostbusters 2020.
Celebrated July 1, 1955 — Robbie the Robot. On this date in 1955, Robby the Robot was born. Or more properly constructed. Or so claims the studio, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, that would release Forbidden Planet, where he had his first screen appearance, on March 3, 1956 when the movie had its US premiere. He would go on to be in a number of series including Lost in Space twice plus on The Addams Family, The Man from U.N.C.L.E. twice, Twilight Zone (five appearances , mostly as toys) and Holmes & Yo-Yo to name but a few of his other appearances. His latest appearance was on The Big Bang Theory with other movie props in “The Misinterpretation Agitation” episode. He had a memorable appearance on The New Adventures of Wonder Woman where he was the Master of Ceremonies at one of our SF Cons!
Born July 1, 1962 — Andre Braugher, 59. He’s the voice of Darkseid in Superman/Batman: Apocalypse which is why he makes the Birthday list. If there’s ever proof that a great voice actor can make an animated role, this is it. It’s also a superb film. His other major genre role is as General George W. Mancheck in The Andromeda Strain series that originally aired on A&E.
Born July 1, 1964 — Charles Coleman Finlay, 57. The Traitor to the Crown series is his best known work. His first story, “Footnotes”, was published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction where many of his stories have since been published. Six years the editor of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, ending in February of this year.
Born July 1, 1981 — Genevieve Valentine, 40. Author of the superb Persona novel and also she scripted a Catwoman series, working with artists Garry Brown and David Messina. Her first novel, Mechanique: A tale of the Circus Tresaulti, won the Crawford Award for a first fantasy novel. She scripted a run of Xena: Warrior Princess, and scripted Batman & Robin Eternal as well.
(13) COMICS SECTION.
The Far Side shows a setback in dinosaur research.
(14) HUGOS FROM THE HAGUE. Fanac.org now hosts a video of the ConFiction (1990) Worldcon Hugo Ceremony.
This video, captured with a hand held camera, covers the Hugo Awards, as well as the Campbell Award for New Writers, and the fannish Big Heart and First Fandom awards. Many awards were accepted by designees for the recipients, and we see Anne McCaffrey and Jack Chalker among those accepting for others. There’s a bit of humor from Dave Langford, and appearances by the American Ambassador to the Netherlands, C. Howard Wilkins. The World Science Fiction Society Banner, first hung at NyCon II in 1956, makes its appearance, and the video ends with the traditional view of all the recipients on stage. The video was recorded by John Cramer, provided by Tom Whitmore and used with the permission of Kees van Toorn, Chairman of ConFiction.
Star Trek star William Shatner has taken to Twitter to trade blows with journalists who called him out for hosting a new show on the Kremlin’s notorious state-funded network, RT.
Earlier this week, the 90-year-old Canadian actor—known for taking on the legendary role Captain James Kirk in the Star Treksaga—announced he would be hosting a new general talk show on the American branch of RT called “I Don’t Understand,” where he’ll be posing questions to guests on a variety topics. The show is set to debut later this month.
Alexey Kovalev, an investigative editor for Meduza—one of the most popular independent Russian-language news outlets—had some choice words for Shatner on his work with the network.
“Quick reminder about [RT’s] views and editorial policies @WilliamShatner is now endorsing (whether he wants to or not),” he tweeted on Thursday, linking to a thread that ends with “Don’t go on RT, unless you are okay with sharing a mic with some of the most vile racist degenerates out there. It’s not a legitimate media platform. It has no redeeming qualities. And if no other platform will have you, then you really shouldn’t have *any* platform.”
Those comments seem to have hit a nerve with Shatner, who wrote back, “Perhaps instead of rebuking me with facts that have zero influence on my show, a better use of your time would be to move? It seems that you being in Moscow means you are directly supporting the very regime you are berating me about. #hypocrite.”…
(16) POE’S SCIENCE REPORTING. Daniel Engber reviews John Tesch’s Poe biography The Reason for the Darkness of the Night: Edgar Allan Poe and the Forging of American Sciencein “Edgar Allan Poe’s Other Obsession” at The Atlantic.
…By 1840, Poe was working at a men’s magazine, where he launched a feature called “A Chapter on Science and Art,” consisting of the sorts of squibs on innovation later found in Popular Mechanics. (“A gentleman of Liverpool announces that he has invented a new engine,” one entry started.) With this column, Tresch suggests, “Poe made himself one of America’s first science reporters.” He also made himself one of America’s first popular skeptics—a puzzle master and a debunker, in the vein of Martin Gardner. Poe wrote a column on riddles and enigmas, and he made a gleeful habit of exposing pseudoscience quacks….
The U.S. Navy pulled the plug, for now, on a futuristic weapon that fires projectiles at up to seven times the speed of sound using electricity.
The Navy spent more than a decade developing the electromagnetic railgun and once considered putting them on the stealthy new Zumwalt-class destroyers built at Maine’s Bath Iron Works.
But the Defense Department is turning its attention to hypersonic missiles to keep up with China and Russia, and the Navy cut funding for railgun research from its latest budget proposal.
“The railgun is, for the moment, dead,” said Matthew Caris, a defense analyst at Avascent Group, a consulting firm.
(18) PUNCH, BROTHERS, PUNCH WITH CARE. At the link, another fabulous Middle-Earth transit map, from 2018 – “One does not simply walk into Mordor” by artist Christian Tate.
Middle Earth map commissioned for Empire Magazine plotting the journeys of Tolkien’s key characters through Peter Jackson’s six films of The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings trilogies.
…Rembrandt Films had purchased film rights to produce a film by 1967, but a Hollywood feature-length deal fell apart. According to the Wikipedia page, the film was produced cheaply and quickly–Mythmoot lore places it at 7-10 days–and premiered on the last day that the contract, paying people to see the film. Having fulfilled the contract, they were able to return rights to Tolkien, opening possibilities for future adaptations, including the 1977 animation (which I call “the cute Hobbit” in my mind), and the trilogy epic of the fairy tale in the early 2010s by Peter Jackson, which some may have heard about….
[Thanks to Mike Kennedy, Andrew Porter, Martin Morse Wooster, Shao Ping, N., Tom Becker, Daniel Dern, JJ, Michael Toman, John King Tarpinian, and Cat Eldridge for some of these stories. Title credit belongs to contributing editor of the day Jon Meltzer.]
The winners of the 2021 Kurd Laßwitz Preis for German-language science fiction have been announced.
For 40 years, the authors, translators, editors, publishers, graphic artists and journalists working professionally in SF genre in Germany, Austria and Switzerland have been voting on the best new releases from the previous year.
The award ceremony will be at the 12th Penta-Con, taking place in Dresden the first week of November.
Award Trustee Udo Klotz reports that the point tally was based on 421 nominations from 66 voters, as well as the 241 reviews and comments from the pre-selection committee. The resulting 72 nominations were sent to over 230 voters, of whom 92 took part, submitting a total of 1,164 votes (up to five nominations can be rated 5-4-3-2-1 points per category).
In the translation category, a jury of ten translators and editors acted, while in the radio play category, the jurors (radio play directors, radio play authors and radio play experts) are still working and their choice will be announced later.
NOTE: The table was prepared by the Award Trustee, and has a few formatting errors I don’t know how to fix.
BEST GERMAN SF-NOVEL FIRST PUBLISHED IN 2020
68 people voted in this category
Award winner
Points
Andreas Eschbach, Eines Menschen FlügelLübbe
118
Nominees
2
Tom Hillenbrand, Qube (Aus der Welt der Hologrammatica, vol. 2) Kiepenheuer & Witsch
109
3
Gabriele Behrend, Salzgras & Lavendel p.machinery
88
4
Uwe Post, E-Tot Polarise
78
5
Michael Marrak, Anima ex Machina (2nd novel of Kanon series) Edition Mono / Monochrom
74
6
Zoë Beck, Paradise City Suhrkamp
70
7
Heribert Kurth, Unter den Sternen von Tha p.machinery
63
8
Marc-Uwe Kling, QualityLand 2.0 Ullstein
54
9
Christoph Dittert, Fallender Stern Piper
48
10
Sameena Jehanzeb, Was Preema nicht weiß self published
36
11
No award – I consider none of the nominations in this category to be worthy of an award
0
BESTE GERMAN SF-STORY FIRST PUBLISHED IN 2020
64 people voted in this category
Award winner
Points
Angela and Karlheinz Steinmüller, Marslandschaften in: René Moreau, Olaf Kemmler and Heinz Wipperfürth (ed.): Exodus 41, Exodus Selbstverlag and in: Angela and Karlheinz Steinmüller: Marslandschaften, Memoranda
101
Nominees
Points
2
Heidrun Jänchen, Mietnomaden in: René Moreau and Hans Jürgen Kugler (ed.): Der grüne Planet – Zukunft im Klimawandel, Hirnkost
87
3
Christian Endres, Der Klang sich lichtenden Nebels in: René Moreau and Hans Jürgen Kugler (ed.): Der grüne Planet – Zukunft im Klimawandel, Hirnkost
80
4
Gabriele Behrend, Meerwasser in: Sylvana Freiberg and Ralf Zacharias (ed.): Unsere Freunde von ? Eridani, Begedia
68
5
Uwe Post, Terra Halbpension in: Sylvana Freiberg and Ralf Zacharias (ed.): Unsere Freunde von ? Eridani, Begedia
54
6
Hans Jürgen Kugler, Die Insulaner in: René Moreau and Hans Jürgen Kugler (ed.): Pandemie – Geschichten zur Zeitenwende, Hirnkost
52
7
Michael Marrak, Insomnia in: Michael Marrak: Das Haus Lazarus, Memoranda
50
8
Kai Focke, Gastropoda galactica in: Ellen Norten (ed.): Das Alien tanzt Walzer, p.machinery
46
[TIE for 8]Frank Lauenroth, Delter in: Sylvana Freiberg and Ralf Zacharias (ed.): Unsere Freunde von ? Eridani, Begedia
46
10
Thorsten Küper, Unsere Freunde von ? Eridani in: Sylvana Freiberg and Ralf Zacharias (ed.): Unsere Freunde von ? Eridani, Begedia
39
11
Carsten Schmitt, Wagners Stimme in: Klaus N. Frick (ed.): Wie künstlich ist Intelligenz?, Plan9
38
12
Galax Acheronian, Verloren auf Firr’Dars in: Galax Acheronian (ed.): Hyper Orbis, Verlag für Moderne Phantastik
30
[TIE FOR 12] Axel Kruse, Grassoden in: Peggy Weber-Gehrke (ed.): 2101 – Was aus uns wurde, Verlag für Moderne Phantastik
30
14
Christian Künne, Friedensfahrt in: Peggy Weber-Gehrke (ed.): Rebellion in Sirius City, Verlag für Moderne Phantastik
11
15
No award – I consider none of the nominations in this category to be worthy of an award
0
BEST NON-GERMAN SF WORK TRANSLATED FIRST TIME IN 2020
56 people voted in this category
Award winner
Points
Simon Stålenhag, Tales from the Loop (Ur Varselklotet) Fischer Tor
67
Nominees
Points
2
Stephen Baxter, Artefakt (Destroyer) (Sternenpforte, Band 1)Heyne
64
[TIE FOR 2] Tade Thompson, Rosewater (Rosewater) (Wormwood, Band 1)Golkonda
64
4
William Gibson, Agency (Agency) (Jackpot, Band 2)Klett-Cotta Tropen
62
5
Basma Abdel Aziz, Das Tor (???????) Heyne
58
6
Zack Jordan, Last Human – Allein gegen die Galaxis (The Last Human) Heyne
48
7
Jodi Taylor, Miss Maxwells chaotischer Zeitkompass (Symphony of Echoes) (Die Chroniken von St. Mary’s, vol. 2)Blanvalet
45
8
Baoshu, Großes steht bevor (???) in: Ken Liu (ed.): Zerbrochene Sterne, Heyne
Agustina Bazterrica, Wie die Schweine (Cadáver exquisito) Suhrkamp
34
11
David Wellington, Die letzte Astronautin (The Last Astronaut) Piper
33
12
James S.A. Corey [= Daniel Abraham & Ty Franck], Tiamats Zorn (Tiamat’s Wrath) (The Expanse, vol. 8)Heyne
25
13
Christopher Paolini, Infinitum – Die Ewigkeit der Sterne (To Sleep in a Sea of Stars) Knaur
23
14
Dennis E. Taylor, Die Singularitätsfalle (The Singularity Trap) Heyne
14
15
John Marrs, The Passengers – Du entscheidest über Leben and Tod (The Passengers) Heyne
9
16
No award – I consider none of the nominations in this category to be worthy of an award
0
BEST TRANSLATION OF SF INTO GERMAN, FIRST PUBLISHED IN 2020
Eleven nominated translations out of twelve were selected in consultation with the pre-selection committee (one was published in 2019 and rejected) and were provided to the translation jury (ten translators and proofreaders) as comparable excerpts of original and translated text.
Award winner
Points
Susanne Gerold for the translation of N.K. Jemisin, Die große Stille (The Broken Earth) [3 volumes] Knaur
76
Nominees
Points
2
Eva Kemper for the translation of Katie Hale, Mein Name ist Monster (My Name is Monster) S.Fischer
69
[TIE FOR 3]Jürgen Langowski for the translation of Zack Jordan, Last Human – Allein gegen die Galaxis (The Last Human) Heyne
69
[TIE FOR 3]Jakob Schmidt for the translation of Tade Thompson, Rosewater (Rosewater) (Wormwood, Band 1)Golkonda
69
5
Henning Ahrens for the translation of Kira Jane Buxton, Hollow Kingdom – Das Jahr der Krähe (Hollow Kingdom) Fischer Tor
67
6
Pia Biundo for the translation of Vlad Hernández, Nemesis (Nemesis) in: René Moreau and Hans Jürgen Kugler (ed.)Pandemie – Geschichten zur Zeitenwende Hirnkost
60
7
Larissa Bender for the translation of Basma Abdel Aziz, Das Tor (???????) Heyne
58
8
Jakob Schmidt for the new translation of Frank Herbert, Die Kinder des Wüstenplaneten (Children of Dune) (Der Wüstenplanet, Band 3)Heyne
56
9
Pia Biundo for the translation of Vlad Hernández, Lebensstationen eines Idealisten (13 instantes de un paradigma) in: c’t 25/2020 Heise
55
[TIE FOR 9] Stefan Pluschkat for the translation of Simon Stålenhag, Tales from the Loop (Ur Varselklotet) Fischer Tor
55
11
Oliver Hoffmann for the translation of Tanya Huff, Im Dienst der Föderation (Valor’s Choice) (Confederation of Valor, Band 1)Plan9
34
12
No award – I consider none of the nominations in this category to be worthy of an award
0
BEST SF ART (COVER, ILLUSTRATION) RELATED TO A GERMAN EDITION IN 2020
80 people voted in this category
Award winner
Points
Meike Schultchen for the cover of René Moreau and Michael Vogt (ed.): Cozmic 2 Atlantis
142
Nominees
2
Dirk Berger for the cover of René Moreau, Olaf Kemmler and Heinz Wipperfürth (ed.): Exodus 40 Exodus Selbstverlag
140
3
Jan Hoffmann for the cover of Klaus Bollhöfener (ed.): phantastisch! 79 Atlantis
132
4
Uli Bendick for the cover and inside illustrations of René Moreau and Hans Jürgen Kugler (ed.): Der grüne Planet – Zukunft im Klimawandel Hirnkost
130
5
Michael Vogt for the cover of René Moreau and Hans Jürgen Kugler (ed.): Pandemie – Geschichten zur Zeitenwende Hirnkost
95
6
Arndt Drechsler for the cover of Galax Acheronian (ed.): Hyper Orbis Verlag für Moderne Phantastik
92
7
Lothar Bauer for the cover of Michael K. Iwoleit and Michael Haitel (ed.): Nova 29 p.machinery
91
8
Lothar Bauer for the cover of Ellen Norten (ed.): Das Alien tanzt Walzer p.machinery
67
9
No award – I consider none of the nominations in this category to be worthy of an award
10
BEST GERMAN SF RADIO PLAY FIRST BROADCASTED IN 2020
In consultation with the radio play jury, three were selected from six nominations for five radio plays and provided to the radio play jury (radio play authors, directors and radio play experts). The evaluation is still ongoing.
Cassandra Rising by Martin Heindel Director: Martin Heindel,Composer: Ralf Haarmann, Production: WDR
Heaven Line – Traumstadt wird zur Todesfalle by Bodo Traber Director: Bodo Traber, Dramaturgy: Natalie Szallies, Production: WDR
Der zweite Schlaf by Heinz Sommer based on the novel of Robert Harris Director: Leonhard Koppelmann, Production: HR
SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARD FOR ACTUAL SF ACTIVITIES IN 2020
76 people voted in this category
Award winner
Points
Hans Frey for the first two volumes of his history of German Science Fiction, Fortschritt and Fiasko and Aufbruch in den Abgrund
211
Nominees
2
René Moreau and Hans Jürgen Kugler for the edition of Der grüne Planet – Zukunft im Klimawandel and Pandemie – Geschichten zur Zeitenwende
178
3
Torben Kuhlmann for the illustrated book Einstein – Die fantastische Reise einer Maus durch Raum and Zeit
102
4
No award – I consider none of the nominations in this category to be worthy of an award
30
SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARD 2020 FOR LONG TERM ACTIVITIES
81 people voted in this category
Award winner
Points
Freundeskreis Science Fiction Leipzig e.V. for continuous organisation of ElsterCons, even during pandemic times
156
Nominees
2
Hardy Kettlitz for Memoranda Verlag
154
3
Science Fiction Club Deutschland e.V. for promoting SF literature for 65 years
137
4
Dieter von Reeken for his services to classic German SF and the history of German SF
115
5
Jörg Weigand for his tireless support also of young authors
103
6
Rico Gehrke and Peggy Weber-Gehrke for supporting the SF short story through the anthologies in their Verlag für Moderne Phantastik
84
7
Ralf Peter Krämer for 50 years of engagement in the fandom from Stanislaw-Lem-Klub till Penta-Con
74
8
Christina Hacker and the Team of PRFZ club magazine SOL for their unpaid work full of energy and enthusiasm on the occasion of the 100th edition
72
9
No award – I consider none of the nominations in this category to be worthy of an award
The finalists for the 2021 Kurd Laßwitz Preis were announced on March 30. The award, named after German author Kurd Laßwitz, is given to works written in or translated into the German language and published during the previous year.
The German language editions of Stephen Baxter’s World Engines: Destroyer, James S. A. Corey’s Tiamat’s Wrath, William Gibson’s Agency, Christopher Paolini’s To Sleep in a Sea of Stars, Simon Stålenhag’s Tales from the Loop, and Tade Thompson’s Rosewater are some of the finalists for Best Foreign Novel.
And in the Best Translation category, the translators of N.K. Jemisin’s Broken Earth Trilogy, Simon Stålenhag’s Tales from the Loop, and Tade Thompson’s Rosewater are among the nominees.
Voting is open until May 31. The award ceremony will take place during PentaCon 12 on the first weekend in November in Dresden.
Best German language novel first published in 2020
Tom Hillenbrand: Qube (Aus der Welt der Hologrammatica 2) (Tor)
Sameena Jehanzeb: Was Preema nicht weiß
Marc-Uwe Kling: QualityLand 2.0 (Ullstein)
Heribert Kurth: Unter den Sternen von Tha (p.machinery)
Michael Marrak: Anima ex Machina (2. Novellenroman des Kanon-Zyklus) (Edition Mono/Monochrom)
Uwe Post: E-Tot (Polarize)
Best German language short fiction first published in 2020:
Galax Acheronian: “Verloren auf Firr’Dars” in Hyper Orbis (Verlag für Moderne Phantastik)
Gabriele Behrend: “Meerwasser” in Unsere Freunde von ? Eridani (Begedia)
Christian Endres: “Der Klang sich lichtenden Nebels” in Der grüne Planet – Zukunft im Klimawandel (Hirnkost)
Kai Focke: “Gastropoda galactica” in Das Alien tanzt Walzer (p.machinery)
Heidrun Jänchen: “Mietnomaden” in Der grüne Planet – Zukunft im Klimawandel (Hirnkost)
Axel Kruse: “Grassoden in “2101 – Was aus uns wurde (Verlag für Moderne Phantastik)
Hans Jürgen Kugler: “Die Insulaner” in Der grüne Planet – Zukunft im Klimawandel (Hirnkost)
Christian Künne: “Friedensfahrt” in Rebellion in Sirius City (Verlag für Moderne Phantastik)
Thorsten Küper: “Unsere Freunde von ? Eridani” in Unsere Freunde von ? Eridani (Begedia)
Frank Lauenroth: “Delter” in Unsere Freunde von ? Eridani (Begedia)
Michael Marrak: “Insomnia” in Das Haus Lazarus (Memoranda)
Uwe Post: “Terra Halbpension” in Unsere Freunde von ? Eridani (Begedia)
Carsten Schmitt: “Wagners Stimme” in Wie künstlich ist Intelligenz? (Plan9)
Angela und Karlheinz Steinmüller: “Marslandschaften” in Exodus 41 und in Marslandschaften (Memoranda)
Best foreign novel first published in German in 2020:
Basma Abdel Aziz: Das Tor (Heyne)
Baoshu: Großes steht bevor in Zerbrochene Sterne (Heyne)
Stephen Baxter: Artefakt (Sternenpforte 1) (Heyne)
Agustina Bazterrica: Wie die Schweine (Suhrkamp)
James S. A. Corey: Tiamats Zorn (The Expanse 8) (Heyne)
William Gibson: Agency (Jackpot 2) (Tropen)
Zack Jordan: Last Human – Allein gegen die Galaxis (Heyne)
John Marrs: The Passengers – Du entscheidest über Leben und Tod (Heyne)
Christopher Paolini: Infinitum – Die Ewigkeit der Sterne (Knaur)
Samanta Schweblin: Hundert Augen (Suhrkamp)
Simon Stålenhag: Tales from the Loop (Tor)
Dennis E. Taylor: Die Singularitätsfalle (Heyne)
Jodi Taylor: Miss Maxwells chaotischer Zeitkompass (Die Chroniken von St. Mary’s 2) (Blanvalet)
Tade Thompson: Rosewater (Wormwood 1) (Golkonda)
David Wellington: Die letzte Astronautin (Piper)
Best translation into German first published in 2020
Henning Ahrens for the translation of Kira Jane Buxton’s Hollow Kingdom – Das Jahr der Krähe (Tor)
Larissa Bender for the translation of Basma Abdel Aziz’ Das Tor (Heyne)
Pia Biundo for the translation of Vlad Hernández’ Nemesis in Pandemie – Geschichten zur Zeitenwende (Hirnkost)
Biundo for the translation of Vlad Hernández’ Lebensstationen eines Idealisten in c’t 25/2020 (heise)
Susanne Gerold for the translation of N.K. Jemisin’s Die große Stille (3 Bände) (Knaur)
Oliver Hoffmann for the translation of Tanya Huff’s Im Dienst der Föderation (Confederation of Valor 1) (Plan9)
Eva Kemper for the translation of Katie Hale’s Mein Name ist Monster (Fischer)
Jürgen Langowski for the translation of Zack Jordan’s Last Human – Allein gegen die Galaxis (Heyne)
Stefan Pluschkat for the translation of Simon Stålenhag’s Tales from the Loop (Ur Varselklotet) (Tor)
Jakob Schmidt for the new translaton of Frank Herbert’s Die Kinder des Wüstenplaneten” (Der Wüstenplanet 3) (Heyne)
Jakob Schmidt for the translation of Tade Thompson’s Rosewater” (Wormwood 1) (Golkonda)
Best cover art first published in 2020
Lothar Bauer for the cover of Nova 29 (p.machinery)
Lothar Bauer for the cover of Das Alien tanzt Walzer (p.machinery)
Uli Bendick for the cover and interior illustrations of Der grüne Planet – Zukunft im Klimawandel (Hirnkost)
Dirk Berger for the cover of Exodus 40
Arndt Drechsler for the cover of Hyper Orbis (Verlag für Moderne Phantastik)
Jan Hoffmann for the cover of phantastisch! 79 (Atlantis)
Meike Schultchen for the cover of Cozmic 2 (Atlantis)
Michael Vogt for the cover of Pandemie – Geschichten zur Zeitenwende (Hirnkost)
Best German language audio drama first broadcast in 2020:
“Cassandra Rising” by Martin Heindel (Director: Martin Heindel, Composition: Ralf Haarmann, Production: WDR)
“Heaven Line – Traumstadt wird zur Todesfalle” by Bodo Traber (Director: Bodo Traber, Dramaturgy: Natalie Szallies, Production: WDR)
“Der zweite Schlaf” von Heinz Sommer nach dem Roman von Robert Harris (Director: Leonhard Koppelmann, Production: HR)
Special award for one-time outstanding achievements in SF in 2020
Hans Frey for his non-fiction books on the history of German science fiction, Fortschritt und Fiasko and Aufbruch in den Abgrund
Torben Kuhlmann for his illustrated book Einstein – Die fantastische Reise einer Maus durch Raum und Zeit
René Moreau and Hans Jürgen Kugler for the Publication of the SF anthologies Der grüne Planet – Zukunft im Klimawandel and Pandemie – Geschichten zur Zeitenwende
Special award for longterm outstanding achievements in SF in 2020
Freundeskreis Science Fiction Leipzig e.V. for the continuous organization of the ElsterCon, even in times of a pandemic
Rico Gehrke und Peggy Weber-Gehrke for supporting the SF short story through the anthologies in their publishing house for modern fantasy
Christina Hacker and the team of the PRFZ member magazine ” SOL “for their unpaid work full of energy and enthusiasm on the occasion of the 100th edition
Hardy Kettlitt for his Memoranda Verlag
Ralf Peter Krämer for 50 years of involvement in fandom from Stanislaw Lem Club to the Penta-Con
Dieter von Reeken for his services to the classic German SF and the history of the German-speaking SF
Science Fiction Club Deutschland e.V. for the promotion of SF literature for 65 years
Jörg Weigand for his tireless support, including young authors
(1) FAN HISTORY PROJECT SPOTLIGHT. File 770 is late to pass on the great news, but last October Fanac.org’s Joe Siclari told everyone on his list “that we have received a request from the Library of Congress to archive our site.”
…From the letter: “The Library of Congress preserves important cultural artifacts and provides enduring access to them…The Library will make this collection available to researchers at Library facilities and by special arrangement.” They may later make it publicly available as well. We’ve all seen the loss of many websites that showcase the hard work and outstanding accomplishments of fans and historians in our field. This archiving request from the Library of Congress will ensure that the work we’ve been doing with your help will be available, even after the current class of fan historians has bit the dust. Color us ecstatic. We’ll let you know when the process has completed.
The Library of Congress gives an overview of its web archiving program here.
The Library of Congress Web Archive manages, preserves, and provides access to archived web content selected by subject experts from across the Library, so that it will be available for researchers today and in the future. Websites are ephemeral and often considered at-risk born-digital content. New websites form constantly, URLs change, content changes, and websites sometimes disappear entirely. Websites document current events, organizations, public reactions, government information, and cultural and scholarly information on a wide variety of topics. Materials that used to appear in print are increasingly published online.
(2) COMPLETING THE SET. The 2020 Kurd Laßwitz Preis (German SF Award) winners now have all been named following this late selection:
Best German language audio drama first broadcast in 2019
Unser Leben in den Wäldern by Marie Darrieussecq and Gerrit Booms, WDR
….in a new blog post on the official D&D website the development studio detailed what it has been doing to tackle the game’s own history of racist stereotyping, and what will be done going forward to ensure the game tastefully represents its fantasy world.
“Throughout the 50-year history of D&D, some of the peoples in the game—orcs and drow being two of the prime examples—have been characterized as monstrous and evil, using descriptions that are painfully reminiscent of how real-world ethnic groups have been and continue to be denigrated,” the new statement reads in part. “That’s just not right, and it’s not something we believe in. Despite our conscious efforts to the contrary, we have allowed some of those old descriptions to reappear in the game. We recognize that to live our values, we have to do an even better job in handling these issues. If we make mistakes, our priority is to make things right.”
Going forward, D&D will be making those things right with a six-point plan. Outside of the game itself, these include the use of sensitivity readers on upcoming and current Dungeons & Dragons sourcebooks as part of the creative process, and a commitment to “proactively seeking new, diverse talent to join our staff and our pool of freelance writers and artists,” a move already made for products set to release in the next year, but a policy being maintained going forward.
…From an editorial standpoint, the D&D team will also go back through material as it is being prepared for reprints, and update them to modify and remove any racially insensitive material. The adventures Tomb of Annihilation and The Curse of Strahd were cited as particular examples, with Curse of Strahd being called out specifically for its use of Romani sterotypes in the background of the Vistani, a nomadic group of travelers that primarily resided in Barovia before the death of Count Strahd von Zarovich. In the editorial process for Strahd’s reprint, as well as two upcoming products, Wizards worked with a Romani consultant to present the Vistani without using reductive tropes.
But some of the points delve into the game itself—for example, the aforementioned ongoing exploration and re-examination of Drow and Orcish cultures in the game’s fiction, beings that were long described as beastly and villainous by nature while also being approximations of non-white cultures….
…But whenever that happens, the public libraries that will emerge from this historic pause will be changed from the ones that closed their doors in March, librarians tell PW, both in the short term, and into the future.
The most pressing issue facing libraries, of course, is how to reopen safely, for both library staff and the public. For most libraries, that means services like curbside pickup or limits on patron visits to start. It means ensuring library workers have appropriate personal protective equipment, and reconfiguring the library space: less furniture, distance between computer stations, more hand sanitizer stations, spit guards, and plexiglass dividers. It means contactless checkout, new cleaning procedures, and 72-hour materials quarantines.
It also means enormous pressure on library staff, including new rules to enforce, such as physical distancing and wearing masks. None of it will be easy. And all of it will be done under the threat of job cuts, a potential second wave of Covid-19 infections, immense budget pressure, and worsening political dysfunction….
(5) NO SMOKING. During last autumn’s round of California wildfires, a Washington Post writer accompanied a salesman for treating houses with fire retardant on a visit to Dean Koontz’ estate. “California will never stop burning”.
…Thirty miles southwest of the 46 Fire, Dean Koontz, the megaselling novelist, was standing outside his enormous new home the morning after Halloween.
“We had friends who wouldn’t move to California because of earthquakes.”
Like other Californians, he has stood on a roof with a garden hose and a stance of defiance.
“They moved to the Gulf Coast and got hit by a hurricane.”
It costs a fortune to insure some homes in California. This is why Koontz invited Moseley and his team for a consultation about a defensive sprinkler system and his SPF3000 spray. Local authorities have challenged the effectiveness and safety of the product, but Moseley has testimonials from grateful clients and documentation of test results.
He also has his on-the-go demonstration. On Koontz’s front stoop, Moseley blowtorches one end of a piece of wood. It ignites, burns, starts to disintegrate. Then he torches the other side, which has been treated with SPF3000. It blackens but does not ignite. Then Moseley scrapes the charred veneer with a car key to reveal intact wood underneath….
“Impressive,” Koontz says. His Tuscan-style villa is in a gated community near Irvine. This is a place of Bentleys and catering trucks, and an air of invincibility. Koontz knows that nothing is invincible. If he were younger, maybe he’d move to a place that wasn’t quaking and conflagrating so much. Arizona, perhaps. But he loves it here.
“None of us live forever,” he says. “And you have to weigh the quality of life with the risk.”
….Born in Barcelona, Ruiz Zafón worked in advertising before he made his debut as an author in 1993 with young adult novel The Prince of Mist. In 2001, he published The Shadow of the Wind, which followed a boy called Daniel who is taken to the Cemetery of Lost Books in Barcelona and becomes fascinated by the author Julian Carax and the shadowy figure trying to eradicate every last copy of Carax’s books. The novel was translated into English by Lucia Graves in 2004, and became an international hit. “If you thought the true gothic novel died with the 19th century, this will change your mind,” said Stephen King in a review. “Shadow is the real deal, a novel full of cheesy splendour and creaking trapdoors, a novel where even the subplots have subplots.”
Ruiz Zafón, who moved to Los Angeles in the 1990s, and divided his time between Spain and the US, has said that while he had written “pretty successful” young adult novels for 10 years, with The Shadow of the Wind he “wanted to create something very special”.
“So what I did was take what for me is very important, which is take all the great ambition in all those 19th-century novels, but try to reconstruct those big novels – the Tolstoy, the Dickens, the Wilkie Collins – but try to reconstruct all of that with all the narrative elements that the 20th century has given us, from the grammar of cinema, from multimedia, from general fiction, from everything that is out there, to create a much more intense reading experience for the readers,” he said.
He followed the bestseller up with three more novels in the series, The Angel’s Game, The Prisoner of Heaven and The Labyrinth of Spirits. Completing the tetralogy, he told Spanish press in 2016 that he had “the feeling of the job done”….
(7) TODAY IN HISTORY.
June 19, 1964 — The Twilight Zone finale aired.
“A swimming pool not unlike any other pool, a structure built of tile and cement and money, a backyard toy for the affluent.” — Rod Serling in his opening narration to this episode.
The Twilight Zone series finale: “The Bewitchin’ Pool” was the thirty-sixth episode of the fifth and final season. Earl Hamner, Jr., got the idea for this episode while living in the San Fernando Valley region and witnessing an alarming divorce rate and the effect it had on children. The episode was one of the first shows on television to really address the problem of divorce and bad parenting, and in part it represents wish fulfillment for children in such situations. It was directed by Joseph M. Newman from the script by Earl Hamner, Jr.
It had an unusually large cast: Mary Badham as Sport Sharewood, June Foray as Sport Sharewood (voice, outdoor scenes), Kim Hector as Witt, Dee Hartford as Gloria Sharewood, Jeffrey Byron as Jeb Sharewood, Georgia Simmons as Aunt T and Tod Andrews as Gil Sharewood.
(8) TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS.
[Compiled by Cat Eldridge and John Hertz.]
Born June 19, 1824 – Henri Hildibrand. Wood engraver for Hetzel, who did so much good and bad for Verne; those editions were lavishly illustrated, anyhow. This cover for Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea is a composite of a Peter Gimbel photo and a de Neuville print Hildibrand engraved. Here is Aronnax studying the giant squid. Here is the underwater destroyed town (note de Neuville’s signature at lower left). (Died 1897) [JH]
Born June 19, 1872 – Sutton Griggs. Son of a slave; Baptist minister; active in the Nat’l Ass’n for the Advancement of Colored People; published and distributed his own books and pamphlets, thirty of them. Imperium in Imperio has a black nation hidden in Texas, outsold many contemporaries to whom he was invisible. (Died 1933) [JH]
Born June 19, 1881 – Maginel Enright. Younger sister of Frank Lloyd Wright (Maginel a contraction of Margaret Ellen). Illustrated Frank Baum’s Twinkle Tales, Policeman Bluejay, Juvenile Speaker; five dozen by others. See here and here and here. Memoir, The Valley of the God-Almighty Joneses. (Died 1966) [JH]
Born June 19, 1915 – Julius Schwartz. Co-published pioneer fanzine The Time Traveller. Helped organize NyCon I the first Worldcon. Co-founded Solar Sales Service, representing Bester, Bloch, Bradbury. In reviving or re-creating the Flash, Green Lantern, and like that, instrumental in opening Silver Age of Comics. Edited Batman, Superman, fifteen years each; dozens more. Memoir Man of Two Worlds subtitled “my life in science fiction and comics”; also he was active as fan and pro; also “Man of Two Worlds” was his creation Adam Strange – in whose stories Alanna’s father Sardath looked like him. Inkpot, Jack Kirby Hall of Fame, Will Eisner Hall of Fame. (Died 2004) [JH]
Born June 19, 1921 — Louis Jourdan. Fear No Evil and Ritual of Evil, two tv horror films in the late Sixties, appear to be his first venture into our realm. He’d play Count Dracula in, errr, Count Dracula a few years later. And then comes the role you most likely remember him for, Dr. Anton Arcane in Swamp Thing which he reprised in The Return of Swamp Thing. Definitely popcorn films at their very best. Oh and let’s not forget he was Kamal Khan, the villain in Octopussy! (Died 2015.) (CE)
Born June 19, 1926 — Josef Nesvadba.A Czech writer, best known in his SF short stories, many of which have appeared in English translation. ISFDB lists a number of stories as appearing in English and two collections of his translated stories were published, In The Footsteps of the Abominable Snowman: Stories of Science and Fantasy and Vampires Ltd.: Stories of Science and Fantasy. Neither’s available in digital format. (Died 2005.) (CE)
Born June 19, 1947 — Salman Rushdie, 73. Everything he does has some elements of magic realism in it. (Let the arguments begin on that statement.) So which of his novels are really genre? I’d say The Ground Beneath Her Feet, Grimus (his first and largely forgotten sf novel), Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights and Haroun and the Sea of Stories. If you’ve not read anything by him, I’d start with The Ground Beneath Her Feet which is by far both one of his best works and one of his most understandable ones as well. (CE)
Born June 19, 1949 – Marilyn Kaye. Taught twenty years at St. John’s University (New York), now lives in Paris. A hundred children’s and young-adult books, four dozen ours. In her Replica series, teenage Amy’s discovering she is a clone, genetically modified for superhuman abilities, is only the beginning. In her Gifted series, each in a small middle-school class has a superhuman ability; an outside group seeks to manipulate them and their abilities for profit; the students dislike their abilities and one another. [JH]
Born June 19, 1953 — Virginia Hey, 67. Best-remembered for her role as Pa’u Zotoh Zhaan in the fabulous Farscape series and playing the Warrior Woman in Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior. She’s also Rubavitch, the mistress of the KGB Head, General Pushkin, in The Living Daylights. She also had a brief appearance as a beautician in The Return of Captain Invincible, an Australian musical comedy superhero film. No, I’ve not seen it. (CE)
Born June 19, 1957 — Jean Rabe, 63. She’s a genre author and editor who has worked on the Dragonlance, Forgotten Realms, Rogue Angel and BattleTech series, as well as many others. Ok I admit to a degree of fascination with such writers as I’m a devotee of the Rogue Angel audiobooks that GraphicAudio does and she’s written according to ISFDB five of the source novels under the house name of Alex Archer. (CE)
June 19, 1963 – Aleksandar Žiljak. A dozen short stories; some covers and interiors, see here (his collection Blind Birds). Co-edited Ad Astra anthology of Croatian SF 1976-2006; co-edits literary SF journal Ubiq. Six SFera Awards: three for Best Story, two for Best Illustration, one (shared) for Ad Astra. The Wayback Machine has this interview. [JH]
Born June 19, 1978 — Zoe Saldana, 42, born with the lovely birth name of Zoë Yadira Saldaña Nazario. First genre role was Anamaria in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. She’s Nyota Uhura in the new Trek series, and she’s also Neytiri in the Avatar franchise. She portrays Gamora in the MCU, beginning with Guardians of the Galaxy, a truly great film though I’m less impressed with the second film by far. (CE)
(9) COMICS SECTION.
Cul de Sac’s Petey survives a post-apocalyptic world:
There’s a reason why Jack Kirby, co-creator of such iconic comics characters as the Fantastic Four, Black Panther, and Captain America, is called the “King of Comics.” Considered one of the great innovators in the history of American comics, Jack Kirby (1917-1994) is arguably the greatest superhero comic book artist of all time.
In the new graphic biography, Jack Kirby: The Epic Life of the King of Comics, comics artist and biographer Tom Scioli pays tribute to Kirby in a vividly illustrated and comprehensively researched examination of Kirby’s life and career from his rough and tumble childhood growing up on the Lower East Side of New York in the early 20th century to his military service in WWII to the transformative comics he created for Marvel and later for DC Comics….
(11) SACKY HACK. This is real thinking outside the box.
We are apparently replacing Confederate monuments with Mothman, so I propose replacing all genocidal explorer statues with what is, objectively, the single greatest sculpture of all time. https://t.co/kjJsORuvNV
(12) MARCH OF TIME. At the LA Review of Books, Aleida Rodriguez’s autobiographical essay “Time Machine”, in addition to Wells and Borges, even mentions Clyde Crashcup from the Rocky & Bullwinkle Show.
WHEN I LANDED in the US as a child of nine, I felt I had not only traveled in space but also in time. Though it was 1962, behind me lay a 19th-century world of oil lamps, muddy rutted roads, and horse-drawn carts, while before me flickered a vision so sleek and modern there were no shadows and bright-green lawns sprouted cones of mist.
Time traveler became my invisible identity. Secretly, I searched for mentors in movies like The Time Machine (1960), envying Rod Taylor his ability to go back and forth, to witness and control the passage of time. Propelled and buoyed by a utopian vision of the future, he set off, watching the rising hemline on a mannequin in a shop window, then the shop itself disintegrating to dust in an instant, the surrounding buildings crumbling and disappearing, replaced by insect-like cranes scampering on skyscrapers. His present had succumbed to shattered shards. But by moving a crystal-topped lever sharpened to a point like a pen, he could also reverse direction and return to his intact and cloistered world of waistcoats.
I yearned for that, a trip back — not to Bountiful but to a prelapsarian time, before the rupture in my family caused by the Cuban revolution….
A German-Russian space telescope has just acquired a breakthrough map of the sky that traces the heavens in X-rays.
The image records a lot of the violent action in the cosmos – instances where matter is being accelerated, heated and shredded.
Feasting black holes, exploding stars, and searingly hot gas.
The data comes from the eRosita instrument mounted on Spektr-RG.
This orbiting telescope was launched in July last year and despatched to an observing position some 1.5 million km from Earth. Once commissioned and declared fully operational in December, it was left to slowly rotate and scan the depths of space.
eRosita’s first all-sky data-set, represented in the image at the top of this page, was completed only last week. It records over a million sources of X-rays.
“That’s actually pretty much the same number as had been detected in the whole history of X-ray astronomy going back 60 years. We’ve basically doubled the known sources in just six months,” said Kirpal Nandra, who heads the high-energy astrophysics group at the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics (MPE) in Garching, Germany.
(14) QUARANTINE CAT FILM FESTIVAL. This looks promising!
The most purr-fect, a-meow-zing, and totally fur-tastic cat videos anyone has ever seen!
[Thanks to Darrah Chavey, Frank Olynyk, Mike Kennedy, Lise Andreasen, Martin Morse Wooster, John King Tarpinian, John Hertz, JJ, Cat Eldridge, Chip Hitchcock, Michael Toman, and Andrew Porter for some of these stories. Title credit goes to File 770 contributing editor of the day Kip Williams.]
