Nikolai von Michalewsky

Nikolai von Michalewsky (born January 17, 1931 in Dahlewitz / Mark Brandenburg , † December 27, 2000 in Grasberg ), also known under the pseudonym Mark Brandis , was a German writer .

biography

Coming from a Russian aristocratic family, Michalewsky had an unsteady youth and worked, among other things, as a port worker, industrial policeman and employee of a coffee plantation in the Belgian Congo . He became a local reporter and war correspondent for a French news agency during the Algerian war. From the late 1950s he lived as a freelance writer in Grasberg near Bremen and also worked as a documentary film director (occasionally also for television). During his life he traveled a lot with his own sailing boats and often at sea for weeks. At times he lived in Bissee near Bruges (Holstein) and on Sardinia .

plant

He also made a name for himself as a documentary filmmaker. In addition to books for young people, he was particularly fond of radio plays: He was one of the busiest detective radio play authors in Germany.

He achieved the greatest public awareness in the 1970s and 1980s with the Mark Brandis series (name derived from the Mark Brandenburg ). In 1969 Herder-Verlag approached him with the request to write a science fiction series. This was a field with which he had little contact before. This is one reason for the series' scientific inaccuracies.

The series title »Weltraumpartisanen« and the design of the series were created under the leadership of the publisher and the editor Anton Baumeister. The renowned Swiss graphic artist Robert André designed the covers and ensured that the books were visually recognizable. The series takes place about 100 years in the future and describes Mark Brandis' adventure first as a test pilot, later as a commander of various spaceships.

Von Michalewsky's approach to treating problems of the present in the context of the future earned him a loyal readership. The series stood out from other science fiction series of the time mainly in that the focus was not on technology, but on people. Alongside Perry Rhodan, Mark Brandis became the most successful German-language SF children's book series. Nonetheless, the author's identity remained a secret for decades due to the pseudonym.

31 volumes were created between 1970 and 1987 and have also been translated into Dutch, Hungarian, Chinese, Danish and Portuguese. In July 2000, Nikolai von Michalewsky started a new Mark Brandis series called the Cosmons Saga . Her second volume, however, remained unfinished due to the author's death.

He also published under the pseudonyms Bo Anders , Victor Karelin and Nick Norden .

From October 2008 the series Weltraumpartisanen appeared as a new paperback edition by Wurdack-Verlag . Both the paper edition and a later e-book edition are now completely available.

bibliography

As Nikolai von Michalewsky

• The Dynamite Driver from Algiers (1958)
• Allah's Prodigal Sons (1959)
• Mortal Glory (1960)
• Man at the Volant (1960)
• ... and they all passed (1961)
• The Man from Another Country (1962)
• Torches in the Night (1963)
• Hell at Sea (1963)
• The Damned of the Desert (1964)
• Duel in Sicilian (1964)
• Chase in the Atlantic (1965)
• Hard Frontier (1965)
• The Secret of Santa Lucia (1966)
• The Last Ship (1966)
• Bandit Honor (1967)
• Goodbye Sun (1967)
• Fire Salamander (1968)
• Coral Hunter (1971)
• Winter storm ... in gusts thirteen (1975)
• Distress Signals (1980)
• Winner in White (1987)
• In Perilous Depths (1988)
• In the wake of death - Green order for "Fortuna" (1989)

As Mark Brandis

Space partisans

1. Log Delta VII: Alarm in Space (1970) ISBN 3-938065-39-7
2. Treason on Venus: Escape into Space (1971) ISBN 3-938065-41-9
3. Enterprise Delphin: Power Struggle for Space (1971) ISBN 3-938065-45-1
4. Rising of the Robots: Duel in Space (1972) ISBN 3-938065-48-6
5. Advance to Uranus: SOS in Space (1972) ISBN 3-938065-50-8
6. The Executors: Terror in Space (1973) ISBN 3-938065-52-4
7. Test file Kolibri: Experiments in Space (1973) ISBN 3-451-16574-0
8. Epsilon spacecraft: Mutiny in Space (1974) ISBN 3-451-16762-X
9. Salomon 76: Conspiracy in Space (1974) ISBN 3-938065-46-X
10. File number: Illegal: Manhunt in Space (1975) ISBN 3-938065-49-4
11. Operation Solar Freight: Race in Space (1975) ISBN 3-938065-51-6
12. Alarm for the Earth: Emergency in Space (1976) ISBN 3-938065-53-2
13. Countdown to Earth: Danger from Space (1976) ISBN 3-938065-57-5
14. Courier to Mars: Hunting in Space (1977) ISBN 3-938065-58-3
15. The Silent Bomb: Black Death in Space (1977) ISBN 3-938065-59-1
16. Pilgrim 2000: Hell in Space (1978) ISBN 3-938065-60-5
17. The Mirror Planet: Exploring Space (1978) ISBN 3-938065-65-6
18. Sirius Patrol: Cold War in Space (1979) ISBN 3-938065-66-4
19. Astropolis: Colony in Space (1980) ISBN 3-938065-67-2
20. Triton Passage: Shipwreck in Space (1981) ISBN 3-938065-68-0
21. Blind flight to the snake: Lost in space (1981) ISBN 3-938065-78-8
22. Space position Oberon: Black weeks in space (1982) ISBN 3-938065-79-6
23. Vargo Factor: Hole in Space (1982) ISBN 3-938065-81-8
24. Astronaut Sun: Wrong Play in Space (1983) ISBN 3-938065-82-6
25. Planet Action Z: Driven Hunt in Space (1983) ISBN 3-938065-87-7
26. Icarus, Icarus…: Wrong course in space (1984) ISBN 3-938065-88-5
27. PANDORA Incident: Temptation in Space (1984) ISBN 3-451-20272-7
28. Metropolis Convoy: Convoy in Space (1985) ISBN 3-451-20418-5
29. Zeitspule: Secret Archives in Space (1985) ISBN 3-451-20557-2
30. The Ice Man Conspiracy: Horror in Space (1986) ISBN 3-451-20645-5
31. Weathercock as a secret: Revolution in space (1987) ISBN 3-451-20942-X

Cosmon saga

1. Ambivalent Zone (2000)
2. Negative sector (unfinished, unpublished)

Special editions and edited volumes

• Spaceship Delta VII - contains the first four volumes (HC, 1973)
• Das Mark Brandis - Testbuch (1982, a compilation of reading samples from Volumes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 15, 16, 20, 21 and 22; TB)
• Departure to the Stars (1983, collection of short stories)
• Alarm in Space - Log Delta VII / Treason on Venus (1970/71, contains volumes 1 and 2)
• Duel in space - uprising of the robots / company Delphin (1971/72, contains volumes 4 and 3)
• SOS in Space - Advance to Uranus / Salomon 76 (1972/74, contains volumes 5 and 9)
• Experiments in space - Test files Kolibri / Die Vollstrecker (1973, contains volumes 7 and 6)
• Mutiny in Space - Epsilon spacecraft / file number Illegal (1974/75, contains volumes 8 and 10)
• Space Partisans (1986, contains volumes 1, 14, 16 and 21)
• Space Partisans - Log Delta VII / Treason on Venus (1998, contains volumes 1 and 2)
• Space Partisans - Company Delphin / Uprising of the Robots (1998, contains volumes 3 and 4)
• Space Partisans - Advance to Uranus / The Executors (1998, contains volumes 5 and 6)

New paperback collector's edition of the space partisans since October 2008

• Logbook Delta VII ISBN 978-3-938065-39-6 With a foreword by Reinhild von Michalewsky (author's widow).
• Treason on Venus ISBN 978-3-938065-41-9
• Company Delphin ISBN 978-3-938065-45-7
• Riot of the Robots ISBN 978-3-938065-48-8
• Advance to Uranus ISBN 978-3-938065-50-1
• Die Vollstrecker ISBN 978-3-938065-52-5 With the afterword Mark Brandis and his twin Nikolai von Michalewsky by Dr. Alexander Seibold.
• Test file Kolibri ISBN 978-3-938065-40-2 With a drawing of the prototype "Kolibri".
• Space probe Epsilon ISBN 978-3-938065-42-6 With an interview of the author by Carsten Kuhr (editor of http://www.phantastik-news.de/ ).
• Salomon 76 ISBN 978-3-938065-46-4 With an afterword by Ernst Wurdack (publisher), a biography and a complete list of all publications by the author.
• File number: Illegal ISBN 978-3-938065-49-5
• Operation Sonnenfracht ISBN 978-3-938065-51-8 With the afterword From the book to the radio play by Balthasar von Weymarn (author of the radio play).
• Alarm for the Earth ISBN 978-3-938065-53-2
• Countdown to the Earth ISBN 978-3-938065-57-0
• Courier to Mars ISBN 978-3-938065-58-7 With an afterword by Ulrich Blode.
• The silent bomb ISBN 978-3-938065-59-4
• Pilgrim 2000 ISBN 978-3-938065-60-0 With the epilogue More than just nostalgia? by Christel Scheja .
• Der Spiegelplanet ISBN 978-3-938065-65-5 With the afterword The dream of the tenth planet by Petra Hartmann .
• Sirius-Patrouille ISBN 978-3-938065-66-2 With the interview Between Reinhild and Ruth by Regina Schleheck with Reinhild von Michalewsky (author's widow).
• Astropolis ISBN 978-3-938065-67-9
• Triton passage ISBN 978-3-938065-68-6
• Blind flight to the snake ISBN 978-3-938065-78-5
• Room position Oberon ISBN 978-3-938065-79-2
• Vargo factor ISBN 978-3-938065-81-5
• Astronaut Sun ISBN 978-3-938065-82-2
• Planetaktion Z ISBN 978-3-938065-87-7
• Ikarus, Ikarus… ISBN 978-3-938065-88-4
• Pandora Incident ISBN 978-3-938065-90-7
• Metropolis convoy ISBN 978-3-938065-91-4
• Time coil ISBN 978-3-938065-95-2
• The Ice Man Conspiracy ISBN 978-3-938065-96-9

As Nick North

• Keyword P: Trial by Fire in Calcutta (1979)
• Password P: Last chance before Beirut (1979)
• Keyword P: Go and save Aswan (1980)
• Password P: No road to Wanjanga (1980)

As Bo Anders

• Omega 2 under the spell of Venus (1982)
• Omega 2 and the Planet of the Lost (1983)

Radio plays for ARD

• In the second instance (together with Edna Sherry) (RB 1963)
• Ed McBain: Black Wedding (radio play adaptation: Nikolai von Michalewsky) (RB 1965)
• Escape to the Front (RB 1966)
• Gallows period (RB 1967)
• The accomplice (RB 1971)
• Popps ground trace analysis (from the series "Detectives Without Weapons") (RB 1971)
• The water sample (RB 1971)
• The Defector (RB 1972)
• On your own (HR 1972)
• Clarke and the Cypress Trees (RB 1972)
• Taxi call (RB 1973)
• The matter was heard (RB 1973)
• The John Vollmann Case (RB 1974)
• The Fall (RB 1975)
• Island Peace (RB 1975)
• Duel in Sicilian (RB 1977)
• Blizzard (RB 1980)
• Pepin and the Explosives (RB 1982)
• Run towards the sun (RB 1982)
• Location determination (RB 1983)
• In the event of a picture failure - murder (WDR 1985)
• Me or You (WDR 1989)
• Password oracle (RB 1989)
• Farewell Waltz (WDR 1991)
• Guest performance in Venice (WDR 1993)
• Fishing trips (RB 1993)
• Laundry room (WDR 1998)
• Two voices in the storm (WDR 2000)
• Sardinian wind (BR 2002)

literature

• Hans Joachim Alpers , Werner Fuchs , Ronald M. Hahn : Reclam's science fiction guide. Reclam, Stuttgart 1982, ISBN 3-15-010312-6 , p. 60.
• Alexander Seibold: Memories of Mark Brandis. On the occasion of Nikolai von Michalewsky's 75th birthday. In: Sascha Mamczak , Wolfgang Jeschke (ed.): The Science Fiction Year 2006. Munich 2006, ISBN 978-3-453-52183-4 , pp. 657-671.
• Holger Eckhardt: Attack Height: Zero - An annotated bibliography. In: Nova 13 , 2009.

Web links

• Literature by and about Nikolai von Michalewsky in the catalog of the German National Library
• Nikolai von Michalewsky in the Internet Speculative Fiction Database (English)
• Works by and about Nikolai von Michalewsky at Open Library
• Works by and about Mark Brandis at Open Library
• Mark Brandis website
  • Wiki for the book and radio play series
• Website Nikolai von Michalewsky

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Biography on the writer's official website
2. ↑ Interview by Volker Niemeyer with NvM, quoted in "Delta 7" ( Memento of the original from April 3, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , October 1992 
3. ↑ cf. Magazine "fantastic!" ( ISSN  1616-8437 ) Issue # 28, p. 42 ff: "The Memoirs of Mark Brandis"
4. ↑ cf. Jeschke / Mamczak (ed.): "The Science Fiction Year 2006" ( ISBN 978-3-453-52183-4 ), p. 657 ff .: Essay "Memories of Mark Brandis"
5. ↑ Mark Brandis in Wurdack-Verlag , accessed January 22, 2014