Vilm (book series)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Vilm novels by Karsten Kruschel appeared from 2009 Wurdack-Verlag ; the first two volumes were awarded the German Science Fiction Prize in 2010 .

action

All volumes are episode novels that do not describe their story as usual in conventional novels, but rather in individual, more or less independent narratives, with the protagonists changing, but also repeatedly appearing as acting (secondary) characters.

The rain planet

The plot begins with the awakening of Eliza Simms, who wakes up after a series of mysterious incidents on the world cruiser Vilm van der Oosterbrijk to discover that the giant spaceship has crashed and of the elite leadership only she herself is still alive. The planet is unfriendly because it rains all the time. Because of Eliza's now useless privileges - like the other central officers, she was able to contact the ship's computer directly via a red line - she is attacked by the remaining survivors, mostly stranded settlers. All attempts to call for help fail because the technology is inadequate, only glider number seven penetrates briefly into orbit and sends out an emergency signal; then it crashes too, incapacitated by a computer virus. Shortly before her death, the seriously injured pilot saw strange dog-like creatures that she protected from scavengers.

The surviving settlers begin to exploit the wreckage of the world cruiser, but are threatened by the mechanisms that try to repair the spaceship and do not show any consideration for people. When Eliza Simms orders this program to stop via the red line , her implants are destroyed; her arm needs to be amputated.

The doctor Mechin fights against a puzzling disease that affects the children, but also somehow changes them, while some adults cannot physically and mentally endure the eternally rainy planet. As a result of the illness, however, the children enter into a symbiosis with the domestic faces (those dog-like beings who protected the pilot), and increasingly feel the rainy world more and more as their real home. They invent words for the many types of rain and discover that many of the plants on the rainy planet can be used as drugs. They also find out that the equator of the rainy planet is covered by a gigantic plant that extends around the planet.

The natives

The disappearance of the world cruiser Vilm van der Oosterbrijk did not go unnoticed, and in the space city ​​Atibon Legba only the lucky pilot Christoff is believed to be able to find the missing persons . In fact, he is catching that weak signal that was sent a long time ago by number seven , but has to pay bitterly for his luck because his body is slowly petrifying.

On Vilm, where the children are now exploring their dual nature, another power is now active, albeit in secret, the profit-driven Golden Brotherhood , which would rather kill its own people than be exposed, and also not shy away from deadly human experiments. When the stranded people are finally discovered, almost no one wants to be rescued, and the military presence of the troops from Atibon Legba almost leads to disaster. Only the bold intervention of the Popess saves the situation from which the Vilmer emerged stronger.

During an expedition into the underworld of the rainy planet, traversed by underground rivers, the wreckage of number seven is finally rediscovered and the computer virus in its memories, which can be traced back to the Golden Brotherhood . The assures the Vilmern of her support if they only keep quiet.

The thicket

Foreign powers interfere in the business relationship between the Vilmern and the Golden - the dark worlds of Uhabenorius as well as the criminal organizations of the space city ​​Atibon Legba . They are not only interested in the various drugs that thrive on the rainy planet, but above all in the huge plant that grows on the equator and spans the entire planet. Little by little, more and more curious and religious zealots come, who see their enemy, their savior or a biological supercomputer in the huge thicket, depending on their taste. A metal machine being aggressively penetrating the giant plant is rendered harmless just in time and with sacrifices, while the popes conduct their own research into their order of Leibowitzians and the Golden Brotherhood breaks up into competing factions based on their speculations. While Eliza Simms finds her private happiness in the end, the Vilmer create a place of pilgrimage for all the curious, which - apparently - answers all questions.

Prices

The first two volumes Vilm. The rain planet and Vilm. The natives were nominated for the Kurd-Laßwitz Prize as well as the German Science Fiction Prize , won the DSFP and took third place in the KLP. The internet portal phantastik-couch.de declared Vilm “Book of the Month”. The third novel Vilm. The thicket was also nominated for both prizes and came third in both.

expenditure

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Nominations for the Kurd-Laßwitz-Prize 2010
  2. ↑ Science Fiction Club Germany: DSFP 2010 - The winners and placements.
  3. ↑ KLP result 2010