Wim Gijsen
Wim Gijsen (born August 20, 1933 in Zwolle ; † October 30, 1990 ) was a Dutch writer .
Life
Wim Gijsen was one of the most successful Dutch authors of modern science fiction and fantasy literature. Since childhood he has been anxious to become a writer, initially working in various jobs for publishers and was co-editor of the literary magazine Mastataf . He worked as a translator and produced educational radio programs. He was able to sell his first story in 1953 and thus start the longed-for career as an author. He turned to science fiction only in 1980.
Before that, he wrote prose, poetry, children's books and various works on meditation , vegetarianism and yoga before he published his first science fiction novel The First of Rissan in 1980 . In the following year the second part of the work followed under the title The Kings of Prehistoric Times . He also created another novel in two parts: Iskander the dream thief and The House of the Wolf .
Gijsen then wrote only fantasy novels until his death, with those of the Deirdre trilogy being the best known today.
A frequently recurring motif in his novels is a distant planet, on which people from Earth settled long ago, who over the centuries forgot their highly developed technology and live in a medieval society that is characterized by magic and superstition.
Famous works
The Rissan cycle
- 1980: The first from Rissan , original title: De Eersten Van Rissan
- 1981: The kings of the past , original title: De Koningen Van Weleer
In The First of Rissan , the city-state of Lhissey is ruled by a dictatorial priestly caste, which has divided the entire population into 5 castes, which they control with religious regulations and strict rules of conduct. The population of the medieval city does not know that the "seers" actually use modern technology to spy on the population and can therefore punish violated regulations immediately. Hirdan, the son of a craftsman, meets a stranger one day and briefly shows him the city, whereupon the suspicious council of the priest appoints Hirdan to a priestly student - and thus promises him a higher caste - if he continues to meet the stranger and the latter Communicating intentions to the Council. However, Hirdan, who is himself a caste opponent, rebels against the priests and flees Lhissey, together with the stranger, who as an archaeologist is not only interested in the culture of Lhissey, but above all wants to explore the old pyramid that is already there must have existed long before the first humans. The stranger confides in Hirdan that he not only comes from another planet, but that he is primarily interested in those "First of Rissan" - also called "The Kings of Ancient Times" - who must have populated the planet when they did first people arrived here - and which now seem to have disappeared without a trace and can only be found in legends and myths of the people of Rissan.
The dream thief cycle
- 1982: Iskander the dream thief , original title: Iskander de Dromendief
- 1983: The house of the wolf , original title: Het Huis van de Wolf
Iskander, a moderately gifted magician, wanders through the island kingdom of Albe and uses little tricks to keep himself afloat, with which he amazes the superstitious people. His only real gift is to penetrate other people's dreams and to change them. A high priestess turns to him and asks him to investigate the strange dreams of the heir to the throne of the island kingdom, which turn out to be extremely threatening to the mental health of the young noblewoman. Iskander quickly realizes, however, that the prince's dreams are more than mere nightmares. Behind everything seems to be a dark power: the wolf, a powerful magician from the western continent who wants to gain power over the island kingdom of Albe. After the wolf attacks the sacred island of Vale, the spiritual center of Albe, with a huge fleet, the time for war seems to have come. Iskander has to surpass himself to be able to face the overpowering opponent.
The Deirdre trilogy
- 1985: Tropics 1st part of the Deirdre trilogy, original title: Keerkringen .
- 1985: The sand rose. 2nd part of the Deirdre trilogy, original title: Bidahinne
- 1986: In the realm of sorceresses 3rd part of the Deirdre trilogy, original title: Lure
In a medieval male-dominated world, the poor young priestess Deirdre has to learn what it means to live as an outcast after she - following a vision of the impending death of her father - illegally leaves her monastery to go to the village to return to their birth. Her family rejects her and so she feels compelled to make a living as a dock worker in the nearby port town of Chelle. Through her monastery education, she is one of the few women who can read, write and do arithmetic, so it is not difficult for her to start her own trading company with the support of other poor women, which quickly proves to be quite successful. This is a thorn in the side of the local business people and one begins to intrigue against the young woman until she finds herself in court after a rebellion of the workers and is sentenced to a life as a temple prostitute. After a period of humiliation, however, she is ransomed by the abbess of a desert monastery far beyond the Sea of Lavender, who sees in Deirdre the prophecies heralded Bidahinne - the woman who has longed for peace with the distant kingdom of Lure, which is now only known to the desert monastery where powerful women reign whose weapons are more dangerous than those of the men of Deirdre's known world. An adventurous journey begins for Deirdre and the emissaries of the monastery, over the mountains, to a mysterious land that no one has set foot for millennia ...
Individual evidence
- ↑ Wolfgang Jeschke (Ed.): The Science Fiction Year 1992 . Heyne, Munich, ISBN 3-453-05379-6 , p. 123.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Gijsen, Wim |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Dutch writer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | August 20, 1933 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Zwolle |
| DATE OF DEATH | October 30, 1990 |