This entertaining anthology delivers great reading and an overview of German-language science fiction, including works by the “German father of science fiction” Kurd Lasswitz, the Austrian writer Ludwig Hevesi (author of “Jules Verne in Hell”), the fantasist Paul Scheerbart (a scurrilous, idiosyncratic writer who was an outsider in both literature and science fiction), popular writers Otto Willi Gail and Hans Dominik, as well as the contemporary luminaries of the genre: Wolfgang Jeschke, Herbert W. Franke, Andreas Eschbach, and Carl Amery. The introduction by the editor gives a succinct history of German language science fiction, including its representation in Hugo Gernsback’s popular magazines. With select bibliographies of German language science fiction and writings on German science fiction, this book will be appreciated by scholars and general readers alike.

Contents:

• THE PIONEERS: SCIENCE FICTION BEFORE WORLD WAR I
  • To the Absolute Zero of Existence (1871)by Kurd Lasswitz
  • Apoikis (1882)by Kurd Lasswitz
  • Jules Verne in Hell (1906) by Ludwig Hevesi
  • The Martian Spy (1908) by Carl Grunert
  • Malvu the Helmsman (1912) by Paul Scheerbart
• BETWEEN THE WORLD WARS
  • The Missing Clock Hands (1929) by Otto Willi Gail
  • Is the Earth Inhabited? (1931) by Egon Friedell
  • A Free Flight in 2222 (1934) by Hans Dominik
• GERMAN SCIENCE FICTION COMES INTO ITS OWN AFTER WORLD WAR II
  • Thought Control (1961) by Herbert W. Franke
  • Welcome Home (1961) by Herbert W. Franke
  • Meteorites (1961) by Herbert W. Franke
  • Say It With Flowers (1980) by Ernst Vlcek
  • Just One Summer (1985) by Carl Amery
  • The Age of Burning Mountains (1989) by Horst Pukallus
• SF FROM THE GERMAN DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC
  • A Visit to Parsimonia. A Scientific Report (1981) by Johanna and Günter Braun
  • The Black Mirror (1983) by Erik Simon
  • The Eye That Never Weeps (1984) by Angela and Karlheinz Steinmüller
• THE CURRENT GENERATION: FROM THE 1990S TO THE PRESENT
  • A Letter from the Other Side (1994) by Peter Schattschneider
  • Partners for Life (1996) by Wolfgang Jeschke
  • Astrosapiens (1998) by Michael Marrak
  • Project 38 or the Game of Small Causes (2003) by Thorsten Küper
  • Planck-Time (2004) by Michael K. Iwoleit
  • Hitler on the Campaign-Trail in America (2004) by Oliver Henkel
  • Habemus Papam (2005) by Helmuth W. Mommers
  • Mother’s Flowers (2008) by Andreas Eschbach