Die Rückkehr der Zauberer

by Wolfgang Hohlbein

German

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, German Literature, Science Fiction

621 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1996

About the author

Wolfgang Hohlbein is a German author of science fiction, fantasy and horror fiction who lives near Neuss, North Rhine-Westphalia. His wife, Heike, is also a writer and often works with her husband. She often comes up with the story ideas and therefore is generally credited as co-author. Their daughter, Rebecca, is also a writer.

Writing short stories since age 15, Hohlbein was first recognized as an author after sending in a manuscript he and his wife had written at a fantasy and science fiction writing contest in 1982. They won and their book, Märchenmond (English title: "Magic Moon"), was published by Ueberreuter Publishing, soon becoming a bestseller and winning several awards. It is one of their greatest successes till today.

Many of his more than 200 books are translated and published in many European countries as well as in South Korea. Yet for many years none of his works had been translated into English. In 2006, Magic Moon was translated into English and published in the United States.

Reviews

[Boris Budeck · Rating 1 out of 5]

Bought it a few years ago when the author's name reminded me of earlier (and better) books of him (like Märchenmond). I stopped reading this one after the very first chapters. The writing is mediocre if not shallow, the story doesn't unfold at all, maybe you have to read the whole thing but that was too much effort. I really liked some of his more famous books from the eighties, but since then, it seems, he raised his output of books and lowered their quality (King effect).

[Gerdl · Rating 1 out of 5]

Worst book that I couldn't put away thinking that something amazing was going to happen all the time until the book finished...

[Novella_Romana · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nach meinem mittlerweile vierten Hohlbein-Roman ist mir klar, dass wir beide nicht zusammenkommen werden. Immer wieder habe ich mich durchgerungen einen neuen zu probieren, weil so viele von Hohlbein schwärmen und er gemeinhin als Paradeautor der Fantastik bekannt ist. Wieder einmal zeigt sich, dass die Mehrheit nicht automatisch Recht haben muss und nach einem vierten Hohlbein-Buch ist für mich jetzt endgültig Schluss.

Bei Hohlbeins Schreibstil (oder dem seiner Ghostwriter, weil ganz ehrlich, wer hat in diesem Alter so viele Bücher geschrieben??) ist der Name Programm. Platt, uneloquent und eben echt hohl. Ich möchte wirklich niemandem zu nahe treten, aber wer Literatur mit Anspruch sucht, ist bei Hohlbein einfach falsch und es ist vollkommen klar, warum das Fantasy-Genre durch Autoren wie ihn von so vielen Seiten belächelt wird.

Einzig die Story kriegt von mir einen zweiten Stern. Mehr aber auch nicht. Schablonenroman eben von einem Fastfood-Autor.

[Kakanier · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bestes Beispiel für Hohlbeins technische Brilianz. Es wäre nett, wenn er die immer durchhalten würde, denn in seinen Jugendromanen vermisst man die meist.