Laurin

by Wolfgang Hohlbein, Heike Hohlbein

Bei einem heftigen Erdbeben im alten Bergwerk werden Laurin und Dietrich vom Rest der Ausflugsgruppe getrennt und in einem Gang verschüttet; Geröll und Schutt machen den Rückweg binnen Sekunden unmöglich. Auf der Suche nach einem Ausgang geraten die Jugendlichen immer tiefer in die Eingeweide des Bergs. Alsbald entdecken sie merkwürdig leuchtende Steine, einen unterirdischen See und, tief im Bergesinneren, eine Stadt, in der Zwerge wie Sklaven gehalten werden. Rettung ist weit und breit nicht in Sicht. Doch seitdem sie die leuchtenden Steine berührt hat, geht eine seltsame Verwandlung mit Laurin vor. Sie entwickelt ungeahnte Kräfte und Fähigkeiten, weckt versteinerte und vertrocknete Pflanzen, bringt Leben und Farbe in die unterirdische Welt. Bald zeigt sich: Die abenteuerliche Reise durch die märchenhafte, bedrohliche Welt führt zu dem Geheimnis ihrer eigenen Herkunft.

Genres: Fantasy

400 pages, Hardcover

Published March 14, 2016

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

[Lisa A · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great like a fairytale dream.

[Kraszentia · Rating 1 out of 5]

Laurin is a fantasy story set in the depths beneath the earth – full of magic, dwarves, mysterious passages and strange creatures. On paper, it sounds like an exciting adventure, but when reading it, you unfortunately stumble across familiar clichés quite often. The characters sometimes seem like carbon copies: Laurin herself is brave, but her personality hardly comes to the fore, and her companion occasionally seems more like a sidekick from a fantasy construction kit.

The plot has some exciting moments, especially the underground locations are described atmospherically, but the story loses focus at times. Twists often seem predictable.

In short: for fans of classic youth fantasy, the book may be a nice pastime, but those expecting an original or profound adventure may emerge from the mine as disappointed as I did.

[Henne · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF nach 22 Seiten. Ich bin jetzt definitiv davon geheilt jemals wieder was von ihm lesen zu wollen.

[Elisa · Rating 1 out of 5]

abgebrochen....

[Elsa · Rating 3 out of 5]

so far the book is meh... not the best book by Hohlbein I've read...