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Perry Rhodan - English #10
The Ghosts of Gol
To an immortal being, exactly what is meant by the concept of "soon?"
Perry Rhodan took a risky time-trip, into the perilous past of the planet Ferrol. There he received another message from the unknown challenger. The message contained no clue as to how long it would be before Perry would have to submit to another test, to demonstrate his worthiness to be made immortal.
124 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1969
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75 people want to read
About the author
Kurt Mahr
520 books5 followersKurt Mahr was the pen name of Klaus Mahn (Klaus Otto Mahn), a German science fiction writer famous for his contributions to the Perry Rhodan franchise.
He was known among the writing staff as 'The Physicist', due to his original profession, which also allowed him to give a greater degree of scientific accuracy to his literary work.
He was killed in an accident in Florida in 1993, aged 59.
He was known among the writing staff as 'The Physicist', due to his original profession, which also allowed him to give a greater degree of scientific accuracy to his literary work.
He was killed in an accident in Florida in 1993, aged 59.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
July 18, 2020
It was nice to have a more techincal puzzle this time as the quest for the immortals continues, rather than random stuff for the mutants to do.
In fact, the mutants were very little used here... though of course what they did do was completely impossible to do without them. It was more a science puzzle dealing with hyper gravity.. which was fun, as were the energy monsters they found there.
The downside was a quite literally Deus ex Machina... again, which whisked them to the next adventure, but at least they had to throw a switch for it to happen.
In fact, the mutants were very little used here... though of course what they did do was completely impossible to do without them. It was more a science puzzle dealing with hyper gravity.. which was fun, as were the energy monsters they found there.
The downside was a quite literally Deus ex Machina... again, which whisked them to the next adventure, but at least they had to throw a switch for it to happen.
December 29, 2025
An average SiFi adventure series. Recommended
September 6, 2022
Next stop: Gol. The giant planet. Where the next riddle has to be solved. Not that I cared very much for this.
And the question is this: Did Scheer assign the weak plots to Mahr or is Mahr just the weaker writer. Probably a combination.
And the question is this: Did Scheer assign the weak plots to Mahr or is Mahr just the weaker writer. Probably a combination.
November 13, 2016
Following clues retrieved from the distant past, Perry Rhodan continues to search for the secret of immortality. Accordingly, the crew of Stardust II is searching a particular sector of the galaxy for structural anomalies. Soon, they discover a particular signal coming from a supergiant planet which is quickly dubbed Gol. Despite the misgivings of his Arkonide allies Khrest and Thora, Rhodan orders a landing. Once there, Rhodan and the others must brave the bizarre inhabitants and lethal environment of Gol to find the next clue left by the mysterious guardian of the secret.
The Perry Rhodan series has been published weekly since 1961 in Germany, with over 2800 novellas in the still-continuing original continuity, as well as numerous spin-offs. The first installment, written by series creators K.H. Scheer & Walter Ernsting, had the first moon landing happen in 1971. U.S. Space Force Major Perry Rhodan and his crew find a stranded alien spaceship captained by the impetuous beauty Thora, assisted by frail scientist Khrest. While Arkonide technology is eons ahead of Earth’s, their society has become stagnant and decadent, and it is soon arranged for a trade of alien science for the exploration assistance of the vital Earthlings.
Rhodan swiftly (but not entirely without opposition) unites Earth, and then leads it against an invasion of more hostile aliens. With that out of the way, he’s free to search for immortality. It’s not much of a spoiler to say that he eventually finds it and he and several of his allies become immune to aging, allowing for the vast timescale of the series.
This volume (which translates Issue #16 of the German edition) is part of the Ace Books reprint series which ran from 1969-1978, translated by Wendayne Ackerman and edited by her husband Forrest J. Ackerman. At this point the series was published monthly as a “bookazine”, with a film review column (this issue was First Spaceship on Venus) and letters section. Sadly, the vast majority of the series has never been officially translated into English.
Kurt Mahr (pen name of Klaus Otto Mahn) was trained as a physicist, which gives his technobabble a feeling of verisimilitude. It’s clear that he enjoyed trying to figure out what conditions might be like on a 900+ gravities planet and how the heck our heroes were going to get around on it. The inhabitants of Gol are energy beings who exist primarily in a higher dimension and provide a unique hazard to the three-dimensional humans.
This story is in the pulp SF tradition, heavy on the exciting things happening, light on characterization. Rhodan is very much the omni-competent hero, inventing a new branch of physics during one of the chapters to solve a technical problem. The person who shows the most personality is Thora, whose back and forth with Rhodan suggests that she’s sweet on him but not willing to admit it even to herself. There’s no overt sexism in the text, but the gender ratio of the crew is such that there are only two named women in a crew of at least one hundred.
There are several mutants with psychic powers in the crew of the Stardust II; the majority of them are Japanese (though I am dubious about the name Tanaka Seiko for a male characters.) It’s not made clear in this volume if this is due to the atom bombs giving that area extra radiation or just coincidence.
The novella concludes with a bit of a cliffhanger; Rhodan has succeeded in finding the next place to go, but the ship’s new location isn’t anywhere in known space and they have no idea how to get back.
While this is an exciting, fast-paced read, the series is hard to find, being decades out of print. Recommended primarily to fans of German science fiction of the old school.
The Perry Rhodan series has been published weekly since 1961 in Germany, with over 2800 novellas in the still-continuing original continuity, as well as numerous spin-offs. The first installment, written by series creators K.H. Scheer & Walter Ernsting, had the first moon landing happen in 1971. U.S. Space Force Major Perry Rhodan and his crew find a stranded alien spaceship captained by the impetuous beauty Thora, assisted by frail scientist Khrest. While Arkonide technology is eons ahead of Earth’s, their society has become stagnant and decadent, and it is soon arranged for a trade of alien science for the exploration assistance of the vital Earthlings.
Rhodan swiftly (but not entirely without opposition) unites Earth, and then leads it against an invasion of more hostile aliens. With that out of the way, he’s free to search for immortality. It’s not much of a spoiler to say that he eventually finds it and he and several of his allies become immune to aging, allowing for the vast timescale of the series.
This volume (which translates Issue #16 of the German edition) is part of the Ace Books reprint series which ran from 1969-1978, translated by Wendayne Ackerman and edited by her husband Forrest J. Ackerman. At this point the series was published monthly as a “bookazine”, with a film review column (this issue was First Spaceship on Venus) and letters section. Sadly, the vast majority of the series has never been officially translated into English.
Kurt Mahr (pen name of Klaus Otto Mahn) was trained as a physicist, which gives his technobabble a feeling of verisimilitude. It’s clear that he enjoyed trying to figure out what conditions might be like on a 900+ gravities planet and how the heck our heroes were going to get around on it. The inhabitants of Gol are energy beings who exist primarily in a higher dimension and provide a unique hazard to the three-dimensional humans.
This story is in the pulp SF tradition, heavy on the exciting things happening, light on characterization. Rhodan is very much the omni-competent hero, inventing a new branch of physics during one of the chapters to solve a technical problem. The person who shows the most personality is Thora, whose back and forth with Rhodan suggests that she’s sweet on him but not willing to admit it even to herself. There’s no overt sexism in the text, but the gender ratio of the crew is such that there are only two named women in a crew of at least one hundred.
There are several mutants with psychic powers in the crew of the Stardust II; the majority of them are Japanese (though I am dubious about the name Tanaka Seiko for a male characters.) It’s not made clear in this volume if this is due to the atom bombs giving that area extra radiation or just coincidence.
The novella concludes with a bit of a cliffhanger; Rhodan has succeeded in finding the next place to go, but the ship’s new location isn’t anywhere in known space and they have no idea how to get back.
While this is an exciting, fast-paced read, the series is hard to find, being decades out of print. Recommended primarily to fans of German science fiction of the old school.
April 6, 2023
The most disappointing of the Perry Rhodan series so far. While it did move the overall plot along nicely, the story contained just wasn't very good. That could be down to translation issues but this one felt like a slog to get through.
February 3, 2020
Hyper gravity and fifth dimension energy absorbers make for a good change of pace
January 14, 2014
Rhodan e os seus intrépidos seguidores prosseguem no desafio impossível de resolver os enigmas colocados pelos obscuros detentores do segredo da imortalidade no labiríntico périplo determinado como teste à coragem e inteligência dos que ousam partir em busca do conhecimento. Desta vez o foco do enigma é um planeta inóspito do sistema Vega, cuja atmosfera gelada oculta uma superfície de metano viscoso e uma irritante forma de vida baseada em energia com um pendor para sugar as baterias atómicas e se delicia como um gourmet a provar raras delícias com o poder dos raios desintegradores. O eternamente resiliente Rhodan enfrenta a atmosfera densa, a superfície mutável e os energéticos espectros para prosseguir no desvendar dos desafios milenares colocados por uma incompreensível entidade de sapiência infinita. Esta, há milénios atrás, criou um longo e elaborado enigma que só um grupo determinado, tecnologicamente avançado, corajoso e com poderes telepáticos e telequinéticos consegue resolver. Parece mesmo feito à medida para o intrépido Rhodan, os aliados arcónidas e os mutantes terrestres que sulcam a galáxia na nave Stardust II.
No interior de uma montanha de geometria perfeita, após atravessar a paisagem mutável que solidifica e se dissolve ao sabor das tempestades e enfrentar o vale dos fantasmas onde se congregam multidões de seres espectrais de energia pura Rhodan desvenda mais um pouco do grandioso enigma. Julgado digno de prosseguir, é teleportado junto com os companheiros e a portentosa nave para um sector desconhecido do espaço, talvez para lá da galáxia.
Kurt Mahr delicia-se a construir visões surreais de FC clássica onde a tecnologia futurista se dissolve em paisagens de abstracção onírica, rodeados de seres etéreos. A narrativa prossegue de acordo com os rigorosos planos editoriais da série, sendo mais um degrau na escalada de aventuras de Rhodan, mas nota-se que a mão deste autor se entretém a criar mundos de fantasia dentro do espartilho criativo imposto pelos editores. Note-se que desde o seu início que Perry Rhodan foi assumido como série comercial, firmemente estruturada pelos seus criadores que se iam revezando na escrita dos episódios sequenciais.
No interior de uma montanha de geometria perfeita, após atravessar a paisagem mutável que solidifica e se dissolve ao sabor das tempestades e enfrentar o vale dos fantasmas onde se congregam multidões de seres espectrais de energia pura Rhodan desvenda mais um pouco do grandioso enigma. Julgado digno de prosseguir, é teleportado junto com os companheiros e a portentosa nave para um sector desconhecido do espaço, talvez para lá da galáxia.
Kurt Mahr delicia-se a construir visões surreais de FC clássica onde a tecnologia futurista se dissolve em paisagens de abstracção onírica, rodeados de seres etéreos. A narrativa prossegue de acordo com os rigorosos planos editoriais da série, sendo mais um degrau na escalada de aventuras de Rhodan, mas nota-se que a mão deste autor se entretém a criar mundos de fantasia dentro do espartilho criativo imposto pelos editores. Note-se que desde o seu início que Perry Rhodan foi assumido como série comercial, firmemente estruturada pelos seus criadores que se iam revezando na escrita dos episódios sequenciais.
March 16, 2016
Another good entry in this series. Perry is continuing his search for the secret of eternal life and this time he has to visit one of the inhabited planets in the Vega system. Things get a little weird at times as one can expect from a planet whose atmosphere is mostly methane. In a sense the ending is a bit of a deus ex machina, but one probably can accept it given that nature of the storyline. We are left with a bit of a cliffhanger. Perry and Company have escaped the situation they were in but now don't know where they are or what precisely they have to do next. A good read, with some interesting concepts tossed in. It would be nice if these books could get re-issued and then the German originals that didn't get translated earlier published as well.
May 21, 2012
Biggest SF Series in History - English translations only got to 100 or so unfortunately
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews