Indiana Jones en de erfenis van Avalon

Indiana Jones #8

by Wolfgang Hohlbein

Merkwürdige Zufälle: Vor Englands Küste wird ein U-Boot von einem uralten Nachen gerammt. In der Nähe von Liverpool wird ein Mann aufgegriffen, der einen unbekannten Dialekt spricht. Und nahe dem belgischen Gent arbeiten die deutschen Besatzer an einem äußerst merkwürdigen Geheimprojekt - einer mittelalterlichen Burg. Man schreibt das Jahr 1940, und Indiana Jones hat alle Hände voll zu tun: mit einem Professor auf der Flucht, mit Nazi-Knallchargen, die sich ihre Ohrfeigen redlich verdient haben, und einer blutjungen belgischen Widerstandskämpferin. Bis ihm dämmert worum es geht. Um das Schwert Excalibur - die legendäre Klinge König Arturs, die jetzt zum Henkerseisen werden soll.

Genres: Adventure

Unknown Binding

First published February 1, 1994

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

[Thibault Busschots · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s 1940. Professor Higgins receives a telegram. A man has been caught in Liverpool, speaking a rare old Welsh dialect and the professor is requested to translate. But then he gets attacked by four armed strangers. Luckily, Indiana Jones catches them in the act and fights them off. Indy’s worried and accompanies professor Higgins to Liverpool. Once there, the caught man claims to be the squire of Lancelot. Meanwhile the Germans are busy kidnapping actors and laying claim to their medieval props. They’re also building what seems like a medieval castle in Ghent, Belgium.


In the prologue, there’s a German submarine off the coast of England that gets invaded by a medieval knight. The knight’s swinging his sword while the Germans shoot at him. Just imagine that scene for a second. How cool is that? This story just immediately tries to hook you from the very first page and refuses to let go.


The plot of the Germans trying to conquer Great Britain by finding the legendary sword of Excalibur and the way they go about trying to find it is definitely a bit out there. But the plot is actually pretty good. At the very least better than you might expect it to be. And it does provide us with all the necessary ingredients for a proper Indiana Jones adventure, with outlandish mythology come to life and the occasional sprinkle of comedy. It’s also overflowing with over the top action scenes and dramatic excitement as the story takes place in the middle of the second world war.


Indiana Jones has a solid sidekick in the form of a female Belgian resistance fighter and I love that she’s quite capable in her own way. There’s also a really strong villain in the form of Belloq. Not the original from the Raiders of the Lost Ark but his twin brother. And this Belloq thinks Indiana Jones killed his brother. Indy doesn’t really bother trying to explain that he didn’t kill the original Belloq during the events of Raiders of the Lost Ark. But then again, considering the way he went, can you really blame him?


Most of this adventure takes place in Belgium. I’m from Belgium. And if there’s one thing you should know about Belgians: we love it when Belgium is mentioned. Like when a British politician says something nasty about Belgium. It’s the talk of the day, extensively covered on the news and on talk shows. That’s news we don’t just sniff up, we inhale it. The best example I can give you is Hugh Laurie. The actor once came to a Belgian talk show and they showed a clip of him on the Graham Norton show saying something rude about Belgians. Hugh’s face turned ashen and his eyes were frantically scanning for the nearest exit. But he shouldn’t have worried. The crowd wasn’t mad at him. The Belgian crowd started clapping and cheering. Hugh sat there, completely flabbergasted for a couple of seconds. The interviewer noticed Hugh’s stunned disbelief and later explained it to him: “they’re just so thrilled you mentioned Belgium.” Because that’s all there is to it really. We mostly don’t care if what’s said about us is good or bad, we’re just happy someone acknowledged our existence. Now, if you’re not from Belgium, doesn’t that break your heart just a little bit?


One thing that does strike me as a bit odd is that the Germans are building a medieval castle in Ghent in this story. Because there are still quite a lot of remnants of the middle ages in Ghent. One of which is the famous medieval castle The Gravensteen, located in the middle of the historic centre of the city.


This book definitely tries to recapture some of the magic from the Raiders of the Lost Ark, with some enjoyable references to and characters from the movie. And while I wouldn’t exactly put it on that level, it does make for a very entertaining romp that feels like a proper and solid Indiana Jones adventure.

[Belinda Vlasbaard · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 sterren- Nederlandse pocket

Naar minibieb van Belinda Groeneweg