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Perry Rhodan #57
Solar Assassins
Perry in Peril
"Kill Rhodan!" A faction of political fanatics on Earth has secretly organized to murder the Administrator of Terra.
A radical group known as the Nature Philosophers is no less determined to see him dead.
And when they band together--these mad would-be assassins, 30 to 40 strong and backed by 8,000 misguided supporters--Perry's life is truly imperiled.
Rhodan having outlawed the death penalty in the Solar Empire, a different kind of fate awaits the audacious killers and their cohorts who are dedicated to the death of the Peacelord.
You'll hold your breath as you see them in action, the Solar Assassins
"Kill Rhodan!" A faction of political fanatics on Earth has secretly organized to murder the Administrator of Terra.
A radical group known as the Nature Philosophers is no less determined to see him dead.
And when they band together--these mad would-be assassins, 30 to 40 strong and backed by 8,000 misguided supporters--Perry's life is truly imperiled.
Rhodan having outlawed the death penalty in the Solar Empire, a different kind of fate awaits the audacious killers and their cohorts who are dedicated to the death of the Peacelord.
You'll hold your breath as you see them in action, the Solar Assassins
151 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1972
About the author
Kurt Mahr
646 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 - 9 of 9 reviews
May 31, 2022
Öhm... Öh... WOW.
Also, man hört ja immer wieder so nebenher etwas von Faschismusvorwürfen gegen Perry Rhodan die die Serie ganz besonders in den 60ern begleitet haben sollen. Ein wenig konnte ich schon sehen woher die kamen, denn ein wenig autokratisch ist die Utopie ja schon. Aber da sie nicht umsonst als Reaktion zu einer, nun ja, einer ganz bestimmten Zeitperiode quasi als Gegenentwurf erdacht wurde, habe ich das entschuldigt. Aber hier wird die ganze Sache dann doch so konkret dass sie in ihrer Offenkundigkeit schon sehr erstaunlich ist. Rebellen wollen Rhodan zur Strecke bringen weil sie ihn als Autokraten und Diktator sehen (Bezeichnungen die man laut Definition nicht unbedingt von der Hand weisen kann), während die Rhodan-Brigade es verhindern will dass eben diese Leute ein (O-Ton des Textes) ein "demokratisches Regime" errichten.
Holla.
Da fragt man sich schon wie die Gesinnung der Autoren damals eigentlich so aussah. Höchst interessant, das.
Allerdings ist dies auch der einzig nennenswerte Punkt an diesem Heft, und der Attentat-Plot macht nur ca ein Drittel oder Viertel der Handlung aus. Der Rest ist Gefängnisinsassen-Geplänkel zwischen zwei Fraktionen die jeweils die Oberhand gewinnen wollen. Nicht aufregend, nicht spannend, nur existierender Text zum Durchlesen. Im "Trailer" wird angedroht dass dieser Handlungszweig zurückkehren wird. Uff, wenn's denn sein muß.
Also, man hört ja immer wieder so nebenher etwas von Faschismusvorwürfen gegen Perry Rhodan die die Serie ganz besonders in den 60ern begleitet haben sollen. Ein wenig konnte ich schon sehen woher die kamen, denn ein wenig autokratisch ist die Utopie ja schon. Aber da sie nicht umsonst als Reaktion zu einer, nun ja, einer ganz bestimmten Zeitperiode quasi als Gegenentwurf erdacht wurde, habe ich das entschuldigt. Aber hier wird die ganze Sache dann doch so konkret dass sie in ihrer Offenkundigkeit schon sehr erstaunlich ist. Rebellen wollen Rhodan zur Strecke bringen weil sie ihn als Autokraten und Diktator sehen (Bezeichnungen die man laut Definition nicht unbedingt von der Hand weisen kann), während die Rhodan-Brigade es verhindern will dass eben diese Leute ein (O-Ton des Textes) ein "demokratisches Regime" errichten.
Holla.
Da fragt man sich schon wie die Gesinnung der Autoren damals eigentlich so aussah. Höchst interessant, das.
Allerdings ist dies auch der einzig nennenswerte Punkt an diesem Heft, und der Attentat-Plot macht nur ca ein Drittel oder Viertel der Handlung aus. Der Rest ist Gefängnisinsassen-Geplänkel zwischen zwei Fraktionen die jeweils die Oberhand gewinnen wollen. Nicht aufregend, nicht spannend, nur existierender Text zum Durchlesen. Im "Trailer" wird angedroht dass dieser Handlungszweig zurückkehren wird. Uff, wenn's denn sein muß.
December 3, 2024
POH EY!
Was hat sich Kurt Mahr denn da bitte für ein Perry Rhodan zusammengesponnen?
Perry Rhodan "deportiert" politische Widersacher?
Wie passt das denn bitte zur Figur Perry Rhodan?
Ich bin echt ein bisschen verdattert, dass hier Rhodan wirklich faschistische Züge hat.
Es wird zackig ein Gesetz verabschiedet, dass erlaubt politische Gegner und "Asoziale" zu deportieren.
Geht echt gar nicht...
Das ist tatsächlich etwas, dass zwar nur am Anfang und am Ende eine Rolle spielt, aber hat mich schon hart genervt, weil es auch gar nicht zur Figur von Perry Rhodan passt, der sonst niemand Erschießen will, der seinen Gegner noch die Hand reicht etc. pp.
Schade drum Kurt Mahr läuft sonst erzählerisch hier zur Höchstform auf, es ist an sich ein schönes Gefangenenabenteuer mit Aufstand und so weiter und so fort.
Aber diese Menschenverachtende kackschei*e.
Sorry.
2,5
Was hat sich Kurt Mahr denn da bitte für ein Perry Rhodan zusammengesponnen?
Perry Rhodan "deportiert" politische Widersacher?
Wie passt das denn bitte zur Figur Perry Rhodan?
Ich bin echt ein bisschen verdattert, dass hier Rhodan wirklich faschistische Züge hat.
Es wird zackig ein Gesetz verabschiedet, dass erlaubt politische Gegner und "Asoziale" zu deportieren.
Geht echt gar nicht...
Das ist tatsächlich etwas, dass zwar nur am Anfang und am Ende eine Rolle spielt, aber hat mich schon hart genervt, weil es auch gar nicht zur Figur von Perry Rhodan passt, der sonst niemand Erschießen will, der seinen Gegner noch die Hand reicht etc. pp.
Schade drum Kurt Mahr läuft sonst erzählerisch hier zur Höchstform auf, es ist an sich ein schönes Gefangenenabenteuer mit Aufstand und so weiter und so fort.
Aber diese Menschenverachtende kackschei*e.
Sorry.
2,5
December 1, 2018
Horace O. Mullon is the chief of the "True Democrats" (also known as "the Anti-Social Free Settlers"), a small political group which regards Perry Rhodan as a dictator. He travels to Terrania where he makes the acquaintance of Fraudy Nicholson, a student in exobiology. At the hotel where he is staying, he is paralyzed by an intruder in his room, but when he awakens the next day, he finds that, while his personal belongings have been ransacked, nothing has been stolen. He meets again with Fraudy who recognizes the bluish tint of his cornea indicating that he has been given a drug, céphéidine. They both visit the city and Mullon expresses his wish to see Rhodan in person. He learns that Rhodan sometimes attends public discussions in the assembly.
While they sail in the evening on Goshun Lake, some unknowns attackers capture them after having attacked them with darts smeared with céphéidine. Their captor is Walter S. Hollander, chief of the "Nature Philosophers", another small political group. Hollander and Mullon end up becoming allies in their common objective, to kill Rhodan, but Mullon mistrusts his new ally who looks to take power for his own profit.
When Rhodan arrives at the public assembly, Mullon, Fraudy and Feable, another member of the "Nature Philosophers", are present. The two men create an explosion. However, Rhodan was in fact an android. The conspirators run away. Fraudy misleads them and they are soon captured by the Terran security forces.
Upon awakening, Mullon is brought to Rhodan who tells him that he has been under surveillance since his arrival in Terrania. Mullon learns that Fraudy works for the security services. The twenty thousand "True Democrats" and five thousand "Nature Philosophers" have been stopped. At the time of the judgment, most conspirators are freed on the basis of no grounds for prosecution but eight thousand are condemned to exile. They will be deported to the virgin world, Rigel III.
The ADVENTUROUS departs for Rigel III with the deportees. Fraudy falls in love with Mullon and joins him. They are married by a registrar. The groups of Hollander and Mullon don't mix themselves. Hollander has Fraudy, who he considers as a secret agent in the pay of Rhodan, kidnaped. Mullon and some of his men free her. Hollander makes the commander of the ADVENTUROUS, Flagellan, believe that Mullon is planning a mutiny. Mullon is incarcerated and in fact it is the "Nature Philosophers" who seize the spaceship. During the ongoing fighting, a phase transformer is damaged. While the two group face off against each other, Hollander triggers a transition in spite of the danger, because a patrol cruiser is approaching.
The ADVENTUROUS materializes in an unknown region of the space. The "True Democrats" manage to take over the ship and Hollander is wounded severely. The spaceship succeeds in landing on a planet. By then it is only useless wreckage. The only device left on the ship that is still operational is a helicopter. The hypercom has been destroyed after Mullon succeeded in sending a message. The planet is named Grautier because the animals living there are a mixture of elephants and giraffes. They also construct a village, Greenwich.
The message sent by Mullon has been received by a patrol cruiser. Perry Rhodan decides not to intervene and will, for the time being, only observe the evolution of the settlers in the their new home.
While they sail in the evening on Goshun Lake, some unknowns attackers capture them after having attacked them with darts smeared with céphéidine. Their captor is Walter S. Hollander, chief of the "Nature Philosophers", another small political group. Hollander and Mullon end up becoming allies in their common objective, to kill Rhodan, but Mullon mistrusts his new ally who looks to take power for his own profit.
When Rhodan arrives at the public assembly, Mullon, Fraudy and Feable, another member of the "Nature Philosophers", are present. The two men create an explosion. However, Rhodan was in fact an android. The conspirators run away. Fraudy misleads them and they are soon captured by the Terran security forces.
Upon awakening, Mullon is brought to Rhodan who tells him that he has been under surveillance since his arrival in Terrania. Mullon learns that Fraudy works for the security services. The twenty thousand "True Democrats" and five thousand "Nature Philosophers" have been stopped. At the time of the judgment, most conspirators are freed on the basis of no grounds for prosecution but eight thousand are condemned to exile. They will be deported to the virgin world, Rigel III.
The ADVENTUROUS departs for Rigel III with the deportees. Fraudy falls in love with Mullon and joins him. They are married by a registrar. The groups of Hollander and Mullon don't mix themselves. Hollander has Fraudy, who he considers as a secret agent in the pay of Rhodan, kidnaped. Mullon and some of his men free her. Hollander makes the commander of the ADVENTUROUS, Flagellan, believe that Mullon is planning a mutiny. Mullon is incarcerated and in fact it is the "Nature Philosophers" who seize the spaceship. During the ongoing fighting, a phase transformer is damaged. While the two group face off against each other, Hollander triggers a transition in spite of the danger, because a patrol cruiser is approaching.
The ADVENTUROUS materializes in an unknown region of the space. The "True Democrats" manage to take over the ship and Hollander is wounded severely. The spaceship succeeds in landing on a planet. By then it is only useless wreckage. The only device left on the ship that is still operational is a helicopter. The hypercom has been destroyed after Mullon succeeded in sending a message. The planet is named Grautier because the animals living there are a mixture of elephants and giraffes. They also construct a village, Greenwich.
The message sent by Mullon has been received by a patrol cruiser. Perry Rhodan decides not to intervene and will, for the time being, only observe the evolution of the settlers in the their new home.
February 5, 2026
Kurt Mahr is usually really good, but this one felt like an emergency fill in, or maybe an attempt for a spin off. The advertised plot, that there are groups that want to take down the dictator Perry Rhodan, would be a really good one. So far everything from Earth is Roses and Rainbows, and Perry has had no trouble keeping control... not since the Mutant Master.
Here, regular people just want Democracy, and we have two groups working together to try to assassinate Perry. That COULD have been an interesting look at how the other half lives in the book, but instead there's never any tension, its handled easily, and then we get to the REAL story. The entirely of the two groups (not just the 30 or so trying to assissinate Perry) and stuck on a ship and exiled from Earth to go colonize. Of course they fight, but instead of it being nuanced, there are clear good guys and bad guys.. the good guy gets the girl and wins, as they do in all 60s sci fi. And of course even though there was a gun battle on the ship (more than one) nothing important was destroyed and no one died.
That being said, from a logistic standpoint, this was brilliant. It sets up a completely unrelated side story they could come back to any time if they need a fill in, and it can be written ahead of time and not connect to anything else. At the end, they reveal Perry and Co. know where they are so they can keep tabs on them, but decide not to tell them that's the case and let them do their thing.
I have no idea if they ever go back, but I wouldn't mind if they did.
Here, regular people just want Democracy, and we have two groups working together to try to assassinate Perry. That COULD have been an interesting look at how the other half lives in the book, but instead there's never any tension, its handled easily, and then we get to the REAL story. The entirely of the two groups (not just the 30 or so trying to assissinate Perry) and stuck on a ship and exiled from Earth to go colonize. Of course they fight, but instead of it being nuanced, there are clear good guys and bad guys.. the good guy gets the girl and wins, as they do in all 60s sci fi. And of course even though there was a gun battle on the ship (more than one) nothing important was destroyed and no one died.
That being said, from a logistic standpoint, this was brilliant. It sets up a completely unrelated side story they could come back to any time if they need a fill in, and it can be written ahead of time and not connect to anything else. At the end, they reveal Perry and Co. know where they are so they can keep tabs on them, but decide not to tell them that's the case and let them do their thing.
I have no idea if they ever go back, but I wouldn't mind if they did.
April 8, 2020
What starts out as an easily stopped assassination plan becomes a new colony separate from Rhodan
April 21, 2025
Ein echt guter Roman mit einem extremen Ärgernis...
In meinem bald erscheinenden Review auf Warpcore schreib ich das ausführlicher
In meinem bald erscheinenden Review auf Warpcore schreib ich das ausführlicher
February 15, 2024
We are in the year 2040. Which means that Perry Rhodan is now taking care of planet Earth for nearly 70 years. Now, taking care is an euphemism I choose for dramatic purposes. Because, he is, lets face it, the dictator.
No wonder, that not everybody is happy with the situation. And in this book we meet a guy who wants to do something about it. Horace Mullon, the leader of a group called True Democrats, plans to assassinate Rhodan in order to install, well, true democracy.
Needless to say, he fails. He shoots at what he thinks is the dictator, but Rhodan’s secret police knew every move of the freedom fighters and had Rhodan replaced by a robot.
Unfortunately, this exciting story only lasts for the first 50 pages or so. The man is captured by the betrayal of a woman he met and fell in love with, who was an agent of Rhodan. Bad luck.
And now he expects to be placed into a labour camp. After being brainwashed of course. And brainwashed he is. Do not expect a fair trial. He and his comrades are sentenced to exile in a mock trial that lasts only a few hours. (It makes you feel quite uncomfortable how much contempt the writers of the Rhodan series obviously felt for democracy!)
And then most of the novel is about the trip to their new planet and some fighting with a different group of Rhodan opponents called the Nature Philosophers. What a waste of an intriguing book idea.
Finally they crash-land on a new planet and try to build a new civilisation (Mullon had married the traitor, by the way).
I mentioned before that I liked the way the books are translated into Englisch. And here Wendayne Ackerman makes a brilliant move. The colonists name their new planet in the German original “Gray Beast” which German readers were supposed to find original but which is quite silly. In the translation they call the planet Grautier. Grautier! A name suggested by a German born philogist “which to nonGermanic ears had a sufficiently exotic and interesting sound to be acceptable...”
Excellent.
No wonder, that not everybody is happy with the situation. And in this book we meet a guy who wants to do something about it. Horace Mullon, the leader of a group called True Democrats, plans to assassinate Rhodan in order to install, well, true democracy.
Needless to say, he fails. He shoots at what he thinks is the dictator, but Rhodan’s secret police knew every move of the freedom fighters and had Rhodan replaced by a robot.
Unfortunately, this exciting story only lasts for the first 50 pages or so. The man is captured by the betrayal of a woman he met and fell in love with, who was an agent of Rhodan. Bad luck.
And now he expects to be placed into a labour camp. After being brainwashed of course. And brainwashed he is. Do not expect a fair trial. He and his comrades are sentenced to exile in a mock trial that lasts only a few hours. (It makes you feel quite uncomfortable how much contempt the writers of the Rhodan series obviously felt for democracy!)
And then most of the novel is about the trip to their new planet and some fighting with a different group of Rhodan opponents called the Nature Philosophers. What a waste of an intriguing book idea.
Finally they crash-land on a new planet and try to build a new civilisation (Mullon had married the traitor, by the way).
I mentioned before that I liked the way the books are translated into Englisch. And here Wendayne Ackerman makes a brilliant move. The colonists name their new planet in the German original “Gray Beast” which German readers were supposed to find original but which is quite silly. In the translation they call the planet Grautier. Grautier! A name suggested by a German born philogist “which to nonGermanic ears had a sufficiently exotic and interesting sound to be acceptable...”
Excellent.
November 11, 2013
Apesar das hábeis manobras realizadas no espaço galáctico, o trabalho pelo poder e pelo reconhecimento da Humanidade no seio do Universo, realizado por Perry Rhodan, forçosamente teria de ficar incompleto, pois os recursos de que a Humanidade podia dispor na época eram insuficientes face aos padrões cósmicos.
Cinqüenta e seis anos passaram-se desde a pretensa destruição da Terra, que teria ocorrido no ano de 1984.
Uma nova geração de homens surgiu.
E, da mesma forma que em outros tempos, a Terceira Potência evoluiu até transformar-se no governo terrano, esse governo já se ampliou, formando o Império Solar. Marte, Vênus e as luas de Júpiter e Saturno foram colonizados. Os mundos do sistema solar que não se prestam à colonização são utilizados como bases terranas ou jazidas inesgotáveis de substâncias minerais.
No sistema solar, não foram descobertas outras inteligências. Dessa forma os terranos são os soberanos incontestes de um pequeno reino planetário, cujo centro é formado pelo planeta Terra.
Esse reino planetário, que alcançou grau elevado de evolução tecnológica e civilizatória, evidentemente possui uma poderosa frota espacial, que devia estar em condições de enfrentar qualquer atacante.
Mas, desta vez, o ataque partiu de dentro... Dois grupos revolucionários acusam Rhodan de ditador e tentam assassiná-lo!
Cinqüenta e seis anos passaram-se desde a pretensa destruição da Terra, que teria ocorrido no ano de 1984.
Uma nova geração de homens surgiu.
E, da mesma forma que em outros tempos, a Terceira Potência evoluiu até transformar-se no governo terrano, esse governo já se ampliou, formando o Império Solar. Marte, Vênus e as luas de Júpiter e Saturno foram colonizados. Os mundos do sistema solar que não se prestam à colonização são utilizados como bases terranas ou jazidas inesgotáveis de substâncias minerais.
No sistema solar, não foram descobertas outras inteligências. Dessa forma os terranos são os soberanos incontestes de um pequeno reino planetário, cujo centro é formado pelo planeta Terra.
Esse reino planetário, que alcançou grau elevado de evolução tecnológica e civilizatória, evidentemente possui uma poderosa frota espacial, que devia estar em condições de enfrentar qualquer atacante.
Mas, desta vez, o ataque partiu de dentro... Dois grupos revolucionários acusam Rhodan de ditador e tentam assassiná-lo!
May 31, 2012
The biggest SF series of all time - these early ones are a bit old style
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews