Die Kuppel im Wald

The Pelbar Cycle #3

by Paul O. Williams, Irene Holicki (translator)

1000 Jahre nach dem nuklearen Holocaust in den USA haben nur wenige Menschen den Krieg und die nachfolgenden Seuchen überlebt. Ihre Nachfahren sind wieder zu „Wilden“ geworden, die das weite, zum Teil noch radioaktiv verseuchte Land als Jäger durchstreifen, oder sie haben sich in kleinen befestigten Siedlungen verschanzt. Allmählich bilden sich wieder kulturelle Zentren aus; so in Pelbar, der Zitadelle am Herz-Fluss, dem ehemaligen Mississippi. Auf gefahrvollen Expeditionen beginnt man die postatomare Wildnis des amerikanischen Kontinents zu erkunden. Alljährlich bei Frühlingsanfang sammeln sich die Shumai, die Jäger der weiten Prärien und Wälder am Rande einer „leeren Stelle“, wie sie die vegetationslosen, radioaktiv verseuchten Einschlagkrater nennen, um das Erscheinen des Stabs anzusehen. Wie von Zauberhand bewegt, kommt er aus einer kuppelartigen Erhebung hervor und verschwindet nach einiger Zeit wieder. Die Shumai halten es für einen Zauber der Alten. Bis sie zufällig bemerken, d im Innern der Kuppel Menschen leben! Nachfahren derer, die den Atomkrieg in einem Bunkersystem überlebt und sich seit Jahrhunderten nicht an die Oberfläche gewagt haben.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fantasy, Post Apocalyptic, Fiction, Dystopia, Speculative Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy

330 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 2013

About the author

Paul Osborne Williams was an American science fiction writer and haiku poet. Williams was professor emeritus of English at Principia College in Elsah, Illinois.

His most notable science fiction works are a series of novels, the Pelbar Cycle, set in North America about a thousand years after a "time of fire", in which the world was nearly totally depopulated. The novels track a gradual reconnection of the human cultures which developed. Much of the action takes place in the communities of the Pelbar, along the Upper Mississippi River — in the general vicinity of Elsah. Several cultures, including the matriarchal Pelbar, join together in the Heart River Federation. Others, especially the tyrannical Tantal and slave-raiding Tusco, fall apart after suffering defeats. The predominant characters are change agents: Jestak, Stel and his wife Ahroe Westrun. All are Pelbar. Williams won the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer in Science Fiction in 1983.

He is also known as a writer of haiku, senryū, and tanka, and wrote a number of essays on the haiku form in English. In a 1975 essay, he coined the term "tontoism" to refer to the practice of writing haiku with missing articles ("the", "a", or "an"), which he claimed made the haiku sound like the stunted English of the Indian sidekick, Tonto, in the Lone Ranger radio and television series. Williams was the president of the Haiku Society of America (1999) and vice president of the Tanka Society of America (2000).

Williams died on June 2, 2009.

Reviews

[Jeremiea]

This whole incredible Series. Amazing. Deep Flowing Poetic Philosophical. Good! all seven books.

[Иван Величков · Rating 4 out of 5]

Книжката ми върна вярата в поредицата. Въпреки не толкова оригиналния сценарий, определено е класи над втората и връща авторовите идеи в идейното русло от първата книжка.
Хората покрай Сърцето вече доста добре се учат да живеят в мир и това се отразява на бита и културата на всички племена по поречието на Мисисипи.
Изведнъж, обаче силна поредица порои открива бункер с оцелели хора, живели вътре през цялото време от "Времето на огъня" и запазили доста добра техническа култура. Ще им се наложи да напуснат рушащия се купол и да осъзнаят, че земята не е ядрена пустиня, а те имат да учат много за чисто човешките взаимоотношения.
Харесва ми как Уилямс бавно повдига завесата към събитията довели до постапокалиптичния му сценарий, а вкарването на "купулните" технологии много приятно завъртя от чисто приключенска фантастика към научна такава, без да занемарява вътрешно моралните постулати и социалните експерименти, на които се дължи голяма част от харизмата на поредицата.

[Ryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you've read any Libertarian fiction or propaganda then you've basically read this book.

[Benson · Rating 5 out of 5]

The third book in the Pelbar Cycle does not disappoint. For the quickness, world building and interesting ideas, it is a winner. Recommended!

[Avel Rudenko · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of those gems you rarely come across, and cherish every moment with a greed to read more and find out what's next. A hidden gem I was always surprised to find out of print, I happened to pick up a copy at the used books store. The futuristic stories tell of a postapocalyptic United States that has been reduced to warring tribes and small city-states. Even the Oceans weren't called by their original names, instead the Atlantic Ocean was the "Eastern Ocean". excerpt: "More than one thousand years in the future, the conservative borders of Pelbar society continue to crumble as the people of Pelbar conduct trade, form friendships, and intermarry with members of the tribes now settled peacefully around the citadel of Northwall. Not all agree with the changes, however, and long instead for the old times of conflict and rigid order. Igniting the tension is the discovery of a mysterious subterranean shelter, where the descendants of survivors of the long-ago nuclear war live. A young woman from the shelter and the shocking revelations she brings precipitate a crisis that will profoundly affect the futures of plainsmen and citadelfolk alike."

[Charles · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book 3 in the Pelbar cycle.

[Michelle Beese · Rating 5 out of 5]

Each Pelbar Cycle book is fun to read.

[Doug · Rating 5 out of 5]

This my third or fourth time through this series. Incredible reads and I am always discovering something that i hadn't caught before. Amazing this is such an unknown series.

[Pete · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another excellent addition to the Pelbar Cycle. Several years have passed since The Ends of the Circle, and Ahroe and Stel become embroiled in a significant threat to the Heart Rivers societies. The titular dome houses a remnant of the pre-fire America. These people have developed a rather odd society. They are totally ignorant of the fact that most of the country is now radiation free and life outside the dome is possible. However, their dome faces imminent destruction, and the Stel leads an effort to rescue the inhabitants of the dome...

[Alexandre Allain · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great story. My dads favourtie book he read when he was a young man and the story still holds up to this day. This novel could be released this year and be very relevant to the tensions of our current day.

[Steven · Rating 5 out of 5]

One has to wonder how life might reshape itself after a nuclear holocaust. Survival might vary from region to region. This book gives a glimpse into those possibilities. It has been eleven centuries since The Time of Fire. Civilization was creeping back to what had been the Mississippi valley. Yes, things were changing as the male dominated plain nomads began to settle peacefully around the citadel of Northwall. But not everyone was pleased with this new truce. No. The conservatives wanted to return to the old way, where women gave the orders and men obeyed. Then the strange young woman came, whose people held a different way of life and who possessed awesome pre-Fire weapons. Technology can survive and when it does, things quickly swing in a fearful direction with uncertain results.

[SciFiOne · Rating 4 out of 5]

1985 grade A-
2003 grade B+

Series book P3