What do you think?
Rate this book
Perry Rhodan Lemuria #1
Perry Rhodan Lemuria Vol. 1: Star Ark (Perry Rhodan)
A Breathtaking Space Opera in Six Volumes. After a tragic accident, Perry Rhodan encounters a gigantic spaceship of unknown origin. With a small team of specialists he enters the ship and attempts to unravel its mystery. They discover that the starship - home to countless generations of human refugees - launched 50,000 years ago from the legendary prehistoric continent of Lemuria. Byt what was the destination of this journey?
Paperback
First published October 1, 2004
27 people are currently reading
54 people want to read
About the author
Frank Borsch
127 books8 followersFrank Borsch is a German author and editor, best known for his contributions to the Perry Rhodan franchise.
He stopped working for the original Perry Rhodan series in 2007, and became the head exposé writer of the Perry Rhodan NEO relaunch in 2011.
He stopped working for the original Perry Rhodan series in 2007, and became the head exposé writer of the Perry Rhodan NEO relaunch in 2011.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
September 9, 2020
Dieser 6-bändige Zyklus baut in seiner Konzeption mehr auf Rätsel denn auf (kriegerische) Konflikte. Das hat mir die Serie von Beginn an sympathisch gemacht. Hier wird ein altes Motiv der SF für das Perry Rhodan-Universum adaptiert, das (unterlichtschnelle) Generationenraumschiff. Ein Anachronismus will man meinen, denn ohne überlichtschnellen Raumschiff-Antrieb gäbe es dieses Universum gar nicht. Verknüpft ist mit dem Thema der Unsterblichkeit, hier in Gestalt von sogenannten Zellaktivatoren und ihren Trägern.
Die Handlung auf dem Generationsschiff der Lemurer fand ich eher gemächlich, die Spannung kommt mehr durch die Verknüpfung von Vergangenheit mit der Gegenwart im Perryversum zu stande. Für Leser der Heftromane gibt es auch interessante Einblicke in die Welt der Akonen, dem genealogischen Bindeglied zwischen Lemurern und Arkoniden.
Die Handlung auf dem Generationsschiff der Lemurer fand ich eher gemächlich, die Spannung kommt mehr durch die Verknüpfung von Vergangenheit mit der Gegenwart im Perryversum zu stande. Für Leser der Heftromane gibt es auch interessante Einblicke in die Welt der Akonen, dem genealogischen Bindeglied zwischen Lemurern und Arkoniden.
April 14, 2017
A série Perry Rhodan não pretende ser mais do que o que é, uma série de FC de entretenimento, essencialmente uma longa e interminável Space Opera onde o imortal Rhodan vive sucessivas aventuras. A escala da série é cósmica, como não poderia deixar de ser com mais de quarenta anos de publicação mensal regular. São raras as suas incursões fora do espaço germanófilo, e esta edição de cinco livros da recente série Lemuria em inglês uma boa surpresa para aqueles que são fãs do personagem mas incapazes de ler em alemão.
O início de Lemuria coloca Rhodan a bordo de uma nave de prospecção numa zona disputada da galáxia. Por acaso, cruzam-se com um misterioso artefacto nas vias espaciais, que se revelará ser uma nave geracional lemuriana. Partida há milénios do planeta que se viria a tornar a Terra, representa um vestígio vivo de uma civilização antiga, que nos mythos de Rhodan surgiu na Terra, se espalhou pelo espaço, e colapsou em guerra com alienígenas invasores. O seu colapso deixou vestígios, sendo os lemurianos antecessores dos humanos na Terra, e das suas colónias sobreviventes evoluíram as principais civilizações alienígenas humanóides da série, Arkon e Akon.
Esta é uma história contada em múltiplos pontos de vista. Mergulhamos dentro do mundo fechado da nave lemuriana, onde nos deparamos com uma sociedade fossilizada e regredida, que desconhece e teme o mundo exterior, controlada pelo computador de uma nave que, com o passar dos milénios, cada vez mais mostra sinais de degradação. O computador é implacável a perseguir aqueles que se desviam da linha de comportamento por ele definida, especialmente com quem se atreve a contrariar o dogma do perigo das estrelas. No entanto, com os sistemas em falha progressiva, os habitantes da nave têm de ser capazes de sair da nave e colonizar um planeta.
Por outro lado, temos os terrestres prospectores, surpreendidos pelo artefacto e dispostos a investigá-lo, reclamando-o como seu. Uma pretensão travada por uma nave Akoniana. Os rivais dos terrestres também reclamam a nave lemuriana, e resta a Rhodan mediar entre representantes de civilizações antagonista para exploração conjunta da nave. Ao iniciar a descoberta dos seus mistérios, uma frota de combate akoniana toma conta da situação, e Rhodan vê-se obrigado a recuar. Sendo o primeiro de uma série de cinco livros, o recuo é apenas uma peripécia ao longo dos episódios.
O início de Lemuria coloca Rhodan a bordo de uma nave de prospecção numa zona disputada da galáxia. Por acaso, cruzam-se com um misterioso artefacto nas vias espaciais, que se revelará ser uma nave geracional lemuriana. Partida há milénios do planeta que se viria a tornar a Terra, representa um vestígio vivo de uma civilização antiga, que nos mythos de Rhodan surgiu na Terra, se espalhou pelo espaço, e colapsou em guerra com alienígenas invasores. O seu colapso deixou vestígios, sendo os lemurianos antecessores dos humanos na Terra, e das suas colónias sobreviventes evoluíram as principais civilizações alienígenas humanóides da série, Arkon e Akon.
Esta é uma história contada em múltiplos pontos de vista. Mergulhamos dentro do mundo fechado da nave lemuriana, onde nos deparamos com uma sociedade fossilizada e regredida, que desconhece e teme o mundo exterior, controlada pelo computador de uma nave que, com o passar dos milénios, cada vez mais mostra sinais de degradação. O computador é implacável a perseguir aqueles que se desviam da linha de comportamento por ele definida, especialmente com quem se atreve a contrariar o dogma do perigo das estrelas. No entanto, com os sistemas em falha progressiva, os habitantes da nave têm de ser capazes de sair da nave e colonizar um planeta.
Por outro lado, temos os terrestres prospectores, surpreendidos pelo artefacto e dispostos a investigá-lo, reclamando-o como seu. Uma pretensão travada por uma nave Akoniana. Os rivais dos terrestres também reclamam a nave lemuriana, e resta a Rhodan mediar entre representantes de civilizações antagonista para exploração conjunta da nave. Ao iniciar a descoberta dos seus mistérios, uma frota de combate akoniana toma conta da situação, e Rhodan vê-se obrigado a recuar. Sendo o primeiro de uma série de cinco livros, o recuo é apenas uma peripécia ao longo dos episódios.
March 11, 2022
Clever twist on the generation starship story
I've read many generation starship stories, and this is one of the better ones.
Very entertaining space opera, part hard science fiction, part star trek.
Well worth the read.
I've read many generation starship stories, and this is one of the better ones.
Very entertaining space opera, part hard science fiction, part star trek.
Well worth the read.
December 6, 2022
Der erste Band brauchte einige Zeit, bis ich wirklich "drin" war. Gegen Mitte wurde es besser, am Ende hatte ich durchaus das Bedürfnis Teil 2 zu starten.
Also bin ich gespannt auf den Fortgang.
Also bin ich gespannt auf den Fortgang.
April 6, 2024
I have finished the first part by Frank Borsch, "Ark of the Stars" of the hexalogy Lemuria. A big generation spaceship in dilation flight is discovered by chance. The ship is almost a wreck; the inhabitants are oppressed, and the leader of the ship is desperate. Two parties, the Akonians and the Terrans, claim the ship as salvage. There is a big secret behind the ship that hasn't been revealed yet. We have many POVs and many quirky and lovely characters.The novel had a lot of charm and was compelling. The translation fits like a glove; praise to Dwight R. Decker. This is a spinoff hexalogy of the Perry Rhodan series, the extensivest science fiction dime novel series in the world.
April 29, 2020
The first new Perry Rhodan adventure I'd read since the Ace Book English translations ended its publication run back in the 1970s. A fun return to Big space opera.
This entry ran a little slow and felt padded to make it book-length rather than hefte-length, but it included the necessary elements to launch a mystery that links with Earth's very distant past, with Rhodan's past adventures in the Masters of the Island story cycle, and the strange space-faring race known as the Haluters.
I look forward to the next entry in this mini-series.
This entry ran a little slow and felt padded to make it book-length rather than hefte-length, but it included the necessary elements to launch a mystery that links with Earth's very distant past, with Rhodan's past adventures in the Masters of the Island story cycle, and the strange space-faring race known as the Haluters.
I look forward to the next entry in this mini-series.
December 21, 2017
Perry Rhodan is the most wildly successful SciFi franchise in the world -- but few Americans have heard of him, because few of the books have been translated from German into English. This volume serves as an excellent introduction, starting a new story arc. There are no particular ties to past arcs which are not explained within the text.
Good, old-fashioned pulp SciFi.
Good, old-fashioned pulp SciFi.
February 27, 2025
Ntter Versuch, die ursprünglichen Lemurer wieder in die Serienhandlung zu bringen.
Allerdings lässt sich die Handlung relativ gemäßigt an und allzu viele Fragen für den Folgeband scheint es auf den ersten Blick nicht zu geben
Allerdings lässt sich die Handlung relativ gemäßigt an und allzu viele Fragen für den Folgeband scheint es auf den ersten Blick nicht zu geben
July 31, 2023
Toller und spannender Roman, der Lust auf die Fortsetzungen macht
December 1, 2015
Book #34 for 2014
I picked this up mainly because I sometimes attend Bubonicon, which has "Perry Rodent" as its mascot, so I was curious about his inspiration, Perry Rhodan. At this point, though, I don't really know what to make of the character or his universe. Some of the characters did really interest me, but Perry himself was fairly bland. And the world was just confusing, especially regarding the timeframes involved. I couldn't figure out whether this was supposed to be a completely alternate universe or if the Lemurians were supposed to be aliens that inhabited Earth at some point or some other scenario entirely. I just couldn't make anything fit right.
I also felt that the story was too referential to 20th-century America. Is this actually some sort of unwritten rule for space opera? Because it seems to be a common complaint of mine. Maybe I should just get over it.
Probably the most annoying thing, though, was that the story just kind of stopped. There was an oddly "Star Trek" gathering at an entertainment planet, but it didn't really resolve anything. I realize that this is only book one of a six-book series, but I would expect there to also be a smaller story arc to achieve some kind of closure. This book left so much hanging out that I don't feel confident that all of the dangling threads will ever be tied off.
Despite all the issues I had with this installment, I will probably read the next one if it comes my way. Maybe it would let me know if I would be wasting my time to continue.
I picked this up mainly because I sometimes attend Bubonicon, which has "Perry Rodent" as its mascot, so I was curious about his inspiration, Perry Rhodan. At this point, though, I don't really know what to make of the character or his universe. Some of the characters did really interest me, but Perry himself was fairly bland. And the world was just confusing, especially regarding the timeframes involved. I couldn't figure out whether this was supposed to be a completely alternate universe or if the Lemurians were supposed to be aliens that inhabited Earth at some point or some other scenario entirely. I just couldn't make anything fit right.
I also felt that the story was too referential to 20th-century America. Is this actually some sort of unwritten rule for space opera? Because it seems to be a common complaint of mine. Maybe I should just get over it.
Probably the most annoying thing, though, was that the story just kind of stopped. There was an oddly "Star Trek" gathering at an entertainment planet, but it didn't really resolve anything. I realize that this is only book one of a six-book series, but I would expect there to also be a smaller story arc to achieve some kind of closure. This book left so much hanging out that I don't feel confident that all of the dangling threads will ever be tied off.
Despite all the issues I had with this installment, I will probably read the next one if it comes my way. Maybe it would let me know if I would be wasting my time to continue.
February 22, 2016
I read this because the podcast The Dead Robots' Society was going to be covering it in their periodic book discussion. It was the first time I'd ever read a book in the long-running Perry Rhodan universe.
All in all, it was... an okay read. I was annoyed be some of the characters (the female captain with the monster-sized chip on her shoulder made me grind my teeth, especially since she kept making stupid mistakes *just* because she's upset about having Rhodan on her ship, and she's feeling insecure). Other character appealed (the communications man fondly called 'mom' and the Akonian historian).
As for the story, a Terran ship and an Akonian ship find an ancient Lemurian generation ship (Lemuria was the origin of both Earth society, and other people across the universe) that still has people living on board in a rather primitive society. Needless to say, the two ships from rival societies nearly come to blows over the find, before agreeing to cooperate.
Not surprisingly, since the Perry Rhodan books are actually published as a monthly magazine, and this is the first of five books in this storyline, the end of the book was very abrupt. I haven't yet decided if it was interesting enough to buy the next book in the series from Amazon.
All in all, it was... an okay read. I was annoyed be some of the characters (the female captain with the monster-sized chip on her shoulder made me grind my teeth, especially since she kept making stupid mistakes *just* because she's upset about having Rhodan on her ship, and she's feeling insecure). Other character appealed (the communications man fondly called 'mom' and the Akonian historian).
As for the story, a Terran ship and an Akonian ship find an ancient Lemurian generation ship (Lemuria was the origin of both Earth society, and other people across the universe) that still has people living on board in a rather primitive society. Needless to say, the two ships from rival societies nearly come to blows over the find, before agreeing to cooperate.
Not surprisingly, since the Perry Rhodan books are actually published as a monthly magazine, and this is the first of five books in this storyline, the end of the book was very abrupt. I haven't yet decided if it was interesting enough to buy the next book in the series from Amazon.
July 31, 2016
In contrast to Singularity Sky this is very old school space opera. Not bad, but arguably not for someone who has not read any of the previous Perry Rhodan books. In addition, it suffers from the weight of too much continuity. There were sections of the book where I stopped reading to go the German Perrypedia to look up a someone or an event referenced in the book.
In summation Perry has joined a mining ship in an attempt to informally reach out to the Akons. Instead both the Akons and Perry find a long lost generation ship.
Not overly original, and not bad. It does appear the series' writing (it began as a weekly in 1961 in Germany and remains ongoing) has improved a little from when it was last translated into English.
In summation Perry has joined a mining ship in an attempt to informally reach out to the Akons. Instead both the Akons and Perry find a long lost generation ship.
Not overly original, and not bad. It does appear the series' writing (it began as a weekly in 1961 in Germany and remains ongoing) has improved a little from when it was last translated into English.
October 12, 2016
When I discovered that there was a newer part of the Perry Rhodan series written after the 1st 125 books that were made available by the late Forry Ackerman, I jumped on it and read the first book as soon as I could. With over 2500 parts available in German only I started reading this English translation as soon as I could. I have always found the storys about generation ships and how the inhabitants changed over time to be interesting. Coupled with a twist with the commander of the generation ship that goes almost back to the beginning of the space opera series, it was a story I could not put down. I think Forest J. Ackerman would be happy seeing this one in English.
August 14, 2020
The first Perry Rhodan in 40 years...
As I was disappointed. I've been a Perry fan since Wendylane Ackerman was translating them, but 40 years it's a lot of time to make up. I felt like I was dropped in a pool unable to swim. There could have at least been a recap of previous events! Nice to be back in Perry's universe, but it could have been better.
As I was disappointed. I've been a Perry fan since Wendylane Ackerman was translating them, but 40 years it's a lot of time to make up. I felt like I was dropped in a pool unable to swim. There could have at least been a recap of previous events! Nice to be back in Perry's universe, but it could have been better.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews