"Return From The Void (Perry Rhodan #51)" by Kurt Mahr, translated by
Wendayne Ackerman
https://www.amazon.com/Return-Void-Perry-Rhodan-51/dp/4416602340/

Book number fifty-one of a series of one hundred and thirty-six space
opera books in English. The original German books, actually pamphlets,
number in the thousands. The English books started with two translated
German stories per book translated by Wendayne Ackerman and transitioned
to one story per book with the sixth book. And then they transition
back to two stories in book #109/110. The Ace publisher dropped out at
#118, so Forrest and Wendayne Ackerman published books #119 to #136 in
pamphlets before stopping in 1978. The German books were written from
1961 to present time, having sold two billion copies and even recently
been rebooted again. I read the well printed and well bound book
published by Ace in 1974 that I had to be very careful with due to age.
I bought an almost complete box of Perry Rhodans a decade or two ago on
ebay that I am finally getting to since I lost my original Perry Rhodans
in The Great Flood of 1989. In fact, I now own book #1 to book #105,
plus the Atlan books.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perry_Rhodan

BTW, this is actually book number 59 of the German pamphlets written in
1962. There is a very good explanation of the plot in German on the
Perrypedia German website of all of the PR books. There is automatic
Google translation available for English, Spanish, Dutch, Japanese,
French, and Portuguese.
hhttps://www.perrypedia.de/wiki/R%C3%BCckkehr_aus_dem_Nichts

In this alternate universe, USSF Major Perry Rhodan and his three fellow
astronauts blasted off in a three stage rocket to the Moon in 1971. The
first stage of the rocket was chemical, the second and third stages were
nuclear. After crashing on the Moon due to a strange radio
interference, they discover a massive crashed alien spaceship with an
aged male scientist (Khrest), a female commander (Thora), and a crew of
500. It has been over sixty-nine years since then and the Solar Empire
has flourished with tens of millions of people and many spaceships
headquartered in the Gobi desert, the city of Terrania. Perry Rhodan
has been elected by the people of Earth to be the World Administrator.

Perry Rhodan and his crew are investigating the disappearance of the
human and animal populations of Mirsal II and III. The Robot Regent of
the Arkonide Empire has disclosed that many planets have been stripped
of their populations. But now the humans and animals are disappearing
right in front of their eyes. A couple of Rhodan's crew have built a
device that allowed one of them to go where the humans and animals are
being taken to, a very strange void with huge machines and a severe time
differential.

Two observations:
1. Forrest Ackerman should have put two or three of the translated
stories in each book. Having two stories in the first five books worked
out well. Just having one story in the book is too short and would
never allow the translated books to catch up to the German originals.
2. Anyone liking Perry Rhodan and wanting a more up to date story should
read the totally awesome "Mutineer's Moon" Dahak series of three books
by David Weber.
https://www.amazon.com/Mutineers-Moon-Dahak-David-Weber/dp/0671720856/

My rating: 4.4 out of 5 stars
Amazon rating: 0 out of 5 stars (0 reviews)

Lynn

On 8/17/2022 2:11 PM, Lynn McGuire wrote:
> "Return From The Void (Perry Rhodan #51)" by Kurt Mahr, translated by
> Wendayne Ackerman
>    https://www.amazon.com/Return-Void-Perry-Rhodan-51/dp/4416602340/
>
> Book number fifty-one of a series of one hundred and thirty-six space
> opera books in English.  The original German books, actually pamphlets,
> number in the thousands.  The English books started with two translated
> German stories per book translated by Wendayne Ackerman and transitioned
> to one story per book with the sixth book.  And then they transition
> back to two stories in book #109/110.  The Ace publisher dropped out at
> #118, so Forrest and Wendayne Ackerman published books #119 to #136 in
> pamphlets before stopping in 1978.  The German books were written from
> 1961 to present time, having sold two billion copies and even recently
> been rebooted again.  I read the well printed and well bound book
> published by Ace in 1974 that I had to be very careful with due to age.
> I bought an almost complete box of Perry Rhodans a decade or two ago on
> ebay that I am finally getting to since I lost my original Perry Rhodans
> in The Great Flood of 1989.  In fact, I now own book #1 to book #105,
> plus the Atlan books.
>    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perry_Rhodan
>
> BTW, this is actually book number 59 of the German pamphlets written in
> 1962.  There is a very good explanation of the plot in German on the
> Perrypedia German website of all of the PR books.  There is automatic
> Google translation available for English, Spanish, Dutch, Japanese,
> French, and Portuguese.
>    hhttps://www.perrypedia.de/wiki/R%C3%BCckkehr_aus_dem_Nichts
>
> In this alternate universe, USSF Major Perry Rhodan and his three fellow
> astronauts blasted off in a three stage rocket to the Moon in 1971.  The
> first stage of the rocket was chemical, the second and third stages were
> nuclear.  After crashing on the Moon due to a strange radio
> interference, they discover a massive crashed alien spaceship with an
> aged male scientist (Khrest), a female commander (Thora), and a crew of
> 500.  It has been over sixty-nine years since then and the Solar Empire
> has flourished with tens of millions of people and many spaceships
> headquartered in the Gobi desert, the city of Terrania.  Perry Rhodan
> has been elected by the people of Earth to be the World Administrator.
>
> Perry Rhodan and his crew are investigating the disappearance of the
> human and animal populations of Mirsal II and III.  The Robot Regent of
> the Arkonide Empire has disclosed that many planets have been stripped
> of their populations.  But now the humans and animals are disappearing
> right in front of their eyes.  A couple of Rhodan's crew have built a
> device that allowed one of them to go where the humans and animals are
> being taken to, a very strange void with huge machines and a severe time
> differential.
>
> Two observations:
> 1. Forrest Ackerman should have put two or three of the translated
> stories in each book.  Having two stories in the first five books worked
> out well.  Just having one story in the book is too short and would
> never allow the translated books to catch up to the German originals.
> 2. Anyone liking Perry Rhodan and wanting a more up to date story should
> read the totally awesome "Mutineer's Moon" Dahak series of three books
> by David Weber.
>    https://www.amazon.com/Mutineers-Moon-Dahak-David-Weber/dp/0671720856/
>
> My rating: 4.4 out of 5 stars
> Amazon rating: 0 out of 5 stars (0 reviews)
>
> Lynn

https://www.perrypedia.de/wiki/R%C3%BCckkehr_aus_dem_Nichts

Lynn

Lynn McGuire wrote:

<snip>

> Perry Rhodan and his crew are investigating the disappearance of the
> human and animal populations of Mirsal II and III. The Robot Regent of
> the Arkonide Empire has disclosed that many planets have been stripped
> of their populations. But now the humans and animals are disappearing
> right in front of their eyes. A couple of Rhodan's crew have built a
> device that allowed one of them to go where the humans and animals are
> being taken to, a very strange void with huge machines and a severe time
> differential.

Despite my best effort and more than one re-read, it was very difficult
for me to follow Mahr's prose and visualize the inter-dimensional portal
in my mind's eye. It was easy enough to imagine a towel placed over
Rous' head in order for him to view the parallel dimension:

<https://www.perrypedia.de/wiki/Datei:PR0059Illu_3.jpg>

But, things went downhill fast from there. Too many twists and turns of
the ring field or something.

Rous estimates the blink of an eye to take a tenth of a second and
thereby calculates time passes 72,000 times slower in the other
dimension. Given its earlier release, "Return from the Void" plausibly
inspired "The Outer Limits - The Premonition:"

<https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x6ol2bg>

Danke,

--
Don.......My cat's )\._.,--....,'``. https://crcomp.net/reviews.php
telltale tall tail /, _.. \ _\ (`._ ,. Walk humbly with thy God.
tells tall tales.. `._.-(,_..'--(,_..'`-.;.' Make 1984 fiction again.

On Wed, 17 Aug 2022 21:33:55 -0000 (UTC), Don <g@crcomp.net> wrote:

>Lynn McGuire wrote:
>
><snip>
>
>> Perry Rhodan and his crew are investigating the disappearance of the
>> human and animal populations of Mirsal II and III. The Robot Regent of
>> the Arkonide Empire has disclosed that many planets have been stripped
>> of their populations. But now the humans and animals are disappearing
>> right in front of their eyes. A couple of Rhodan's crew have built a
>> device that allowed one of them to go where the humans and animals are
>> being taken to, a very strange void with huge machines and a severe time
>> differential.
>
>Despite my best effort and more than one re-read, it was very difficult
>for me to follow Mahr's prose and visualize the inter-dimensional portal
>in my mind's eye. It was easy enough to imagine a towel placed over
>Rous' head in order for him to view the parallel dimension:
>
> <https://www.perrypedia.de/wiki/Datei:PR0059Illu_3.jpg>
>
>But, things went downhill fast from there. Too many twists and turns of
>the ring field or something.

Sounds like the handwavium was ineffective. Pity.

>Rous estimates the blink of an eye to take a tenth of a second and
>thereby calculates time passes 72,000 times slower in the other
>dimension. Given its earlier release, "Return from the Void" plausibly
>inspired "The Outer Limits - The Premonition:"
>
><https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x6ol2bg>
>
>Danke,
--
"In this connexion, unquestionably the most significant
development was the disintegration, under Christian
influence, of classical conceptions of the family and
of family right."

Paul S Person wrote:
> Don wrote:
>>Lynn McGuire wrote:
>>
>><snip>
>>
>>> Perry Rhodan and his crew are investigating the disappearance of the
>>> human and animal populations of Mirsal II and III. The Robot Regent of
>>> the Arkonide Empire has disclosed that many planets have been stripped
>>> of their populations. But now the humans and animals are disappearing
>>> right in front of their eyes. A couple of Rhodan's crew have built a
>>> device that allowed one of them to go where the humans and animals are
>>> being taken to, a very strange void with huge machines and a severe time
>>> differential.
>>
>>Despite my best effort and more than one re-read, it was very difficult
>>for me to follow Mahr's prose and visualize the inter-dimensional portal
>>in my mind's eye. It was easy enough to imagine a towel placed over
>>Rous' head in order for him to view the parallel dimension:
>>
>> <https://www.perrypedia.de/wiki/Datei:PR0059Illu_3.jpg>
>>
>>But, things went downhill fast from there. Too many twists and turns of
>>the ring field or something.
>
> Sounds like the handwavium was ineffective. Pity.

It indeed is a pity how only gifted authors are able to express them-
selves with clarity. Clark Darlton's handwavium's much easier for me to
follow. ;)
The devil is in the details. Otherwise brilliant scientists, who are
too far out on the autistic spectrum or something, can also act
inarticulate.

Danke,

--
Don.......My cat's )\._.,--....,'``. https://crcomp.net/reviews.php
telltale tall tail /, _.. \ _\ (`._ ,. Walk humbly with thy God.
tells tall tales.. `._.-(,_..'--(,_..'`-.;.' Make 1984 fiction again.

On 2022-08-17, Don <g@crcomp.net> wrote:

> Rous estimates the blink of an eye to take a tenth of a second and
> thereby calculates time passes 72,000 times slower in the other
> dimension. Given its earlier release, "Return from the Void" plausibly
> inspired "The Outer Limits - The Premonition:"
>
><https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x6ol2bg>

Right, an untranslated German pulp from 1962 will certainly have
been known to the writers of an American TV show in 1965.

Totally.

--
Christian "naddy" Weisgerber naddy@mips.inka.de

Christian Weisgerber wrote:
> Don wrote:
>
>> Rous estimates the blink of an eye to take a tenth of a second and
>> thereby calculates time passes 72,000 times slower in the other
>> dimension. Given its earlier release, "Return from the Void" plausibly
>> inspired "The Outer Limits - The Premonition:"
>>
>><https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x6ol2bg>
>
> Right, an untranslated German pulp from 1962 will certainly have
> been known to the writers of an American TV show in 1965.
>
> Totally.

Is _Im Westen nichts Neues_ the earliest American adaptation (released
in 1930 as _All Quiet on the Western Front_) to win Academy Awards?

Danke,

--
Don.......My cat's )\._.,--....,'``. https://crcomp.net/reviews.php
telltale tall tail /, _.. \ _\ (`._ ,. Walk humbly with thy God.
tells tall tales.. `._.-(,_..'--(,_..'`-.;.' Make 1984 fiction again.

On Thursday, August 18, 2022 at 6:06:41 PM UTC-4, Don wrote:
> Christian Weisgerber wrote:
> > Don wrote:
> >
> >> Rous estimates the blink of an eye to take a tenth of a second and
> >> thereby calculates time passes 72,000 times slower in the other
> >> dimension. Given its earlier release, "Return from the Void" plausibly
> >> inspired "The Outer Limits - The Premonition:"
> >>
> >><https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x6ol2bg>
> >
> > Right, an untranslated German pulp from 1962 will certainly have
> > been known to the writers of an American TV show in 1965.
> >
> > Totally.
> Is _Im Westen nichts Neues_ the earliest American adaptation (released
> in 1930 as _All Quiet on the Western Front_) to win Academy Awards?
> Danke,

Looks like it. 1930 was only the 3rd Oscars.

Pt