Resource 1

Auf zwei Planeten by Kurd Lasswitz

Auf zwei Planeten (1897) is a novel that tells the story of an encounter between mankind and a race of Martians. In the novel, the Martians are portrayed as appearing very similar to humans. However, the reader soon learns that they are superior in intelligence and technology because their planet is far older on the universal evolutionary time scale. The advanced Martians come to Earth with the “humanitarian” purpose of bettering and perfecting Earth, asking only for resources in return. When war breaks out over a misunderstanding between the humans and Martians, the Martians claim that Earth is under their protection. Humanity can do little to stop them, but when the Martian rule becomes corrupt and tyrannical, uproar ensues among the citizens of Earth. An underground movement is started, which eventually develops the capabilities to challenge the Martians. The novel concludes on a very optimistic note with a peace compromise that opens friendly relations between the humans and Martians.

Auf zwei Planeten is a German science fiction classic which earned its author, Kurd Lasswitz, the honor of being considered the father of German science fiction. Because it was not translated into English until much later, as Two Planets in 1971, this work is not particularly well known outside of Germany. However, Auf zwei Planeten is important because it includes a very early attempt to portray the perhaps inevitable circumstance of encountering another intelligence race in a positive and sympathetic light.

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Note: Since there only appears to be one important German Science Fiction novel within the Bud Foote Science Fiction Collection, I would also like to recommend the following novels:

Resource 2

Der letzte Tag der Schöpfung by Wolfgang Jeschke

Der letzte Tag der Schöpfung was published in 1981 and translated into English as "The Last Day of Creation" by Gertrude Mander. A group of American volunteers is sent over five million years back in time. Their mission is to build enormous pipelines, made possible by the drastically different geography of the ancient continents. The purpose of these pipelines is to change the flow and location of oil reserves away from their present day Arab location and into a more advantageous location for American use. Unfortunately, the Americans encounter more than they bargained for - specifically, an earlier species of man that seems to be the precursor to modern humankind. War ensues, and the ancient earth is transformed into a nuclear battlefield.

Der letzte Tag der Schöpfung was one of the few significant German science fiction novels published during the 1980s. Wolfgang Jeschke is especially notable for being one of the first modern German SF authors to take on ambitious political and economical themes.

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Resource 3

Der Tunnel by Bernard Kellerman

Bernard Kellermann's Der Tunnel (1913) imagines a future where new technologies allow New York and Paris to be connected by an underwater tunnel across the Atlantic. The novel focuses on Mac Allen, the engineer who builds the tunnel, and his obsession over first building and then maintaining the tunnel. Unfortunatly, the tunnel proves to be especially problematic. Volcanic eruptions, gases, and other natural disasters threaten the tunnel. In the end, water bursts into the passageway, washing away people and equipment.

Der Tunnel was a literary sensation in Germany when it was first published. The novel was also turned into a film, released in 1933, and has since inspired several other German films of the same name. Kellermann's novel represents an important and unique contribution to German science fiction because it was one of the first fictional German novels to not only posit such advanced technology but to also allow the technology to be overcome by the forces of nature.

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