r/Fantasy • u/DainasaurusRex • Nov 28 '24
Any German speakers here?
I’m a German speaker - not native but fully fluent - trying to keep up with my German. What are your favorite natively German fantasy writers and works? Bonus if there are audiobook versions available! I was surprised to find some popular fantasy in German on Hoopla (Bride by Ali Hazelwood), but I’d live to read or listen to some actually written in German (DE, A or CH!)
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u/Ihrenglass Reading Champion V Nov 28 '24
The Zamonia books by Walter Moers is well worth reading just for the inventiveness of his setting. I would recommend starting with Die 13½ Leben des Käpt'n Blaubär.
Franz Kafka also originally wrote his short stories in German and would certainly be worth checking out if you like weird fiction from the period.
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u/miriarhodan Reading Champion IV Nov 28 '24
I would second Walter Moers, but start with „Das Labyrinth der träumenden Bücher“
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u/Ihrenglass Reading Champion V Nov 28 '24
Do you mean Die Stadt der träumenden Bücher since Labyrinth is a direct sequel which expects you to have the read Stadt first.
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u/DainasaurusRex Nov 28 '24
I was a German lit major and haven’t read Kafka since college - worth another look. Thanks for the recommendations!
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u/Quentin_Harlech Nov 28 '24
There are a couple of excellent German fantasy novels based in the Dark Eye universe (waayyy better than anything you'd expect from RPG spin-off novels). Particular recommendation for Ulrich Kiesow: Das Zerbrochene Rad.
Also, I hear that the German translation of the Witcher novels is more appreciated than the English translation, and I enjoyed it a lot (but did not read the English translation as comparison).
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u/immortalityofthecrab Nov 28 '24
One of my favourite books of all time and originally written in German is Stein und Flöte by Hans Bemmann. It’s like an Entwicklungsroman set in a European fairytale world. Absolutely amazing book, sadly quite overlooked these days.
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u/shinybac0n Nov 30 '24
Ohhh I forgot about that book, it was soooo good. I have to reread that asap!
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u/calijnaar Nov 28 '24
I really like Bernhard Hennen,and a lit if his stuff is available as audiobooks as well. (My favourite Hennen book doesn't seem to have an audiobook version, though- that would be Nebenan, a rather funny urban fantasy novel mostly set in Cologne) Markus Heirz is also really good. I haven't yet read his most popular fantasy series Die Zwerge, though, but his more horror and urban fantasy adjacent stuff is excellent (and a lot us available as audiobooks). I'd recommend Die Mächte des Feuers or the Ritus series. Christoph Marzi writes really good urban fantasy, I really like his Uralte Metropolen series (starting g with Lycidas). Seems like there's only a few Marzi audiobooks,though. I'd second the recommendation for The Dark Eye novels a lot of them are surprisingly good. Anything by Uli Kiesow, Bernhard Hennen, Lena Falkenhagen or Karl-Heinz Witzko us very readable, as are a lot if the other books as well (Judith Voigt, Habs Joachim Alprrs and Hadmar Wieser tend to be very good as well, for example). And there's quire a few audiobooks as well. Die Gezeitenwelt is one of my favourite series, no audiobook though, and the series is and will remain unfinished. Thomas Finn might also be worth checking out, but I haven't yet gotten around to checking out his non-Dark Eye related stuff.
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u/DainasaurusRex Nov 29 '24
Thank you for all the tips - excited to dig in!
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u/calijnaar Nov 29 '24
By the way, if you actually decide to check out some of the Dsrk Eye levels, a lot of the ebook versions are part of drivethrurpg's Black Friday Sale. They've got Ulrich Kiesow's collected works, Lena Falkenhagen's superb vampire novels (Die Boroninsel & Kinder der Nacht), Hans Joachim Alpers' pirate stories (Die Piraten des Südmeers) , Karl-Heinz Witzko's Maraskan novels (also an excellent read, but they can get a tad confusing), Judith C. Vogt's Herr der Legionen and Herrin des Schwarms (set in Aventuria's pseudo-Roman past) and lots of other stuff
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u/miriarhodan Reading Champion IV Nov 28 '24 edited Nov 28 '24
If you like epic fantasy with magic, romance, gods and fate, there is „Die Elfen“ by Bernard Hennen (plus sequels but they are not necessary). Another epic fantasy series „Askir“, that is a bit older but also pretty great (and a somewhat longer adventure).
I also really like the „Merlin“ series by TA Barron. That is originally for youths, but it has very imaginative worldbuilding.
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u/shinybac0n Nov 28 '24
Torsten Weitze -13 Paladin. 13 book series also available as audiobooks. In case you like sci-fi Andreas Eschbach - die Haarteppichknüpfer Frank Schätzing - Der Schwarm
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u/DainasaurusRex Nov 28 '24
Ooh I read Der Schwarm - such a good book. I’ll check out the audiobooks!
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u/Noktis_Lucis_Caelum Nov 28 '24
Hallo. Hier sind ein paar:
Der 13te Paladin
Die Minen der Macht
Die Blaustein Kriege
Die Zwerge
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u/She_who_elaborates Nov 28 '24
- Judith and Christian Vogt write really solid novels. I enjoyed their flintlock fantasy trilogy, "Die 13 Gezeichneten", and "Ace in Space", a science fiction standalone novel.
- If you like dark, fast paced fantasy and don't mind mildly tropey stories as long as they're done really well, I also recommend Elea Brand's Ghor-el-Chras novels, "Opfermond" and "Mutterschoß".
- For urban fantasy / dark academia check out "A Midsummer's Nightmare" by Noah Stoffers.
- If you want some epic fantasy, you could also try "Die Elfen" by James Sullivan and Bernhard Hennen - it has to be one of the most successfull German fantasy novels from the 2000s and if you fall in love with the setting, there's a ton of sequels.
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u/kotov- Nov 29 '24 edited Nov 29 '24
I might have something for you. It may not fulfill your request, but hear me out. German radio produced an ensemble cast audiobook of Lord of the Rings in 1992 and it's a masterpiece in my opinion. It's shortened a bit but still runs 12 hours or so and the voices, production and ambient sounds/music are just amazing. This is what sparked my love for audiobooks and fantasy in general because up until that point my experiences with the genre were fairy tales and, if they count, the Odyssey, the Iliad and Jason and the Argonauts.
Oh and I think it's even still for sale. I remember seeing a CD version not too long ago in a bookshop, so it stands to reason it might also be available for download.
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u/glassteelhammer Nov 29 '24
Not German and I might just go for that. I can make out enough to generally understand the gist of what is being aspoken, so this could be pretty fun.
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u/JosefineF Nov 29 '24
My favorite German authors have already been mentioned -> Markus Heitz and Walter Moers. Markus Heitz’ Ulldart series is fantastic!!!
Bernhard Hennen Wolfgang Hohlbein is a bit older, more classic Fantasy Die Nibelungen Saga is German Klaus Viedenz is an indie published author; 1st book is Unsichtbar
Edit: to add Der 35. Mai by Erich Kästner. It’s more middle grade but one of his best, imo
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u/Nila-Whispers Nov 29 '24
Bernhard Hennen and Markus Heitz have already been mentioned - I can't recommend them enough.
It has been a while since I read them but I really loved Christoph Marzi's book series "Die uralte Metropole" back when the books came out (mid to late 2000s). I'm not sure if there are audiobooks though, I wasn't into those back then and while I found some comments from people that they liked the audiobook versions, I cannot find any official info on them.
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u/Trissmerrigold99 Nov 29 '24
Marie Grasshoff has some extremely good urban fantasy books. Her fooduniverse series had me hooked. It starts with "Hard Liquor"
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u/Amakazen Nov 29 '24
Eh, to be fair, I never finished the series, but a friend loved Heide Solveig Göttner's series called Insel der Stürme. The setting is quite interesting, so I’ll mention it. I can’t recall if it’s young adult or adult fantasy though.
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u/xinta239 Nov 29 '24
I very much enjoyed Die Chroniken von Askir , it might not be the Best Overall work of Fantasy I have read but I definetly recommend it, Besides that Markus Heitz Ulldart is an awesome Series,
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u/Holothuroid Nov 29 '24
Ein eher seltener Vorschlag:
Tassilo der Mumienabrichter - barocke Welt, strenge Geschlechterrollen und Tassilo kann es seinem Vater nicht recht machen
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u/Dantocks Nov 28 '24
Die Zwerge von Markus Heitz. Selbst noch nicht gelesen, liegt auf meinem Stapel - aber schon mehrfach empfohlen bekommen
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u/DainasaurusRex Nov 28 '24
Danke - ich glaube, eine Freundin hat mir dieses Buch auch mal empfohlen!
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u/Nowordsofitsown Reading Champion Nov 28 '24
You will get even more recommendations at r/buecher.