''Die'' ''Gezeitenwelt'' (World of Tides) is the name of a series of German

fantasy novels Fantasy literature is literature set in an imaginary universe, often but not always without any locations, events, or people from the real world. magic (paranormal), Magic, the supernatural and Legendary creature, magical creatures are common i ...

. They are set on a planet named World of Tides that is hit by large fragments of a

comet A comet is an icy, small Solar System body that warms and begins to release gases when passing close to the Sun, a process called outgassing. This produces an extended, gravitationally unbound atmosphere or Coma (cometary), coma surrounding ...

with dramatic consequences: The coasts are hit by gigantic

tsunami A tsunami ( ; from , ) is a series of waves in a water body caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean or a large lake. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and underwater explosions (including detonations, ...

s, earthquakes alter the landscape, a global

climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...

ensues - and mysterious magic awakes, that lets monsters appear and dreams become reality. A distinct feature of the ''Gezeitenwelt'' is its attempted realism in a fantastic context, which is based on research by the authors with the help of

geophysicists Geophysics () is a subject of natural science concerned with the physical processes and properties of Earth and its surrounding space environment, and the use of quantitative methods for their analysis. Geophysicists conduct investigations acros ...

archaeologists Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

anthropologists An anthropologist is a scientist engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropologists study aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms, values ...

and

biologist A biologist is a scientist who conducts research in biology. Biologists are interested in studying life on Earth, whether it is an individual Cell (biology), cell, a multicellular organism, or a Community (ecology), community of Biological inter ...

s. The series was planned in three groups of four books. After the release of the introductory group, the publisher

Piper Verlag Piper Verlag is a German publisher based in Munich, printing both fiction and non-fiction works. It currently prints over 200 new paperback titles per year. Authors published by the company include Andreas von Bülow and Sara Paretsky. It is ow ...

offered only to finish the series with one instead of eight more books, which the authors refused. The series rests at the moment (2007).

Authors

The novels are written by four authors sharing the pseudonym ''Magus Magellan''. ''Magus'' stands for the magic in the World of Tides, while ''Magellan'' represents the element of discovery. The authors are: *

Bernhard Hennen Bernhard Hennen (born 1966 in Krefeld) is a German writer of fantasy literature. He is best known internationally for his series ''Die Elfen'' ("The Elves", since 2004), which has been translated into a number of European languages. Career H ...

* Hadmar von Wieser * Thomas Finn *

Karl-Heinz Witzko Karl-Heinz is a German given name, composed of Karl and Heinz but with a hyphen dash. Notable people with that name include: * Hilarios Karl-Heinz Ungerer, German Bishop * Karl-Heinz Feldkamp (born 1934), football coach and former player * Karl-He ...

These authors have among other works contributed intensively to the

role-playing game A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, or abbreviated as RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of player character, characters in a fictional Setting (narrative), setting. Players take responsibility for acting out ...

The Dark Eye Dark Eye(s) or The Dark Eye may refer to: Film, television, theater, and audio drama * Dark Eyes (1935 film), ''Dark Eyes'' (1935 film), a 1935 French drama film * Dark Eyes (play), ''Dark Eyes'' (play), a 1943 play by Elena Miramova in collabo ...

''.

Books

The ''Gezeitenwelt'' series was planned to cover a fictitious period of about 50 years divided into three groups. Only the first group has been realized (2007). * Prelude ** ''Das Geheimnis der Gezeitenwelt'' (The Secret of the World of Tides)(10/2004) (SC) * 1st group ** ''Der Wahrträumer'' (The True-Dreamer) by

(10/2002) (HC) / (SC) ** ''Himmlisches Feuer'' (Heavenly Fire) by Hadmar von Wieser (03/2003) (HC) / (SC) ** ''Das Weltennetz'' (The Worlds' Net) by Thomas Finn (09/2003) (HC) / (SC) ** ''Die Purpurinseln'' (The Crimson Islands) by Thomas Finn (04/2004) (HC) / (SC) ** ''Das Traumbeben'' (The Dreamquake) by

(10/2004) (HC) / (SC) Each book of the 1st group is a self-contained description about the events directly before to some years after the cosmic hit in different parts of the world (only book three and four by Thomas Finn belong together), with some reappearing events and minor characters. The novels won the Deutscher Rollenspiele Preis (German role-playing prize) for best novel in 2003 and 2004.

Illustrations

The maps of the world were designed by

Franz Vohwinkel Franz Vohwinkel (born 1964 in Munich, West Germany) is a German artist and illustrator whose artwork has been featured in role-playing games. Works Vohwinkel drew the cover art for the book ''Dataware'' (1998) for TSR's ''Alternity'' game, and ...

, who became known for his illustrations of games like ''

Settlers of Catan ''Catan'', previously known as ''The Settlers of Catan'' or simply ''Settlers'', is a multiplayer board game designed by Klaus Teuber. It was first published in 1995 in Germany by Franckh-Kosmos Verlag (Kosmos) as ''Die Siedler von Catan'' (). ...

'' and '' Magic: The Gathering''. The interior illustrations were done by German drawer Caryad, known mainly for her work in ''

''.

References

{{Reflist

External links

(all German)
Official Gezeitenwelt homepage

Homepage of Bernhard Hennen

Homepage of Hadmar von Wieser

Homepage of Thomas Finn

Comprehensive fan encyclopaedia
Book series introduced in 2002 Fantasy novel series German fantasy novels 2002 German novels 2003 German novels 2004 German novels Piper Verlag books