Karel Thole (1914–2000)
Author of The Haunted Stars
About the Author
Image credit: Karel Thole at 1971 Worldcon (Noreascon One) By Jay Kay Klein - Original publication: Jay Kay Klein photographs and papers on science fiction fandom (MS 381). Special Collections & University Archives, University of California, Riverside.Immediate source: Title: DC in '74 party, Noreascon One Date: 1971 Collection: Jay Kay Klein photographs and papers on science fiction fandom Owning Institution: UC Riverside, Library, Special Collections and University Archives Source: Calisphere Date of access: October 10 2020 03:11 Permalink: https://calisphere.org/item/ark:/86086/n2p849qk/, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=65543505
Works by Karel Thole
The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction 67. Dinosaurier auf dem Broadway. (1983) — Cover artist — 10 copies
Agonia Della Terra 4 copies
"Le citta della mente": tempere di Karel Thole per "I romanzi di Urania": [asta di originali: Cartoomics (Fiera Milano City), sabato 27 marzo 2010! 2 copies, 1 review
Il bambino nel forno — Illustrator — 1 copy
Com'era lassù e altri racconti — Illustrator — 1 copy
Droom mij dood — Illustrator — 1 copy
La stella della vita — Illustrator — 1 copy
Associated Works
Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea (1869) — Cover artist, some editions — 21,268 copies, 283 reviews
So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish (1984) — Cover artist, some editions — 15,658 copies, 142 reviews
The Dispossessed (1974) — Cover artist, some editions; Cover artist, some editions — 12,833 copies, 311 reviews
The Stainless Steel Rat for President (1982) — Cover artist, some editions — 1,609 copies, 12 reviews
The Stainless Steel Rat Gets Drafted (1987) — Cover artist, some editions — 1,302 copies, 13 reviews
The Stainless Steel Rat Saves the World (1972) — Cover designer, some editions — 975 copies, 5 reviews
The Stainless Steel Rat Sings the Blues (1994) — Cover artist, some editions — 728 copies, 7 reviews
Untouched by Human Hands: Thirteen Stories (1954) — Cover artist, some editions — 378 copies, 11 reviews
The Robot Who Looked Like Me [collection] (1978) — Cover artist, some editions — 167 copies, 4 reviews
The Best from Fantasy and Science Fiction: 16th Series (1967) — Cover designer, some editions — 77 copies
The Year's Best Horror Stories: Series I (1971) — Cover artist, some editions — 69 copies, 2 reviews
Alfred Hitchcock's Down By the Old Bloodstream (1971) — Illustrator, some editions — 58 copies, 2 reviews
Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazin I. (1978) — Cover artist, some editions — 12 copies, 1 review
De gelaarsde kat : vertelling van een merkwaardige strafzaak (1949) — Illustrator, some editions — 11 copies
Ganymedes 8 — Cover artist — 8 copies
De moeder — Illustrator, some editions — 7 copies
Gogols Frau. Internationale Science Fiction Erzählungen. (1994) — Cover artist, some editions — 5 copies
Johann Sebastian Bach Memorial Barbecue. Internationale Science Fiction Erzählungen. (1992) — Cover artist, some editions — 4 copies
Papa Godzilla. Internationale Science Fiction Erzählungen. (1989) — Cover artist, some editions — 4 copies
Un passo avanti e due indietro — Cover artist, some editions — 3 copies
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Canonical name
- Thole, Karel
- Legal name
- Thole, Carolus Adrianus Maria
- Other names
- Thole, C. A. M.
- Birthdate
- 1914-04-20
- Date of death
- 2000-03-26
- Education
- State Drawing School, Amsterdam
- Occupations
- illustrator
- Awards and honors
- Kurd-Laßwitz-Preis (Bester Graphiker/Künstler ∙ 1994)
Kurd-Laßwitz-Preis (Sonderpreis Lebenswerk ∙ 1997) - Short biography
- Carolus Adrianus Maria Thole wurde am 20. April 1914 in Bussum (ca. 20 km von Amsterdam entfernt) in Holland als zweites von elf Kindern geboren. Die Familie Thole gehörte dem Mittelstand an, sein Vater war als Handels-vertreter tätig, seine Mutter kam aus dem deutschsprachigen Raum. Karel Thole war in der Schule nur mässiger Erfolg beschieden, aber seine künstlerische Neigung war nicht zu leugnen. Nach der Mittelschule in Hilversum, besuchte er deshalb die staatlichen Zeichenschule in Amsterdam und kam so in den Genuß eines freien Eintritts in alle städtischen Museen. Im Sommer 1953 kam Karel Thole das erstemal nach Italien und finanzierte seine Reise durch seine Zeichnungen. Zurück in Holland begann er seine Arbeit als Titelbildillustrator, und im Laufe der nächsten Jahre arbeitete er teilweise für mehr als 20 Verleger. 1958 übersiedelte er ganz nach Italien, genauer gesagt nach Mailand. Karel Thole sprach Holländisch, Deutsch, Italienisch, Französisch und Englisch und sah sich selbst nicht mehr als Holländer, sondern als Europäer.
Karel Tholes Werke sind eindeutig vom Werk der Surrealismus geprägt, und unter seinen Vorbilder waren Max Ernst, Salvador Dali und Rene Magritte. Über viele Jahre hinweg prägten seine Titelbilder das Gesicht der SF in Europa und vor allem in Deutschland. Er wurde 1973 in Toronto beim damaligen WorldCon mit einem Spezialpreis ausgezeichnet, weitere Würdigungen folgten. Unter dem Titel "Visionen des Unwirklichen: Die phantastischen Bilder des Karel Thole" erschien 1982 eine Sammlung seiner besten Illustrationen in Deutschland. 1986 mußte Karel Thole seine Arbeit aufgrund eines Augenleidens fast komplett einstellen.
Karel Thole erhielt u.a. zweimal den Kurd-Laßwitz-Preis (wird seit 1981 im Bereich der Science Fiction im deutschsprachigen Raum vergeben): 1994 als bester Graphiker/Künstler und 1997 als Sonderpreis für sein Lebenswerk.
In der Nacht zum 26. März 2000 verstarb Karel Thole im Alter von 85 Jahren in seinem Haus in Cannobio am Lago Maggiore (Italien). Karel Thole war als SF-Illustrator weltweit bekannt, seine Werke zierten aber vor allem die SF&F-Ausgaben des Heyne-Verlags, Gruselheftromane (VHR + DämonenKiller) des Pabel-Verlages und von Mondadori in Italien.
(Quellen: Text: 18. April 2000 - Autor: Florian Breitsameter bei SF-Fan.de, Locus, Heyne SF-Magazin 1, Encyclopedia of Science Fiction) - Nationality
- Netherlands
- Birthplace
- Bussum, North Holland, Netherlands
- Places of residence
- Milan, Lombardy, Italy
- Place of death
- Cannobio, Piedmont, Italy
Members
Reviews
The Weapon from Beyond by Edmond Hamilton is start of the Starwolf trilogy. The trilogy was the inspiration for the 1978 Japanese series Star Wolf (Sutaurufu). In turn, the series was dubbed and cut together into two TV movies, Fugitive Alien and Fugitive Alien 2. These two films were then re-edited and riffed as two different episodes of Mystery Science Theater 3000. It is this final version that I was first introduced to Edmond Hamilton's trilogy.
After many times of watching the MST3K show more versions with the many many Kens, I decided it was time to read the source material. I was curious to see if the original version was as nonsensical as the final iteration.
"Ken" turns out to be Morgan Chase, a Star Wolf, who ends up in the service of some mercenaries. They are after the "weapon from beyond" to prevent it from getting into the wrong hands, or perhaps to sell it to the highest bidder.
Most of the story is Morgan's reaction to meeting all sorts of different aliens. Except, they aren't exactly aliens. Turns out humanity has spread across the galaxy and evolved into different adaptations for survival. The Earthling version is the boring, less evolved version.
So basically the way the mercs, who are all humans because it's the only job out there for them, get the job done, is they disguise themselves as the other human subspecies. I guess that explains the blond wigs all the Kens were wearing?
Although there are two other books I don't think I'm going to continue with them. The adventures are too episodic and there's too much time spent on wondering about all the different cultures and the dangers of being an Earth human. show less
After many times of watching the MST3K show more versions with the many many Kens, I decided it was time to read the source material. I was curious to see if the original version was as nonsensical as the final iteration.
"Ken" turns out to be Morgan Chase, a Star Wolf, who ends up in the service of some mercenaries. They are after the "weapon from beyond" to prevent it from getting into the wrong hands, or perhaps to sell it to the highest bidder.
Most of the story is Morgan's reaction to meeting all sorts of different aliens. Except, they aren't exactly aliens. Turns out humanity has spread across the galaxy and evolved into different adaptations for survival. The Earthling version is the boring, less evolved version.
So basically the way the mercs, who are all humans because it's the only job out there for them, get the job done, is they disguise themselves as the other human subspecies. I guess that explains the blond wigs all the Kens were wearing?
Although there are two other books I don't think I'm going to continue with them. The adventures are too episodic and there's too much time spent on wondering about all the different cultures and the dangers of being an Earth human. show less
This is typical 1960s pulp science fiction—long on action, short on character building. The premise of a young outcast with special abilities struggling his way glory will seem a bit trite these days as it's been done so many times, but this example is no worse than many others.
This book is one of his better works.
Edmond Hamilton was a prolific SF writer of the 1920s-1960s He wrote dozens of short stories for the Pulp magazines and over 50 novels during his career. He was also the husband of the more famous writer Leigh Brackett. Most of his work was typical middle grade space adventures but he could churn them out like a machine. Once in a while he would write a really good one. This is one of the good ones. I really liked it.
Edmond Hamilton was a prolific SF writer of the 1920s-1960s He wrote dozens of short stories for the Pulp magazines and over 50 novels during his career. He was also the husband of the more famous writer Leigh Brackett. Most of his work was typical middle grade space adventures but he could churn them out like a machine. Once in a while he would write a really good one. This is one of the good ones. I really liked it.
In this novel the situation begins rather like that in the "TMA-1" section of Clarke's "2001: A Space Odyssey". The USA and the USSR have bases on Luna and the USA has discovered ancient alien artifacts, which they are keeping secret. "The Haunted Stars" is a more straightforward tale, however. Scientists explore the ancient ruins, translate the writing and uncover mankind's true history and legacy.
Well before the halfway mark a starship is built and the story proceeds to Altair, as an show more expedition is mounted to seek out our long-lost relatives who apparentlly abandoned our solar system 30,000 years ago.
I enjoyed it. show less
Well before the halfway mark a starship is built and the story proceeds to Altair, as an show more expedition is mounted to seek out our long-lost relatives who apparentlly abandoned our solar system 30,000 years ago.
I enjoyed it. show less
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