The World of Modern German Fantasy Fiction: Walter Moers

Who could be the boldest and the most peculiar German Fantasy writer ever? I have two names, but in boldness, Walter Moers is the superior. He is one of the most unique fantasy writers of our time. Some might be terrified by the thickness of his books, yet there are countless exciting and creative adventures you'll encounter inside his book.

Walter Moers (1957-)

There are no reliable recent photos of him, since he conceals himself at home and never appears in public. He is very adventurous in this writings, such as filling three whole page with "Sie wurden soeben vergiftet." (You've been poisoned.) or using different fonts for each character's thoughts. He also made a character called Optimus Yarnspinner, who "writes" the novels and Walter Moers claims that he "translates" those books from Zamonien language to German.

Walter Moers illustrates for his books with a great amount of detail, such as the map of a fictional contient Zamonia above. It is said that he sometimes even uses magnifying glass.


I here would like to present three most popular books written by Walter Moers. It's a shame that the books are not translated by the same person, since the English translation of Optimus Yarnspinner is different from book to book.

The 13½ Lives of Captain Bluebear

Let's start with a bold premise: A blue bear (whose name is Bluebear) who has an encyclopedia inside his brain travels around a fictional Earth that has the undiscovered continent called Zamonia.


This novel is similar to The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy that the contents of an encyclopedia are kept shown throughout the novel; however, the difference it that in The 13½ Lives of Captain Bluebear, the encyclopedia is actually a thought-transmitting system and plays a key role in climax, not because of the information inside it. It's very funny that the knowledge inside the bear's head always comes out in wrong time.


This book is the first Walter Moers's book to feature his fictional continent called Zamonia which will be continue to appear as the background for most of his following fantasy books. This book has a special place in my heart, because the puppet show of Bluebear in German television was one of my nostalgic TV shows. Actually, this is rather the most children-friendly book of all Walter Moers's writings. 

This bear has 27 lives, yet I don't know how that works, because he doesn't die to start a new life like a Timelord from Doctor Who. Here are some of his life from the book:
1st Life: Bluebear is stranded in an ocean in a walnut shell next to the world's most giant whirlpool before he is rescued by a band of Minipirates. The Minipirates are 3-4cm long, and are afraid of Hobgoblins, who are semi-ghost invertebrates feeding on emotions. The pirates adopt him as a good luck charm but abandons him in an island when Bluebear grows so big that he almost sinks their ship.


4th Life: Blubear arrives on Gourmet Island, a place filled with delicious food that mysteriously grows everyday. You have an orange juice stream, spaghetti trees, and potatoes that jump into a boiling pit of oil. Bluebear eats the addictive foods so much that he fattens up enormously. It is revealed that the island is a giant carnivorous plant that lures passers-by. Seconds from being eaten, Bluebear is saved by Deus X. "Mac" Machina, a pterodactyl Roving Reptilian Rescuer whose job is saving others at the last moment.

Bluebear was also made in an animated series.

6th Life: Bluebear is taught all the knowledge in the universe with the aid of the seven-brained Nocturnomath Professor Abdullah Nightingale. Bluebear  befriends fellow students Qwerty Uiop (a gelatine prince from the 2364th Dimension who accidentally entered this world through a Dimensional Hiatus) and Fredda the Alpine Imp (a hairy creature with a crush on Bluebear). Upon leaving the Academy, Nightingale transmits an encyclopedia into his head.


You probably might have noticed by now the style of Walter Moers. He introduces us to his amazing world and the creatures in it, and let us trace them through his novels. Every single chapter is filled with absurd yet stunningly adventures which might seem disorienting and not connected; however, there is a tremendous reveal at the end that even some passing-by ship or silly talk of  Professor Nightingale was the key to Bluebear's destiny. 


The variation of fonts is utilized most in this novel. Not only the encyclopedia, but also other characters such as Professor Nightingale or The Thinking Element Zamonium use different fonts from Bluebear's narration.

Rumo & His Miraculous Adventures : a novel in two books

 

  

This is the longest yet the most beautiful story of Walter Moers set in Zamonia. We see some familiar faces from Bluebear, such as the Wolpertings who are the main characters of this novel. Wolpertings are a species in Zamonia that already made appearance in Blubear. They are dogs with antlers in their heads, and they stand on their hind legs; their living is very similar to that of ours. 
While Blubear's Zamonia contained modern settings such as newspapers, giant vessels, and electricity, this world is dealing with ancient relics and gory adventures that are reminiscent of medieval setup, thus the events of this book take place far before Bluebear's adventures. 

Instead of 13 and half distinct episodes telling the story in Blubear, we now have two continuous stories in one book: 
Book 1: Rumo is kidnapped with his owners by monsters with one eye. While he is held as a prisoners to be eaten later, he meets s Shark Grub Volzotan Smyke, who later makes an appearance in Bluebear as a wicked agent. Smyke trains Rumo to be a fierce warrior, and they both manage to escape. Rumo sees a silver thread in front of his eyes and decides to follow it while Smyke goes for something realistic. Rumo follows the thread to arrive in the city made just for his kind. He realizes that the thread is supposed to lead to his true love.

Yes. Every single brilliant illustration is drawn by Walter Moers.

Book 2: Rumo one day enters the dangerous Nurnenwald to get a piece of precious wood to carve a beautiful casket his true love Rala. He returns to Wolperting to find a big hole in the ground and all citizens missing. Rumo goes down into the hole, which leads him into The World Below whiich is a world of its own with its capital city, Hel. 
Moers describes the horrible place elaborately which reminds me of old German mythology or Dante's Divine Comedy. Rumo learns that Rala is held captive inside General Ticktok's Iron Maiden and others are forced to fight enormous beasts in order to entertain the citizens of Hel.

The only problem I might have with this book is the main character, Rumo. Although he performs every single task vital to his friends' survival, he is never thanked or rewarded by anyone in this novel because of the shadows of others and his coward heart; thus it makes me frustrated to see that this brave young warrior, our hero, being ignored by the whole world. Yet the author left a hopeful ending that leaves what happened to others to your imagination.

The City of Dreaming Books (2004)

Let's start with even bolder premise than the last one: A young dinosaur who is trained to be the greatest writer of all time goes on a journey to the city of books, in order to find the master who wrote the world's perfect story ever.


While Blubear was a delightful and colourful journey, Rumo's was a gloomy yet hopeful one, and the adventures of this young dinosaur is the goriest and darkest of all. His journey is full or horror and despair, but there are some humorous moments that always sneaks in. Most of Walter Moers's fans including me count this as his masterpiece. It's sad that translation from German made this book somewhat less passionate and even boring.


This is the greatest tribute to books ever written. Every single thing about this book is just books. The madness of books starts when our character enters Bookholm: streets full of bookstores, publishing companies, illustrators, pubs and cafe with poet-reading events, massive discounts of books, street performers and singers.

We even have carnivorous books! Mommy, buy me that!

If the illustrations of Bluebear was "sketchy", this book has the most detailed illustrations Walter Moers ever created in his works. The gore of Walter Moer's illustration and writing would be the strongest here. For instance. there is a scene where our character kills all of the carnivorous books, and inky blood fills the room while our hero roars in victory. It's scary scene since Optimus is a kind, gentle and intelligent character.


The main character Optimus Prime Yarnspinner (Hildegunst von Mythenmetz in the German version) is an aspiring author and inherits his godfather's possessions including a perfect story written by an unknown author. Shaken by the perfection, he travels to Bookholm, the city of dreaming books, in search of the unknown writer. Yarnspinner falls in love with the city upon his arrival because of its literary appreciation; however, he falls victim to the charismatic yet cruel Shark Grub Pfistomel Smyke. 

He journeys beneath Bookholm to find the way back home, and he finds a vast labyrinthine catacombs that not only hold valuable books but also various giant insects and the deadly Toxicotomes – books which kill anyone who touches them, blood-thirsty book hunters, and finally, the Shadow King, the ruler of the catacombs.


If Bluebear's and Rumo's setting was modern times and medieval guild, this book's setting is somewhat vague. The detailed description of greedy publishing agents, proofreaders in despair, and the fallen writer makes us remember the criticisms of the equivalents of our modern world. There are even some scene that the main character says: "At least the old time didn't have bribed critics, thus we are nowadays living in darker ages than before."; however, the book seems to be the ultimate gathering place of Gothic horror with dark castles dominated by a mysterious and mad Tyrant. 

Talking about these guys would be major spoilers.

Exemplary Novels of postmodernism come less from the Germany. As Walter Moers goes deep into the mazes that has bookshelves instead of walls, it will remind you of Jorge Luis Borges or Umberto Eco's long and unique descriptions dedicated to books and libraries. If you love dark fantasies and perhaps Gothic fiction, I strongly recommend you this book. You will be gasping and your heart will pound with horror as Walter Moers's detailed description of underground catacombs and mazes continue.


Once you enter the Zamonia, you would like to know more and more about it. Walter Moers has written books set in Zamonia one a few years, and I am always looking forward to reading his new book.


Original Titles:

• Die 13½ Leben des Käpt’n Blaubär
• Rumo & Die Wunder im Dunkeln
• Die Stadt der Träumenden Bücher

P.S. The original covers of the books in Germny are very thoughtful and creative. For Bluebear, our main character is peeking through the blue-tinted beards of Tyrannowalfisch Rex, Ensel and Krete, a brother and sister lost in the woods, look at us from inside a tree with a knothole, and finally, young Rumo is looking outside the red curtain, which implies that he will make an important entrance.