Vir die eerste maal kyk sy op, haar blik reguit en eerlik, maar haar stem treurig: “My opdrag was slegs en spesifiek die biologiese en hidroponiese werk wat ek hier in Saakni gedoen het. Asseblief, u beskik oor my lewe, maar nie oor my woorde nie."
For the first time, she looks up, her gaze straight and honest, her voice sad: “My assignment was only and specifically the biological and hydroponic work I did here in Saakni. Please, you have the power over my life, but not my words."
From ‘Swart ster oor die Karoo’ (Black star over the Karoo) by Jan Rabie, 1957.
Eva Stellaris was sent as a helper from the future. Part of her command involved only answering in a way that complements the knowledge that already exists and not help directly, “that man should, after all, help himself.”
Read More‘When I was a young girl, we didn’t have telescopes. We had small binoculars mostly because it was after the world war. Today there are so many telescopes - and they are amazing. From this little size from where you could see the moon and the Planets to that big one over there where you can see literally everything.’ - Jess van Elferen, Shopkeeper, Telescope Shop, Brakpan, Gauteng.
Read More'If you consider there are between 10 and 20 times as many galaxies outside ours as there are stars in our galaxy - and we have maybe 200 billion stars, so multiply that between 10 and 20 and that is the number of galaxies, and each of those may have 200 billion starts. So we are pretty insignificant. If you go and look at a piece of sand outside. That is how insignificant we are. We think we are important but we are not.' - Chris Forder. Amateur Telescope builder.
Read More'To whom shall I dedicate this book? It is about a being who is not human, who is higher than man - an unattainable superior.
I think I will go to the opposite - and then I will not have to look very far. I lost a friend a long time ago - a friend that I loved and who loved me. I will never see him again forever; but forever I will never forget him. Now, after all these years, there is not a day that passes without his image coming before me and I'm grieving about him. To him I was the higher being - a Loeloeraai of a higher existence. To me he was the ultimate perfection I found on earth, of love and faithfulness and virtue. And I lost him, and I miss him dearly. . .
I dedicate this work:
To the memory of
MY FRIEND AND DOG, JAKHALS’
From the dedication of Loeloeraai, CJ Langenhoven, 4th Edition 1929, First published 1923. Translated from original Afrikaans by Nic Grobler.
Photograph inspired by Loeloeraai, CJ Langenhoven. Loeloeraai is a visitor from Venus, who spends about two weeks with a family in Oudtshoorn. They end up going on a small trip to the moon before Loeloeraai returns to Venus.
Read MoreIn this book the main characters undergo an extreme acceleration in a new type of human built space ship. The speed and the effect that it has on them is referred to 'the judgement'. As they slowly start 'remembering' the future they realize that their destination sun and planet is named after themselves.
Read More'To whom shall I dedicate this book? It is about a being who is not human, who is higher than man - an unattainable superior.
I think I will go to the opposite - and then I will not have to look very far. I lost a friend a long time ago - a friend that I loved and who loved me. I will never see him again forever; but forever I will never forget him. Now, after all these years, there is not a day that passes without his image coming before me and I'm grieving about him. To him I was the higher being - a Loeloeraai of a higher existence. To me he was the ultimate perfection I found on earth, of love and faithfulness and virtue. And I lost him, and I miss him dearly. . .
I dedicate this work:
To the memory of
MY FRIEND AND DOG, JAKHALS’
Translated from original Afrikaans by Nic Grobler, Loeloeraai, CJ Langenhoven, 4th Edition 1929, First published 1923.
Read MoreJan Rabie was born in George and went to the High School of Riversdale. At the University of Stellenbosch he has degrees B.A., S.O.D. and M.A. achieved. From 1948 to 1954 he lived in Paris. After a visit to the United States of America In 1966, using a Carnegie travel fair, he lived on the island of Crete from 1967 to 1969. He was a teacher and announcer at S.A.U.K., but is already a full-time full-time writer. He lives on Onrus River today. He is married to the painter Marjorie Wallace. Jan Rabie has gained popularity with his short prosecutions, of which 21 are the best known. His Bolandia series, in which four novels appeared so far, attracted a lot of attention, while he contributed to the Afrikaans youth literature with Twee Strandlopers and The Seeboek van de Sonderkossers. In addition, he wrote three books that can be described as science fiction, including Black Star across the Karoo. He has translated a large number of books, mainly from French and modern Greek
Read MoreThis is not a sci-fi book, but it was written around the same time of the Swart Ster Oor Die Karoo, and contains a reference to the human relationship with the universe and the coming space age - it places humans in context of space to recommend a position away from nationalism.
Read More'To whom shall I dedicate this book? It is about a being who is not human, who is higher than man - an unattainable superior.
I think I will go to the opposite - and then I will not have to look very far. I lost a friend a long time ago - a friend that I loved and who loved me. I will never see him again forever; but forever I will never forget him. Now, after all these years, there is not a day that passes without his image coming before me and I'm grieving about him. To him I was the higher being - a Loeloeraai of a higher existence. To me he was the ultimate perfection I found on earth, of love and faithfulness and virtue. And I lost him, and I miss him dearly. . .
I dedicate this work:
To the memory of
MY FRIEND AND DOG, JAKHALS’
Translated from original Afrikaans by Nic Grobler, Loeloeraai, CJ Langenhoven, 4th Edition 1929, First published 1923.
Video inspired by the dedication of the 1923 Sci-fi novel, Loeloeraai by CJ Langenhoven.
Read More'Die Hemelblom' (The Heavenly Flower) an Afrikaans sci-fi novel by Jan Rabie from 1971. The 'hemelblom' was sent to the earth by a concerned galactic council to ensure the survival of life on earth in the face of a new world war. The plant was specifically grown to remove the poisonous elements introduced by humans - feeding on pollution it would rapidly cover the earth and wipe out most of humankind but leave a new earth covered with fresh fertile soil.
'Only in the morning, when the daylight crossed over the highland rocks and fynbos, they saw how strange and otherworldly the 'hemelblom' was. The seeds that fell the previous afternoon shot up incredibly fast, each on a lump of roots that didn't enter the ground, but just gripped the ground from above. In one single night each plant became fully grown and was spreading seeds so that new plants would shoot up. In one night the 'hemelblomme' multiplied a hundredfold. For now it was just strange. Only later it would become frightening.'
- Translated from original Afrikaans, Hemelblom, Jan Rabie, first published 1971.
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