Hans Gerhard Franciskowsky (14 January 1936 – 3 November 2011) was a German author of
popular fiction
Genre fiction, also known as popular fiction, is a term used in the book-trade for fictional works written with the intent of fitting into a specific literary genre, in order to appeal to readers and fans already familiar with that genre.
A num ...
, notably
science fiction
Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...
, and
radio drama
Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatized, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine ...
s. He wrote pseudonymously, most often as H. G. Francis, or as Hans G. Francis, H. G. Francisco, Gunther Frank, Peter Bars, R. C. Quoos-Raabe, Frank Sky, Hans G. Stelling or Ted Scott.
Francis was one of post-war Germany's most prolific authors, writing more than 400 novels and about 600 radio drama plays.
His written work includes about 300 entries in the ''
Perry Rhodan
''Perry Rhodan'' is a West German/ German space opera franchise, named after its hero. It commenced in 1961 and has been ongoing for decades, written by an ever-changing team of authors. Having sold approximately two billion copies (in novel ...
'' science fiction series and its spin-offs,
as well as a
young adult
A young adult is generally a person in the years following adolescence. Definitions and opinions on what qualifies as a young adult vary, with works such as Erik Erikson's stages of human development significantly influencing the definition of ...
science fiction series of his own, ''
Commander Perkins''.
In the heyday of cassette radio dramas until the 1980s, he wrote hundreds of adaptations or original plays for youth series such as ''
Three Investigators
The Three Investigators is an American juvenile detective book series first published as "''Alfred Hitchcock and the Three Investigators''". It was created by Robert Arthur Jr., who believed involving a famous person such as movie director Alfr ...
'', ''
The Famous Five
''The Famous Five'' is a series of children's Adventure fiction, adventure novels and short stories written by English author Enid Blyton. The first book, ''Five on a Treasure Island'', was published in 1942. The novels feature the adventures ...
'', ''
TKKG
The Junior detective series TKKG is a German series of audio dramas and novels created by "Stefan Wolf", a pseudonym used by Rolf Kalmuczak.
The characters and their creator
In all German-speaking countries they are the most commercially succe ...
'' and ''
Masters of the Universe''.
In total, more than 120 million of his plays were sold. They reached
gold status 120 times and
platinum status six times.
Further reading
*
Hans Joachim Alpers
Hans Joachim Alpers (14 July 1943 – 16 February 2011) was a German writer and editor of science fiction and fantasy. Together with Werner Fuchs and Ulrich Kiesow he founded Fantasy Productions, which became one of the premier German RPG- and ...
, Thomas M. Loock: ''Interview mit H. G. Francis.'' In: Hans Joachim Alpers und Thomas M. Loock (eds.), ''Lesebuch der deutschen Science Fiction 1984'' (Edition Futurum Bd. 4), Corian Verlag, Meitingen 1983, .
External links
*
H. G. Francison the website of the ''Perry-Rhodan'' series
H. G. Francis in the ''Perrypedia'' wiki
Footnotes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Francis, H G
1936 births
2011 deaths
German science fiction writers
German radio writers
German male writers