Paul Van Herck Books In Order

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Paul Van Herck was a popular Belgian author of science fiction stories and radio plays. He had a particular interest in writing fantasy and science fiction books. Paul was also a teacher of the French and Dutch languages. He had made his debut in writing radio plays for BRT. However, he went on to become most popular for developing the Dutch TROS plays. Among all the radio plays that Paul developed for TROS, the series about the NASA astronaut and space reporter named Matt Meldon had become the most popular. Besides writing radio plays, Paul had written a number of science fiction novels in his career. The most notable one among them was Sam, of de Pluterdag, which was translated into English under the title of Where Were You Last Pluterday? This novel had helped Paul win the first prize at the Science Fiction Convention held in Trieste, Italy. Paul was born on May 19, 1938, in Berchem, Antwerp, Belgium. For a large part of his life, he was employed as a teacher. Paul was very efficient in Dutch and French, which had helped him get the teaching job for teaching these two languages.

After entering the world of writing science fiction play for the radio, Paul wrote many stories featuring Matt Meldon, a reporter and an astronaut working for NASA. Paul described Matt as experiencing numerous adventures in space. In the first segment of the story, he the whole saga of the moon landing. In another segment, he mentioned that Matt takes a trip to Venus. In the next story, Matt Meldon is shown investigating a strange artifact. Another part of the series shows Matt landing on Mars with his spacecraft called Prometheus XIII. This was followed by a story in which Matt comes across a stone in his garden that has strange inscriptions on it. In all the radio plays, Matt Meldon’s voice is given by Bert Dijkstra. In addition to the radio plays, there are several dozens of novel stories penned by Paul that are very popular throughout the world. Many of them have been translated into French, Spanish, German, and English.

All of Paul stories work considered extraordinary due to the fact that they were written with great thoughts and imagination, and for having a distinct and macabre sense of humor. Paul was always praised for his expertise in developing interesting stories every now and then. In one of the stories, explore the popular 1960s theory of the Missing Link for explaining human beings origin. Paul explained that extraterrestrial beings left behind some android robots on the planet that developed into human beings over the course of many centuries. Also, he described that the present generation of humans has no idea that they have been constructed artificially some robots. Paul received a lot of praise for exploring this theory of human origin. Throughout the course of his life, Paul remained successful and popular for many years. His works were praised by many prominent critics all across the globe. He is said to have inspired numerous authors of the present generation. Many writers like to give Paul the credit of bringing about a revolution in the field of literature. Paul breathed his last on June 19, 1989, in his hometown in Antwerp, Belgium.

A very well known book written by author Paul Van Herck in his literary career is entitled ‘Where Were You Last Pluterday?’. This science fiction book was originally released as Sam, of de Pluterdag. Paul had originally written this novel in Dutch and it was published by the J. M. Muelenhoff publication in 1968. The publishing company had released it as the 14th novel in their fantasy & science fiction range called M=SF. The DAW Books translated the novel into English and re-released it in 1973. Author Paul has described the main theme of this book’s story based on an extra day added to the week called Pluterday. Further, it is also mentioned that this extra day can be withdrawn if people manage to save enough time in their day to day activities. Some of the ways by which time can be saved for withdrawing Pluterday are mentioned by Paul as traveling by plane instead of trains and doing everyday activities well before the deadlines.

As the saving of time is equated with money in this story, it is understood that only rich people are able to save time. As a result, Pluterday goes on to get reserved only for a section of the society practically. This results in a divided society based on class. Another part of the story shows that the Pluterday’s existence is kept hidden from the non-privileged people of the society. This further divides the society and results in people having differences among themselves. This science fiction novel is regarded as one of the great works of author Paul. It was widely read by the readers from different parts of the world. The readers not only liked the story, but also appreciated the well developed and well-described characters and the plots. Its initial success in the Dutch language allowed the publishers to translate it and publish on the international level. This idea worked wonders as the novel was published in multiple countries and several translations. The readers in each of the countries of its publication showered their love on the novel and helped it in becoming much more successful.

A large number of prominent critics from various parts of the globe praised the book and gave very good reviews. Even the fellow writers of Paul praised his efforts in writing the book and appreciated each and every aspect of his story. Such mind-blowing responses from the critics, readers, and fellow authors helped in the favor of the novel’s publicity even more. It also allowed Paul the opportunity to become a noteworthy writer and establish himself among the prominent writers of sci-fi stories. With this huge amount of success, Paul went on to write several more books and stories in the science fiction genre. And with each novel, his expertise and popularity continued to grow. The fans of science fiction remember Paul even today for his excellent writing skills. His contribution to literature is considered very valuable. Many writers today, see him as an inspiration and a great influence on their respective writing careers.