Olde Heuvelt, Thomas
Entry updated 24 February 2025. Tagged: Author.
(1983- ) Dutch author, mostly of horror novels which, beginning with De Onvoorziene ["The Unforseen"] (2002) tend to adhere to affect horror. More recent tales make increasing use of the SF Megatext, adding some fibre to a sense that contemporary Horror in SF may, almost surreptitiously, be world-facing. Olde Heuvel first came to the attention of the English-speaking sf world with "The Day the World Turned Upside Down" (April 2014 Lightspeed ebook), translated from Dutch manuscript by Lia Belt, which won the 2015 Hugo award for best novelette.
The Robert Grim sequence beginning with HEX (2013; rev 2016; trans Nancy Forest-Flier 2016), marries scientific explanations and supernatural in its unpackings of demands asserted against the twenty-first century world through a centuries-old curse laid down by a witch about to be killed in the town of Black Landing, turning it into a Prison; centuries later, the exclusion Zone continues to be maintained through applied high Technology. In a denouement instigated by the tough-minded investigator Robert Grim, the town can only escape the curse through being utterly destroyed. In a loose sequel, Orakel (2021; trans Moshe Gilula 2024), Grim is again involved in an ancient demand for sacrifice, on the part this time of a Hive-Mind sea entity responsible eight millennia earlier for the destruction of Doggerland, the historical land-bridge between the Continent and Britain. Its presence is signalled by the irruption onto dry land of a centuries-old ship, whose entry hatch serves as a Time Viewer/portal; demands for human tribute are made through a written message that Basilisk-like cannot be ignored. A projected sequel seems likely to deal with the End of the World. [JC]
Thomas Baudelet Olde Heuvelt
born Nijmegen, Gelderland, Netherlands: 16 April 1983
works
series
Robert Grim
- HEX (Amsterdam, Netherlands: Luitingh-Sijthoff, 2013) [Robert Grim: pb/DesWes]
- Orakel (Amsterdam, Netherlands: Luitingh-Sijthoff, 2021) [Robert Grim: pb/]
- Oracle (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 2024) [trans by Moshe Gilula of the above: Robert Grim: hb/Davy van der Elsken]
individual titles
- De Onvoorziene ["The Unforseen"] (Hedel, Netherlands: Intes International, 2002) [pb/Rogier Lammerts]
- PhantasAmnesia (Hedel, Netherlands: Intes International, 2004) [pb/Jan Hendriks]
- Leering tovenaar vader & soon ["Apprentice Wizard Father & Son"] (Amsterdam, Netherlands: Luitingh-Sijthoff, 2008) [pb/Nele Schütz]
- Harten Sara ["Hearts Sara"] (Amsterdam, Netherlands: Luitingh-Sijthoff, 2011) [pb/DesWes]
- Echo (Amsterdam, Netherlands: Luitingh-Sijthoff, 2019) [binding unknown/]
- Echo (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 2022) [trans by Moshe Gilula of the above: hb/Sam Wolfe Connelly]
collections and stories
- "De jongen die geen schaduw wierp" (July 2010 Pure Fantasy) [mag/]
- The Boy Who Cast No Shadow (East Yorkshire: PS Publishing, 2011) [trans of the above: na/]
- De vis in de fles (Culemborg, Netherlands: Link Publishing, 2013) [novelette: chap: pb/]
- De Inktlezers van Doi Saket (Culemborg, Netherlands: Link Publishing, 2013)
- The Ink Readers of Doi Saket (New York: Tor, 2013) [novella: ebook: na/Victo Ngai]
- Om nooit te vergeten ["Never to Be Forgotten"] (Amsterdam, Netherlands: Luitingh-Sijthoff, 2017) [coll: binding unknown/]
- Je weet hoe dit verhaal gaat (Amsterdam, Netherlands: Luitingh-Sijthoff, 2017) [story: ebook: na/]
- You Know How the Story Goes (New York: Tor, 2018) [ebook: trans of the above: na/Samuel Araya]
links
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