Bandel Books Online

Der Orchideengarten Vol 2, No 9 contains the following: Walter Heinrich, The Raging Corpse; Anon, Disappointed Expectation; E. T. A. Hoffmann, The Latest Fate of an Adventurous Man; Nicolas De Troyes, A Maiden and Three Suitors. This issue also contains the original artwork. Der Orchideengarten was the world’s first illustrated fantasy magazine that was published in 1919 in the German language. This is the first English translation of these stories. Translation by Joe E Bandel. Layout and design by John Hirschhorn-Smith.

Der Orchideengarten Vol. 2, No. 8 contains the following authors and stories with the original art and translated into the English language for the first time. Prosper Merimee, The Vision of Charles XI; Karl Hans Strobl, The Great Spider; Anon, A True Vision; Max Schrei, The Miracle; Rudyard Kipling, My Own True Ghost Story; Richard Riess, Mystery of Nocternal Awakening. Translation by Joe E Bandel and design and layout by John Hirschhorn-Smith.

Elara descends into the heart of Gaia, carrying the womb crystal to it’s resting place. There is no battle left – only the weight of the moment and the quiet choice to return what was never meant to be held. As the crystal settles, the world does not erupt. It softens. New forms emerge. Something long held in tension begins to breathe again. When Elara rises once more, she is no longer bound to the surface she once called home. Below her, Gaia lives differently. Not restored – but deeper. And beyond her, the path continues.

With the crystal in their care, Elara and her companions turn toward Gaia’s Shadow. But the road home in never empty, old forces rise from fractured time lines, testing whether the light they carry is truly their own. The journey forward becomes a test of unity, trust, and quiet resolve.

The journey turns toward home, but the crystal doesn’t promise peace – only clarity. As old enemies stir and illusions test their resolve, Elara learns that true power is not control, but presence. The light they carry begins to change everything around them . . . including themselves.

The journey decends into a living void where even guidance begins to fade. As reality compresses around her, Elara must release the need to carry everything alone. In the quiet presence of Lumens, the deepest trial becomes not a battle – but a surrender into trust.

At the edge of the Abyss, Elara encounters the reflection she cannot outrun. Light and Shadow stand face to face and silent truths emerge. In stillness rather than battle, a deeper Unity begins to form – and the path forward changes forever.

Beyond the threshold, the Astral Planes test not strength, but coherence. Elara learns that survival here depends on alignment – of will, emotion, and trust. Allies appear not by chance, but by resonance. Enemies reveal themselves as unresolved states. And the skiff carries her forward, reshaping itself as the journey demands.