LEBEN
On this page you will find everything about LEBEN.
Would you like to find out more about the individual books, the history as a whole or upcoming projects? Then you have come to the right place!
On this page I will keep you up to date on current and upcoming activities around LEBEN.
In the following sections you will learn more about the current status of the publications and the history of LEBEN—and what the KLEINIGKEITEN (German: little things, small stuff, trifles) have to do with it.
If you are here for the reading samples or would like to learn more about the individual volumes in general, you will find what you are looking for here.
Afterwards you will get information about the font, the interactive story surrounding the books, fan fiction, about the different formats of the books and further information.
Have fun browsing! ☺
The volumes 1.0–2.5 are now publishedon Amazon. Initially they will only be available as Kindle edition and paperbacks (see formats). KLEINIGKEITEN COLLECTION 1 will also be published soon.
The volumes 3.0–4.5 are already written, but will have to be adapted for the final layouts.
A few stories are still missing for KLEINIGKEITEN COLLECTION 2. This collection appears immediately after the second part of the book series.
After volume 5.0, which is still in progress, KLEINIGKEITEN COLLECTION 3 will appear, which is almost finished.
As soon as new books are available, you will be informed here. You will also find links to the books in the overview of the individual books.
In general, everything I offer on Amazon can be found on my “authors page”. If and when there will be A5 and A6 versions, I can’t say at the moment. Maybe at least the hardcover A5 version will be released next year. We’ll see. ☺
As I was unsure at the beginning whether the story was exciting enough to be read, I wrote the first three chapters and handed them to a long-time friend. He was thrilled, so I dared to ask a few more readers for their opinion. The extremely positive feedback led me to continue writing at all. In the end, the story estimated at 300–400 pages has become a 1,000-page book.
The first part was designed in such a way that you could leave the story after it—an open, but round end that gave the reader a lot of leeway. Nevertheless, I dare say it would have been a good ending to the story. LEBEN½, at that time the only companion volume, was supposed to give additional attention to a part of history. But now it has become a little more...
As all the test readers were still curious and tense even after the end of the first part, the second part was added, comprising two large volumes and two small companion volumes. Together they have now grown to over 2,000 pages.
So far there are four large main volumes and four small companion volumes. They not only tell the story, but also answer questions that were left at the end of Volumes 1.0–2.5—as planned.
Some of the books have been available since 2019. Further information can be found in the details of the volumes.
Below you will find the cover texts and, if available, reading samples in the sections of the individual volumes. They usually cover the first half of each volume. In order to avoid spoilers (the revelation of surprises / twists), the reading samples can also be shorter or leave out individual strands. You will be informed about these details on the individual pages.
After the extensive work, I wanted to give some small stories to the best, which don’t have such a huge depth as the books of LEBEN.
With KLEINIGKEITEN I offer collections of six short stories each, which always serve different themes and genres and take you into partly similar worlds. But some of the stories draw a strange picture, which you may only fully understand towards the end.
Within the framework of KLEINIGKEITEN, the original story behind LEBEN will also be approached anew with EPOCHEN. It is a bit closer to the actual idea, but still a completely independent story in its own world. If you like LEBEN, you will certainly enjoy KLEINIGKEITEN. ☺
At this point I dedicate a small page to each of the volumes. Here you can find the cover texts and if available also reading samples. In order to avoid spoilers (the revelation of surprises / twists), the reading samples can also be shorter or omit individual strands. You will be informed about these details on the individual pages.
Main Volume
456 Pages (German, A5)
»more«
Supplementary Companion Volume
88 Pages (German, A5)
»more«
Main Volume
610 Pages (German, A5)
»more«
Supplementary Companion Volume
110 Pages (German, A5)
»more«
With this book I summarize all known information from the different books in different ways. There will be detailed information about the entire timeline and characters, as well as some additional insights that round out the overall picture. Currently, it is also planned that this book will include images of selected characters and locations for the first time.
For the other volumes you will find further information and reading samples here at the time of publication. The volumes 3.0–4.5 will be published in the coming months. Volume 5.0 will take some time to be published as it is not yet a priority. Before that I would like to focus on the completion of KLEINIGKEITEN COLLECTION 2. There is still a lot to do—although KLEINIGKEITEN COLLECTION 3 is almost finished.
The original version of LEBEN has a special layout. All text pages are always filled up to the last line and the reader can only see that the section or chapter is finished after turning the page.
With this effort I would like to express my love for the story and my appreciation to the interested reader. In TV-shows, surprising cliffhangers have become the norm, but in books you can usually already see the ends while turning the pages: “Oh, there are only one and a half pages left. Damn! Then these are the last paragraphs!” I think it’s more exciting and more useful if there isn’t this kind of foreshadowing / distraction. If you want to enjoy a well-made and lovingly designed book, I can only recommend the A5 and A6 versions. This is also the version that test readers had available during the creation of the story—but as a folder filled with A5 pages.
The hard-cover A5-version is also the basis for the A6 version, which is realized as a static PDF. There you will always see exactly half a A5-page and will be surprised by the end of an section as well as in the original version. Also here the text pages are always completely filled and the font is also close to the original. The disadvantage compared to the Kindle edition, however, is that you cannot configure line spacing or font size. It is a digital form of the analogue version. This is the version that was used for the later corrections. If and how I can provide this version, I will see at a later date. For now, the Kindle edition is the only digital version available.
These special editions are only available in German. Through the translation the length of the sections will change alot. It would be possible to add or remove (irrelevant) content to achieve the desired layout, but I am not sure, that this would be desirable. Let me know, if such versions would be in your interest.☺
The Kindle edition is the most flexible form of the book. The reader can adapt the book to his preferences: font size, line and character spacing, fonts… Whatever options the Kindle reader or app offers, you can apply to the book. On the other hand, I have no significant influence on the individual pages.
The paperback (soft cover) is somewhat more compact and—like most books—is sprinkled with white areas of varying sizes. Since fonts and the general page design differ considerably from the original A5-version, I have only moderate influence on the fill level of the pages. But since the translations into other languages lead to the same kind of appearance, it is justifiable. For the time being, the paperback is the only available paper version.
At a later point in time I will also provide some pictures here, so that you can get a visual impression of the different editions.
When the work around LEBEN and KLEINIGKEITEN is finished to some extent, I will probably dedicate myself to an interactive story. Here you will lead the destiny of a region and experience your personal adventure. With a little luck you might also be able to end up in one of the regions known through the books.
At a later date I will provide the LEBEN-fonts here. I find them quite decent and it would be a waste if they were not used.
Free for non-commercial use.
One of the biggest compliments you can make on a story is people writing their own stories that are set in this or a similar world—at least this is my personal opinion.
Should there be fan-fiction about LEBEN later, I will gladly list some stories here. If they are especially good and fit the lore, I will gladly highlight them accordingly.
But until then it might still take a while—if it happens at all. ☺
About me: Born in Berlin, in Orwell's year 1984, zodiac sign pain in the neck.
LEBEN: By now I have spent more than two years on the LEBEN-series—and I don’t regret a single second. Already the feedback and the exciting conversations were worth it. Most of the texts were written on the way from / to my workplace in the tram (streetcar ) or subway. Only the final work and corrections were done at home (and part of the first volume). Besides publishing the remaining volumes I will spend some time on ROUTES. Programming the necessary software will certainly take some time, but I am already looking forward to it. Now that I am no longer alone, it will be difficult to find the necessary time. But that will be possible somehow—after all I have to find time for the fifth and last volume.
Saga: One of the reasons why the LEBEN-series is called LEBEN-saga is that it can be interpreted the same way in both German and English. This leads to the fact that both the German and the international version can be found on the same website. The word goes back to the Old Norse “saga”, which can be translated as “tale” or “story”. Today “saga” can also be used more generally as a long or epic story—which I think applies exactly to LIFE.
Pictures: My dear ex-girlfriend (now wife) has provided the photos for the individual volumes. Kindly I may use them for this page—I hope you like them. ☺
Shirts: Now that LEBEN has finally been released, I can have a suitable T-shirt made for me. If you also want to make your own copy, I offer the common and less common file formats that manufacturers can handle. Of course the purchase of a woven article would be cheaper for you, but currently there are no mass-produced shirts. For private use you are welcome to use the files.
Free-time: When I’m not at my job or writing, I usually work on
my own projects, in the fields of culture language, literature,
music and at times painting photography. Most of this happens
in front of a screen. I’m always happy to see how much productive and
creative work can be done with a PC / notebook and, more recently,
a mobile phone or tablet. And you can also play with them perfectly!
More about my other projects and myself can be found on
Family & Friends: Besides sports, sleep, work and the above hobbies there is unfortunately hardly any time for the people who have an important place in my life. I will work on that. At least some of them will cross my path at work or appear on my friends list. We will definitely do something together again. Real stuuf in the real world and such! Really!
Contact: If you have any questions or suggestions, please feel free to contact me by e-mail. If you don’t get an answer immediately, please be patient with me. I will try to answer as soon as possible. You can reach me comfortably via mail@marcel-strobel.info—just click or tap on it.
That would be all there is to say about LEBEN and me in a nutshell. In any case, I wish you all the best on your way and lots of fun reading and browsing.
Here you will find links to the pages with all information about the use of the website, questions about data protection and privacy, as well as the identification of content. If you still miss something at this point or on the associated pages, please let me know. :-)
UP
