Dan Piponi on Nostr: I asked a French friend about French science fiction and he was unable to come up ...
I asked a French friend about French science fiction and he was unable to come up with any more examples than I could: mostly works by Jules Verne and Pierre Boulle. There are comics of course, but otherwise we could come up with nothing contemporary apart from 2020’s The Anomaly.
Anyway, I mentioned British writer Brian Stableford here a few months ago. I recently discovered that he translated a vast body of French horror and science fiction from the 19th century. So I read this one: Vampire City by Paul Féval published in 1867.
As Stableford himself says, it’s probably of a lot more interest now than it was then. It dates back to before the rules for vampires had been fully worked out and Féval’s rules are *really* interesting. His vampires are collective organisms that assimilate and can create new bodies - more Borg or Thing than what we currently understand as vampires. This is not what I was expecting from 19th century French literature!
It’s also a very funny work of metafiction. The protagonist is a fictionalised version of gothic writer Ann Radcliffe and just when you think the story gets too implausible and you start checking to see if you missed a page, the author stops to tell you that no, it just doesn’t make sense at this point.
Anyway, it’s a short entertaining read that I recommend.
Anyway, I mentioned British writer Brian Stableford here a few months ago. I recently discovered that he translated a vast body of French horror and science fiction from the 19th century. So I read this one: Vampire City by Paul Féval published in 1867.
As Stableford himself says, it’s probably of a lot more interest now than it was then. It dates back to before the rules for vampires had been fully worked out and Féval’s rules are *really* interesting. His vampires are collective organisms that assimilate and can create new bodies - more Borg or Thing than what we currently understand as vampires. This is not what I was expecting from 19th century French literature!
It’s also a very funny work of metafiction. The protagonist is a fictionalised version of gothic writer Ann Radcliffe and just when you think the story gets too implausible and you start checking to see if you missed a page, the author stops to tell you that no, it just doesn’t make sense at this point.
Anyway, it’s a short entertaining read that I recommend.