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Le Terminateur
Laurence Suhner est connue pour sa trilogie « QuanTika », où s’est manifesté son goût pour les exoplanètes, la physique quantique, l’archéologie et les aliens tout aussi empathiques que féroces.
Dans ce recueil, qui puise aux sources de l’inspiration de l’auteur, vous passerez du space-opéra classique à des événements étranges qui ont pour cadre le Centre européen pour la recherche nucléaire (CERN), du conte fantastique au récit post-apocalyptique ; vous serez à Genève – aujourd’hui, il y a un siècle, dans ses catacombes, dans d’autres dimensions – , à Montreux, à Londres, dans l’espace et sur TRAPPIST-1, une planète découverte il y a quelques mois ; vous frémirez d’angoisse dans des demeures de l’époque victorienne, vous ferez l’expérience de la divergence, vous vibrerez et danserez au son d’instruments extra-terrestres, vous assisterez à la création des mythologies du futur...
Dans ce livre où Laurence Suhner nous livre en filigrane son parcours, on comprend à quel point raconter et se raconter des histoires est essentiel à la vie.
Nous n’avons jamais autant de puissance et de volonté que lorsqu‘il faut tout recommencer à zéro. Se réinventer sans cesse, sans perdre de vue qui nous étions avant.
- GenresScience Fiction
188 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 6, 2023
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
February 24, 2017
This amazing short story takes a look at the recently discovered exoplanets orbiting the red dwarf Trappist-1.
After surviving the generation long journey to these remote planets, the narrator, a middle-aged woman, tells us about her view of her new home world and the secrets she encountered there.
This story is an excellent example of short fiction that leaves you wanting more. Scientifically accurate (as per today's knowledge of these planets), this short is both a sci-fi gem, as well as a creative way to convey the recently discovered facts about these new worlds that are so close - and yet in reality so far - from us.
5 stars!
P.S.: The full text can be read here:
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/...
After surviving the generation long journey to these remote planets, the narrator, a middle-aged woman, tells us about her view of her new home world and the secrets she encountered there.
This story is an excellent example of short fiction that leaves you wanting more. Scientifically accurate (as per today's knowledge of these planets), this short is both a sci-fi gem, as well as a creative way to convey the recently discovered facts about these new worlds that are so close - and yet in reality so far - from us.
5 stars!
P.S.: The full text can be read here:
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/...
May 26, 2024
Sans être mauvais à proprement parler, j'avoue que ça m'a déçue. J'en ressors avec un sentiment d'inachevé, comme si j'avais lu une douzaine d'ébauches et de brouillons plutôt que des nouvelles.
Mais j'ai souvent tendance à préférer les romans aux nouvelles et le tout m'a assez intriguée pour que je sois curieuse de lire l'autrice en format long.
Mais j'ai souvent tendance à préférer les romans aux nouvelles et le tout m'a assez intriguée pour que je sois curieuse de lire l'autrice en format long.
October 13, 2018
Swiss author Laurence Suhner was present at this year's festival Les Imaginales in France. As I had not read any of her books before, I wasn't sure if I'd buy her QuanTika-trilogy (though after reading this anthology, my curiosity has been aroused, so I might add those books to my collection at a later time). Luckily, she's written a few short stories in her career and Éditions L'Atalante was so kind to put several of them together in this anthology. And that's a safer way, I find, to get to know this author's writing skills.
This anthology contains twelve stories, each preceded by a small introduction by Ms Suhner herself. Some of them were published previously in other anthologies or magazines. The other ones, never published before, I marked with an (*). Laurence Suhner takes the reader to London, Montreux, Geneva, space, be it in the future, in the past, ...
Le Terminateur (2016, published first in 2017): I read this one previously, as it is/was available online. See my reviews of the English (here) and French (here (same as the English one) versions. A short story taking place in the TRAPPIST-1 planetary system with the Terminator being the line that divides the dark side and the light side of one of the planets.
(*) La Fouine (2017): An H.P. Lovecraft-inspired story featuring a version of Cthulhu at CERN, creating problems with the Large Hadron Collider.
Différent (2012): A very short, almost dystopian, story about wanting to escape from society and lead a calmer life. Only, the world's been destroyed. Sole survivor, the character thinks he's king of the world. Or is he?
La Chose du Lac (2002, published in 2012): Previously published in the anthology Utopiales 12 (2012). It's about a thief who promised to steal a precious diamond, which is in the possession of a well-known artist. All reside at a hotel, far in the woods, near a lake. But said lake seems to hide alien creatures. A mystery/detective story, exciting and entertaining. But who's the thief? And how could he get to to work, despite the massive police force present in and around the hotel?
(*) Au-delà du Terminateur (2017): A sort of follow-up of Le Terminateur, this time longer and there is contact with the locals.
Homéotasie (2008, published in 2010): A bit of a creepy story about getting in mental contact with Gaïa, the Earth Goddess. Only, it's not Gaïa, but an alien entity that sees Earth as a sort of playground, toying with mankind and more.
(*) Le Corbeau (2003): A story about a writer who's decided to let his main character (after many stories) die and thus no longer write any stories at all. For that, the author is haunted, hides in his house, never lets the light in, because he fears for his life. One of his old friends, Jeffrey Sparrow, is invited and asked to seek the assassin. In the end, there's no real winner, not even lord Benthali.
Timkhä (2006, published in 2009): A prelude to the QuanTika-trilogy. This is the longest short story of the pack. Not that fluent, but good enough as a pre-taste for the full books.
(*) La Valise Noire (2015): A weird story about a woman who's hurrying to get to the station, but a car, abandoned and fully open, is blocking the road. Inside there's a black suitcase with clothes and a camera. She's on several of the photos, yet does not recall having been at that place where the photos were taken. She travels to her friend in Chantefleur, but she gets lost and asks for directions. Nobody knows. Is all this even real?
(*) M. Ablange (1980): This is Suhner's first short story ever, and I found it weird. Sure, the style is not that fluent as her later stories, but the events themselves are just weird. Something with school, strange things happening and leaving Earth. I couldn't make much of it, found it a bit hard to understand.
(*) L'autre Monde (1999): Seeking the answer to life, so to speak. And ending up at the other side. Strange, and a little creepy as well, I found. Never trust small shops, not when they have a cave with an alien population.
(*) L'accord Parfait (2016): The sound or music of life, with a guitar-like instrument as key artefact. But it comes at a price, a very high price, when one wants to do some research about a primitive, alien population. Meanwhile, Earth is not sitting still. Are the events linked? Who's whose master?
This collection is very varied, be it fantasy, magical realism, or science-fiction. Laurence Suhner is a versatile writer, can keep the reader's attention with these short stories. So I wonder if her QuanTika-trilogy is as entertaining and interesting.
Nevertheless, whether you are familiar with her work or not, I can certainly recommend this anthology.
This anthology contains twelve stories, each preceded by a small introduction by Ms Suhner herself. Some of them were published previously in other anthologies or magazines. The other ones, never published before, I marked with an (*). Laurence Suhner takes the reader to London, Montreux, Geneva, space, be it in the future, in the past, ...
Le Terminateur (2016, published first in 2017): I read this one previously, as it is/was available online. See my reviews of the English (here) and French (here (same as the English one) versions. A short story taking place in the TRAPPIST-1 planetary system with the Terminator being the line that divides the dark side and the light side of one of the planets.
(*) La Fouine (2017): An H.P. Lovecraft-inspired story featuring a version of Cthulhu at CERN, creating problems with the Large Hadron Collider.
Différent (2012): A very short, almost dystopian, story about wanting to escape from society and lead a calmer life. Only, the world's been destroyed. Sole survivor, the character thinks he's king of the world. Or is he?
La Chose du Lac (2002, published in 2012): Previously published in the anthology Utopiales 12 (2012). It's about a thief who promised to steal a precious diamond, which is in the possession of a well-known artist. All reside at a hotel, far in the woods, near a lake. But said lake seems to hide alien creatures. A mystery/detective story, exciting and entertaining. But who's the thief? And how could he get to to work, despite the massive police force present in and around the hotel?
(*) Au-delà du Terminateur (2017): A sort of follow-up of Le Terminateur, this time longer and there is contact with the locals.
Homéotasie (2008, published in 2010): A bit of a creepy story about getting in mental contact with Gaïa, the Earth Goddess. Only, it's not Gaïa, but an alien entity that sees Earth as a sort of playground, toying with mankind and more.
(*) Le Corbeau (2003): A story about a writer who's decided to let his main character (after many stories) die and thus no longer write any stories at all. For that, the author is haunted, hides in his house, never lets the light in, because he fears for his life. One of his old friends, Jeffrey Sparrow, is invited and asked to seek the assassin. In the end, there's no real winner, not even lord Benthali.
Timkhä (2006, published in 2009): A prelude to the QuanTika-trilogy. This is the longest short story of the pack. Not that fluent, but good enough as a pre-taste for the full books.
(*) La Valise Noire (2015): A weird story about a woman who's hurrying to get to the station, but a car, abandoned and fully open, is blocking the road. Inside there's a black suitcase with clothes and a camera. She's on several of the photos, yet does not recall having been at that place where the photos were taken. She travels to her friend in Chantefleur, but she gets lost and asks for directions. Nobody knows. Is all this even real?
(*) M. Ablange (1980): This is Suhner's first short story ever, and I found it weird. Sure, the style is not that fluent as her later stories, but the events themselves are just weird. Something with school, strange things happening and leaving Earth. I couldn't make much of it, found it a bit hard to understand.
(*) L'autre Monde (1999): Seeking the answer to life, so to speak. And ending up at the other side. Strange, and a little creepy as well, I found. Never trust small shops, not when they have a cave with an alien population.
(*) L'accord Parfait (2016): The sound or music of life, with a guitar-like instrument as key artefact. But it comes at a price, a very high price, when one wants to do some research about a primitive, alien population. Meanwhile, Earth is not sitting still. Are the events linked? Who's whose master?
This collection is very varied, be it fantasy, magical realism, or science-fiction. Laurence Suhner is a versatile writer, can keep the reader's attention with these short stories. So I wonder if her QuanTika-trilogy is as entertaining and interesting.
Nevertheless, whether you are familiar with her work or not, I can certainly recommend this anthology.
March 1, 2017
Since the discovery of the Trappist-1 system far away in space, a few authors have picked up their pens and written (short) stories about it. You can check 'em out on the dedicated website: click here.
One of the authors is the Swiss Laurence Suhner, of whom I have never heard, until I saw the link to the Trappist-1 website passing by whilst surfing the Web. She originally wrote the story in French, which can be read on her website (see here) or you can download the pdf-file (click here).
For the English version of this story, go to Nature's website, here. On this page, you can also download a pdf-version of this English translation.
In short, The Terminator is about discovering the new planets and the possibilities they offer for mankind. Could mankind live there or not? Are there other beings in that system? Will there be a meeting of species? Add a pinch of philosophy and you've got a very nice, but very short, story, an entry into this new world. One that will spawn many science-fiction novels and short stories in the years to come.
One of the authors is the Swiss Laurence Suhner, of whom I have never heard, until I saw the link to the Trappist-1 website passing by whilst surfing the Web. She originally wrote the story in French, which can be read on her website (see here) or you can download the pdf-file (click here).
For the English version of this story, go to Nature's website, here. On this page, you can also download a pdf-version of this English translation.
In short, The Terminator is about discovering the new planets and the possibilities they offer for mankind. Could mankind live there or not? Are there other beings in that system? Will there be a meeting of species? Add a pinch of philosophy and you've got a very nice, but very short, story, an entry into this new world. One that will spawn many science-fiction novels and short stories in the years to come.
April 13, 2025
Bon, je n'ai pas adhéré à ces nouvelles. Autant être franche et directe. Je n'ai pas adhéré à la façon qu'a l'autrice de raconter ses histoires. C'es une jolie plume, là n'est pas le problème. Mais j'ai trouvé que les nouvelles manquaient d'élan et que les fins tombaient à plat. A chaque fois, je me suis dit "Ah OK, tout ça pour ça." La nouvelle est un format que j'aime bien et j'ai tendance à être assez exigente, à attendre un récit percutant, surtout en SF.
Là, je me suis ennuyée, malgré les qualités et les idées toujours très intéressantes qui sont développées.
Je vais m'arrêter là, ça ne l'a pas fait.
Là, je me suis ennuyée, malgré les qualités et les idées toujours très intéressantes qui sont développées.
Je vais m'arrêter là, ça ne l'a pas fait.
August 14, 2021
Comme tout recueil de nouvelles, il y a des histoires plus intéressantes que d'autres mais le style est très agréable à chaque fois.
March 1, 2017
(Yes, I read the French version, too. But for the sake of ease, I'll copy-paste my review for the English version here. De gustibus et coloribus... but I preferred the English version of the story, found it flowing a little smoother.)
Since the discovery of the Trappist-1 system far away in space, a few authors have picked up their pens and written (short) stories about it. You can check 'em out on the dedicated website: click here.
One of the authors is the Swiss Laurence Suhner, of whom I have never heard, until I saw the link to the Trappist-1 website passing by whilst surfing the Web. She originally wrote the story in French, which can be read on her website (see here) or you can download the pdf-file (click here).
For the English version of this story, go to Nature's website, here. On this page, you can also download a pdf-version of this English translation.
In short, The Terminator is about discovering the new planets and the possibilities they offer for mankind. Could mankind live there or not? Are there other beings in that system? Will there be a meeting of species? Add a pinch of philosophy and you've got a very nice, but very short, story, an entry into this new world. One that will spawn many science-fiction novels and short stories in the years to come.
Since the discovery of the Trappist-1 system far away in space, a few authors have picked up their pens and written (short) stories about it. You can check 'em out on the dedicated website: click here.
One of the authors is the Swiss Laurence Suhner, of whom I have never heard, until I saw the link to the Trappist-1 website passing by whilst surfing the Web. She originally wrote the story in French, which can be read on her website (see here) or you can download the pdf-file (click here).
For the English version of this story, go to Nature's website, here. On this page, you can also download a pdf-version of this English translation.
In short, The Terminator is about discovering the new planets and the possibilities they offer for mankind. Could mankind live there or not? Are there other beings in that system? Will there be a meeting of species? Add a pinch of philosophy and you've got a very nice, but very short, story, an entry into this new world. One that will spawn many science-fiction novels and short stories in the years to come.
October 16, 2020
I was just extatic about the author writing short stories in connection to particle physics and exoplanet research achievements.
The exploratory stories about the quantika universe are also really flavorful.
Finally the other stories (both ctulhu-, space-, and planet-based) are all quite entertaining.
The exploratory stories about the quantika universe are also really flavorful.
Finally the other stories (both ctulhu-, space-, and planet-based) are all quite entertaining.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews