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Anthologies des Utopiales
Utopiales 2017
Le temps de lire cette anthologie, vous serez parti sur la Lune où survit la dernière colonie humaine après que la Terre s’est retrouvée sous la glace, vous aurez discuté de l’égalité hommes-femmes sur un sujet qui vous surprendra, vous vous serez opposé à un texte sur l’avortement, vous aurez renoué avec la légende arthurienne, vous aurez attendu le retour de l’amour de votre vie, découvert en avant-première une auteur chinoise, et affronté la cruauté des follets et des gnomes.
Anthologie officielle du festival des Utopiales, elle regroupe des auteurs français mais aussi québécois, chinois, anglais et canadien...
Sommaire
* Avant-propos
* "43 200 secondes" de Jean-Laurent Del Socorro (INÉDIT)
* "La place d’une femme" de Emma Newman (traduction : Erwan Devos et Hermine Hémon) (INÉDIT)
* "Huit siècles sur une échelle de temps" d'Olivier Gechter (INÉDIT)
* "Le sphincter de l’œsophage" de Nabil Ouali (INÉDIT)
* "Pékin origami" de Hao Jingfang (traduction : Michel Vallet) (INÉDIT)
* "Les Anges tièdes" d'Estelle Faye
* "Les cristallines" d'Ariane Gélinas (INÉDIT)
* "Les arbres sont des gens comme les autres" de Timothée Rey (INÉDIT)
* "Les oiseaux lunaires" de Michael Moorcock (traduction de Pierre-Paul Durastanti)
* "Poèmes" de Guy Gavriel Kay (traduction : Erwan Devos et Hermine Hémon) (INÉDIT)
* "L’Île close" de Lionel Davoust
* "Le gnome qui voulut être fée" d'Audrey Alwett (INÉDIT)
Anthologie officielle du festival des Utopiales, elle regroupe des auteurs français mais aussi québécois, chinois, anglais et canadien...
Sommaire
* Avant-propos
* "43 200 secondes" de Jean-Laurent Del Socorro (INÉDIT)
* "La place d’une femme" de Emma Newman (traduction : Erwan Devos et Hermine Hémon) (INÉDIT)
* "Huit siècles sur une échelle de temps" d'Olivier Gechter (INÉDIT)
* "Le sphincter de l’œsophage" de Nabil Ouali (INÉDIT)
* "Pékin origami" de Hao Jingfang (traduction : Michel Vallet) (INÉDIT)
* "Les Anges tièdes" d'Estelle Faye
* "Les cristallines" d'Ariane Gélinas (INÉDIT)
* "Les arbres sont des gens comme les autres" de Timothée Rey (INÉDIT)
* "Les oiseaux lunaires" de Michael Moorcock (traduction de Pierre-Paul Durastanti)
* "Poèmes" de Guy Gavriel Kay (traduction : Erwan Devos et Hermine Hémon) (INÉDIT)
* "L’Île close" de Lionel Davoust
* "Le gnome qui voulut être fée" d'Audrey Alwett (INÉDIT)
328 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 2017
1 person is currently reading
29 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
September 19, 2019
Les Utopiales, France's biggest science-fiction festival, focusing both on the fiction and the science part. The festival also has its own annual anthology, each time revolving around a determined theme. For 2017, time was of the essence. As I wrote in of Utopiales 2016, I've never been to the festival - or Nantes -, but I hope to attend it some day.
Like on previous occasions, national and international authors were asked to contribute with a story, be it old or new. As it goes with anthologies, liking each story is not always possible. However, the majority of 2017's selection is actually very good.
Here are my findings on each story. Don't worry too much about the score, as this is always subjective/personal.
1) 43 200 secondes by Jean-Laurent Del Socorro (INÉDIT): 4/5
Jean-Laurent Del Socorro has rapidly become one of my favourite authors. He feels like a fish in the water when it comes to short-stories. This time, he took an important political event of 2013 in the USA: Wendy Davis talking during 11 hours (12 were needed) to try to pass a law that allows women to have an abortion in Texas. Then-governor Rick Perry was firmly against such a law. Rick Perry plays a role in the story, but Wendy Davis was replaced by a black politician named Amara Kabbock. She has to stand up (literally) against the horde of white male politicians. See an update on the real situation here. Jean-Laurent Del Socorro confirms his talent. He's got a new book coming out in October: Je suis fille de rage, set during the American Civil War. Be sure to check it out.
2) La place d’une femme by Emma Newman (traduction : Erwan Devos et Hermine Hémon) (INÉDIT): 4/5
Original version: A Woman's Place (2014). I've never read anything by Emma Newman, though her Planetfall series looks interesting. In this story, she travels back in time, to the 19th century, the era of Sherlock Holmes, Dr Watson, ..., as depicted by Arthur Conan Doyle. Only, it's going back in time with a modern twist: chip implants. While the English isn't like the real Sherlock Holmes, Ms Newman did succeed in recreating the same atmosphere, a similar feeling when reading the real stuff.
3) Huit siècles sur une échelle de temps by Olivier Gechter (INÉDIT): 4/5
Also unknown to me, this author. A crew of scientists in space, each waking up every now and then, before returning to their caskets to be put to sleep for a long time. Our main character, Boris, is alone when he has to do his chores and planned activities. Meanwhile, there's a female AI (Nanie) which is programmed to control everything and intervene when necessary. It seems, however, that a former colleague never returned from a mission and that the vehicle he used was too big for said mission. His death caused for Boris to ask questions, as there were some things missing. The story contained holes and he wanted them filled. Nanie, the AI, wasn't very cooperative; all the more reason for Boris to be suspicious. And so, he starts investigating, but he can't continue, as he has to be put to sleep every month. Each wake-up lasts for a month, which explains why the investigation takes so much time and the answers are found so many centuries later. All in all, a very nice story.
4) Le sphincter de l’œsophage by Nabil Ouali (INÉDIT): 2/5
I've only read one short-story, published in Fées et Automates - Anthologie des Imaginales 2016, by Nabil Ouali, not his novels. In this new story, the events take place in the future, when male pregnancy becomes available. But even then it remains a disputable subject and not everyone is for such a move/change, prefer the classic way and as nature intended it to be. This causes a serious discussion when a bunch of friends get together to talk, enjoy a meal, etc. I had some difficulties with this story. One of which being this: There are a handful of acronyms and abbreviations (names of political organisations or institutions, for example) that are not explained, not even in footnotes. Google is your friend, as they say. That alone is enough to put a damper on the reading experience. Aside from that, I couldn't really get into the story, it felt - to me - more like an everyday discussion, just set in the future. On a side-note, here's what the title means: The Sphincter of the Esophagus. Yes, I had to look that up as well.
5) Pékin origami by Hao Jingfang (traduction : Michel Vallet) (INÉDIT): 4/5
My first encounter with this Chinese author, altough I see her work has also appeared in, for example, Invisible Planets (on my TBR-pile). This story is, if I'm not mistaken, about a city that's divided into three parts, like the Titanic: first class, second class, third class. Each part is constructed and organised as such. Each population differs from the other in lifestyle, clothing, privileges, jobs, and so on. Each part also has its set of hours above ground, after which it disappears to make room for the next. The richer you are, the more sleep you have, for example. Each part is also supervised by camera's, drones, and more. Woe onto you if you're caught and can't show your ID or credentials. Our main character has to bring a letter from his world to the richer part, but that's not without consequences. Each time-change is physical, like a disc being flipped to allow the other side to rise. If you want to go back, be quick or be caught between the two and have your legs crushed. As it goes, love plays a role, but being part of the first world - so to speak - is in many cases like being in a golden cage: you're not as free as you might think. The style - or was it the translation? - isn't always as accessible, but the idea for this dystopian story is well done. In fact, it gives an idea of how China today (anno 2019) treats its civilians.
6) Les Anges tièdes by Estelle Faye: 3/5
I've previously read a few short-stories by Estelle Faye, which appeared in Trolls et Légendes - L'Anthologie Officielle, Fées et Automates - Anthologie des Imaginales 2016, Utopiales 2016, and Destinations - Anthologie des Imaginales 2017. She's a great writer, without question. Her novel Les Seigneurs de Bohen was a little less to my liking, as you can read here. In this short-story, Ms Faye shows us the life of a character that was raised with a video-game, Arcadia Online. Her parents were technology-experts and very much occupied with this activity. But as our character finds out about the real world, she starts exploring and discovering and growing. And sets out to create a better world. Not a bad story at all. It has some food for thought.
7) Les cristallines by Ariane Gélinas (INÉDIT): 2/5
The Canadian author Ariana Gélinas is also unknown to me, although her novel Les cendres de Sedna looks interesting. The short-story was a little hard to get into. Ms Gélinas uses cultural, tribal references, which is nice and adds to the setting. But how the story evolved, was something I couldn't quite grasp. There's a female character who goes on a solo-trip by boat. There are a certain type of crocodiles that await their next meal, though they are fed with chained cows, which are dumped into the river to appease said crocodiles. This allows for visitors (tourists and alike) to row without worries to their destination. She comes across some locals, who have special crystals stuck to their face, their limbs, ... These crystals have certain visual characteristics, are even used to, for example, replace skin. It was unclear to me why they applied these crystals like that. . There were a few problems with this story, in my humble opinion. Must one have read previous works by Ms Gélinas? Be in the know of any cultural references to understand what the story is about?
8) Les arbres sont des gens comme les autres by Timothée Rey (INÉDIT): 4/5
And another new author for me. This story, which takes place in Brocéliande (Bretagne, France) is about a man whose brains and nervous system are transferred to a tree. It's a project in which many people are involved and participating. You get to read how your way of seeing, feeling, etc. the world around you is very different from that of trees. In addition, you can't speak, all communication happens via your and other trees' roots, mushrooms, and so on. Networking, as they say. A bit like Peter Wohlleben (German forester) and his view on how trees communicate with each other. As you might be able to imagine, if communication happens via the roots, then touch is also via the roots and so... two trees get together. But that's not to the liking of the wife of our character, who's a physician and likes to take care of the recovery process of her husband herself. So yes, a funny ending ;-) As the story is very much nature-based, I wonder if you could put it on the same shelf as The Overstory by Richard Powers, also on my TBR-pile.
9) Les oiseaux lunaires by Michael Moorcock (traduction de Pierre-Paul Durastanti): 4/5
Original version: The Birds of the Moon (1995), first translated into French in 2002 (Bifrost magazine). Michael Moorcock is one of fantasy's biggest names. His only work on my TBR-pile is The History of the Runestaff, which I hope to read some day, as is the case with many other books. In this little story, he takes us to London, to a confused man taking a dive into the world of King Arthur and the round table.
10) Poèmes by Guy Gavriel Kay (traduction : Erwan Devos et Hermine Hémon) (INÉDIT): 3/5
The only book by Mr Kay I've read, is his famed Tigana, which I enjoyed tremendously (see here). Other books on my TBR-pile: The Last Light of the Sun, Under Heaven, and River of Stars. Poetry is not my cup of tea at all. Luckily, Mr Kay's style is not like most poems, as the format is a bit more readable. The texts themselves are nice(ly written), but again, de gustibus et coloribus... I'll stick to his novels.
11) L’Île close by Lionel Davoust: 5/5
Lionel Davoust is another French author whose work I enjoy, even if Port d'âmes had its little problems. However, I did very much like Les Questions dangereuses, and his stories in Fées et Automates - Anthologie des Imaginales 2016 and Destinations - Anthologie des Imaginales 2017. On my TBR-pile: La route de la conquête : et autres récits, while also expecting the arrival of his newest publication, Contes hybrides. In 'L'Île Close', Mr Davoust also takes us on a trip to the Camelot, to King Arthur, the knights and the round table, not to forget Morgan le Fay, Merlin, Mordred, Guinevere, ... It's a story that is quite accessible, injected with philosophical food for thought, something I like a lot in his stories. It's a story in which the Holy Grail has an important role to play and how this object is perceived by mankind. Very much recommended! If you want, you can download this story for free from the man's website.
12) Le gnome qui voulut être fée by Audrey Alwett (INÉDIT)
I read this one last year. See my review HERE.
----------
To make it short, not every story was a hit, for whatever reason (style, content, personal taste, ...), but the majority makes reading this anthology worth it. As ever, known and unknown authors, always discovering new material and ideas.
Like on previous occasions, national and international authors were asked to contribute with a story, be it old or new. As it goes with anthologies, liking each story is not always possible. However, the majority of 2017's selection is actually very good.
Here are my findings on each story. Don't worry too much about the score, as this is always subjective/personal.
1) 43 200 secondes by Jean-Laurent Del Socorro (INÉDIT): 4/5
Jean-Laurent Del Socorro has rapidly become one of my favourite authors. He feels like a fish in the water when it comes to short-stories. This time, he took an important political event of 2013 in the USA: Wendy Davis talking during 11 hours (12 were needed) to try to pass a law that allows women to have an abortion in Texas. Then-governor Rick Perry was firmly against such a law. Rick Perry plays a role in the story, but Wendy Davis was replaced by a black politician named Amara Kabbock. She has to stand up (literally) against the horde of white male politicians. See an update on the real situation here. Jean-Laurent Del Socorro confirms his talent. He's got a new book coming out in October: Je suis fille de rage, set during the American Civil War. Be sure to check it out.
2) La place d’une femme by Emma Newman (traduction : Erwan Devos et Hermine Hémon) (INÉDIT): 4/5
Original version: A Woman's Place (2014). I've never read anything by Emma Newman, though her Planetfall series looks interesting. In this story, she travels back in time, to the 19th century, the era of Sherlock Holmes, Dr Watson, ..., as depicted by Arthur Conan Doyle. Only, it's going back in time with a modern twist: chip implants. While the English isn't like the real Sherlock Holmes, Ms Newman did succeed in recreating the same atmosphere, a similar feeling when reading the real stuff.
3) Huit siècles sur une échelle de temps by Olivier Gechter (INÉDIT): 4/5
Also unknown to me, this author. A crew of scientists in space, each waking up every now and then, before returning to their caskets to be put to sleep for a long time. Our main character, Boris, is alone when he has to do his chores and planned activities. Meanwhile, there's a female AI (Nanie) which is programmed to control everything and intervene when necessary. It seems, however, that a former colleague never returned from a mission and that the vehicle he used was too big for said mission. His death caused for Boris to ask questions, as there were some things missing. The story contained holes and he wanted them filled. Nanie, the AI, wasn't very cooperative; all the more reason for Boris to be suspicious. And so, he starts investigating, but he can't continue, as he has to be put to sleep every month. Each wake-up lasts for a month, which explains why the investigation takes so much time and the answers are found so many centuries later. All in all, a very nice story.
4) Le sphincter de l’œsophage by Nabil Ouali (INÉDIT): 2/5
I've only read one short-story, published in Fées et Automates - Anthologie des Imaginales 2016, by Nabil Ouali, not his novels. In this new story, the events take place in the future, when male pregnancy becomes available. But even then it remains a disputable subject and not everyone is for such a move/change, prefer the classic way and as nature intended it to be. This causes a serious discussion when a bunch of friends get together to talk, enjoy a meal, etc. I had some difficulties with this story. One of which being this: There are a handful of acronyms and abbreviations (names of political organisations or institutions, for example) that are not explained, not even in footnotes. Google is your friend, as they say. That alone is enough to put a damper on the reading experience. Aside from that, I couldn't really get into the story, it felt - to me - more like an everyday discussion, just set in the future. On a side-note, here's what the title means: The Sphincter of the Esophagus. Yes, I had to look that up as well.
5) Pékin origami by Hao Jingfang (traduction : Michel Vallet) (INÉDIT): 4/5
My first encounter with this Chinese author, altough I see her work has also appeared in, for example, Invisible Planets (on my TBR-pile). This story is, if I'm not mistaken, about a city that's divided into three parts, like the Titanic: first class, second class, third class. Each part is constructed and organised as such. Each population differs from the other in lifestyle, clothing, privileges, jobs, and so on. Each part also has its set of hours above ground, after which it disappears to make room for the next. The richer you are, the more sleep you have, for example. Each part is also supervised by camera's, drones, and more. Woe onto you if you're caught and can't show your ID or credentials. Our main character has to bring a letter from his world to the richer part, but that's not without consequences. Each time-change is physical, like a disc being flipped to allow the other side to rise. If you want to go back, be quick or be caught between the two and have your legs crushed. As it goes, love plays a role, but being part of the first world - so to speak - is in many cases like being in a golden cage: you're not as free as you might think. The style - or was it the translation? - isn't always as accessible, but the idea for this dystopian story is well done. In fact, it gives an idea of how China today (anno 2019) treats its civilians.
6) Les Anges tièdes by Estelle Faye: 3/5
I've previously read a few short-stories by Estelle Faye, which appeared in Trolls et Légendes - L'Anthologie Officielle, Fées et Automates - Anthologie des Imaginales 2016, Utopiales 2016, and Destinations - Anthologie des Imaginales 2017. She's a great writer, without question. Her novel Les Seigneurs de Bohen was a little less to my liking, as you can read here. In this short-story, Ms Faye shows us the life of a character that was raised with a video-game, Arcadia Online. Her parents were technology-experts and very much occupied with this activity. But as our character finds out about the real world, she starts exploring and discovering and growing. And sets out to create a better world. Not a bad story at all. It has some food for thought.
7) Les cristallines by Ariane Gélinas (INÉDIT): 2/5
The Canadian author Ariana Gélinas is also unknown to me, although her novel Les cendres de Sedna looks interesting. The short-story was a little hard to get into. Ms Gélinas uses cultural, tribal references, which is nice and adds to the setting. But how the story evolved, was something I couldn't quite grasp. There's a female character who goes on a solo-trip by boat. There are a certain type of crocodiles that await their next meal, though they are fed with chained cows, which are dumped into the river to appease said crocodiles. This allows for visitors (tourists and alike) to row without worries to their destination. She comes across some locals, who have special crystals stuck to their face, their limbs, ... These crystals have certain visual characteristics, are even used to, for example, replace skin. It was unclear to me why they applied these crystals like that. . There were a few problems with this story, in my humble opinion. Must one have read previous works by Ms Gélinas? Be in the know of any cultural references to understand what the story is about?
8) Les arbres sont des gens comme les autres by Timothée Rey (INÉDIT): 4/5
And another new author for me. This story, which takes place in Brocéliande (Bretagne, France) is about a man whose brains and nervous system are transferred to a tree. It's a project in which many people are involved and participating. You get to read how your way of seeing, feeling, etc. the world around you is very different from that of trees. In addition, you can't speak, all communication happens via your and other trees' roots, mushrooms, and so on. Networking, as they say. A bit like Peter Wohlleben (German forester) and his view on how trees communicate with each other. As you might be able to imagine, if communication happens via the roots, then touch is also via the roots and so... two trees get together. But that's not to the liking of the wife of our character, who's a physician and likes to take care of the recovery process of her husband herself. So yes, a funny ending ;-) As the story is very much nature-based, I wonder if you could put it on the same shelf as The Overstory by Richard Powers, also on my TBR-pile.
9) Les oiseaux lunaires by Michael Moorcock (traduction de Pierre-Paul Durastanti): 4/5
Original version: The Birds of the Moon (1995), first translated into French in 2002 (Bifrost magazine). Michael Moorcock is one of fantasy's biggest names. His only work on my TBR-pile is The History of the Runestaff, which I hope to read some day, as is the case with many other books. In this little story, he takes us to London, to a confused man taking a dive into the world of King Arthur and the round table.
10) Poèmes by Guy Gavriel Kay (traduction : Erwan Devos et Hermine Hémon) (INÉDIT): 3/5
The only book by Mr Kay I've read, is his famed Tigana, which I enjoyed tremendously (see here). Other books on my TBR-pile: The Last Light of the Sun, Under Heaven, and River of Stars. Poetry is not my cup of tea at all. Luckily, Mr Kay's style is not like most poems, as the format is a bit more readable. The texts themselves are nice(ly written), but again, de gustibus et coloribus... I'll stick to his novels.
11) L’Île close by Lionel Davoust: 5/5
Lionel Davoust is another French author whose work I enjoy, even if Port d'âmes had its little problems. However, I did very much like Les Questions dangereuses, and his stories in Fées et Automates - Anthologie des Imaginales 2016 and Destinations - Anthologie des Imaginales 2017. On my TBR-pile: La route de la conquête : et autres récits, while also expecting the arrival of his newest publication, Contes hybrides. In 'L'Île Close', Mr Davoust also takes us on a trip to the Camelot, to King Arthur, the knights and the round table, not to forget Morgan le Fay, Merlin, Mordred, Guinevere, ... It's a story that is quite accessible, injected with philosophical food for thought, something I like a lot in his stories. It's a story in which the Holy Grail has an important role to play and how this object is perceived by mankind. Very much recommended! If you want, you can download this story for free from the man's website.
12) Le gnome qui voulut être fée by Audrey Alwett (INÉDIT)
I read this one last year. See my review HERE.
----------
To make it short, not every story was a hit, for whatever reason (style, content, personal taste, ...), but the majority makes reading this anthology worth it. As ever, known and unknown authors, always discovering new material and ideas.
November 23, 2017
Comme tout recueil de nouvelles, il y en a toujours qu'on préfère à d'autres. Bon cru pour cette édition, à part une à laquelle je n'ai pas accroché et une où j'ai eu du mal avec le style d'écriture, il y a de vraies pépites.
March 23, 2018
Du pur plaisir!
Chaque nouvelle se démarque par l'originalité de son thème ou de son univers, c'est un recueuil dans lequel on ne s'ennuie jamais!
Chaque nouvelle se démarque par l'originalité de son thème ou de son univers, c'est un recueuil dans lequel on ne s'ennuie jamais!
September 4, 2018
Prendre le temps comme thème est toujours intéressant. Les nouvelles ne sont pas toutes égales mais on passe un bon moment.
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