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Anthologie des Imaginales #10
Créatures - Anthologie des Imaginales 2018
Golem aux multiples visages (L’Homme d’argile) ou intelligence artificielle en quête de soi (La Machine différente), FFI de 1944 confrontés à des créatures lovecraftiennes (Le Nid de la Sphinge) ou soldat du futur étrangement lié à ceux qu’il a combattus (Casser la coquille), alcoolique au bout du rouleau re-boosté par une fée (Une petite fleur) ou colonie humaine résistant aux extraterrestres (La Traductrice et les monstres), les récits proposés par les quatorze auteurs de l’anthologie des Imaginales 2018 soulignent qu’une créature peut en cacher une autre (En commençant par la faim). Entre lieu étrange (Pied d’ombre) et futur inquiétant (Desdemona), univers parallèles (Les Portes du monde) et île mythique (Légende du premier monde), mais aussi Dr Jekyll et Mr Hyde (La Sixième victime), Créatures nous rappelle également, par-delà la diversité des thèmes abordés, que les dieux aveuglent ceux qu’ils veulent perdre (Les Rêves de Venn Colomax). Elle a tes yeux, affirme pour sa part le narrateur d’Estelle Faye, évoquant un amour qui résiste à la mort, pour s’interroger au final sur ce qui définit l’humain – et donne sens à nos vies.
Partenaire de longue date des Imaginales, Mnémos publie chaque année l’anthologie officielle du festival des mondes imaginaires d’Épinal. Anthologiste, directrice de collection, rédactrice en chef de la revue Galaxies de 1996 à 2007 (ce qui lui a valu le Grand Prix de l’imaginaire en 2000), Stéphanie Nicot compte parmi les meilleurs spécialistes des littératures de l’imaginaire. Elle assure depuis sa création, en 2002 à Épinal, la direction artistique du festival Imaginales.
Les auteurs :
Claire & Robert BELMAS, Fabien CERUTTI, Jean-Laurent DEL SOCORRO, Jean-Claude DUNYACH, Estelle FAYE, Fabien FERNANDEZ, Olivier GECHTER, Anthelme HAUCHECORNE, Gabriel KATZ, Helene LARBAIGT, Patrick MORAN, Adrien TOMAS, Jean-Louis TRUDEL, Elisabeth VONARBURG
Partenaire de longue date des Imaginales, Mnémos publie chaque année l’anthologie officielle du festival des mondes imaginaires d’Épinal. Anthologiste, directrice de collection, rédactrice en chef de la revue Galaxies de 1996 à 2007 (ce qui lui a valu le Grand Prix de l’imaginaire en 2000), Stéphanie Nicot compte parmi les meilleurs spécialistes des littératures de l’imaginaire. Elle assure depuis sa création, en 2002 à Épinal, la direction artistique du festival Imaginales.
Les auteurs :
Claire & Robert BELMAS, Fabien CERUTTI, Jean-Laurent DEL SOCORRO, Jean-Claude DUNYACH, Estelle FAYE, Fabien FERNANDEZ, Olivier GECHTER, Anthelme HAUCHECORNE, Gabriel KATZ, Helene LARBAIGT, Patrick MORAN, Adrien TOMAS, Jean-Louis TRUDEL, Elisabeth VONARBURG
281 pages, Paperback
Published June 1, 2018
18 people want to read
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February 20, 2019
Les Imaginales is thé (not tea in French, but a stress on the article the) festival for fans of SFF, with the stress rather on fantasy and similar. But mainly since 2017, SF has gained more ground. I find this the best festival, but to be honest, I haven't been to other such festivals in France. When you want a proper focus on SF, there's Les Utopiales in Nantes, to which I would like to go some day.
Créatures is the theme of the 2018 edition of the fest's anthology. It's also the third anthology that I've read so far, after Fées et Automates - Anthologie des Imaginales 2016 (2016) and Destinations - Anthologie des Imaginales 2017 (2017).
We are all creatures in one form or way or another. The creatures in this anthology are robots, upgraded humans, made out of clay, fairies, underground beings, ...
As always, there are authors whose works you've read earlier (short-stories or full-blown novels, for example) and authors whose works you're not acquainted with. In this case, new authors for me were: Claire & Robert Belmas, Fabien Fernandez, Olivier Gechter, Anthelme Hauchecorne, Hélène Larbaigt, Patrick Moran, Jean-Louis Tudel, and Élisabeth Vonarburg. The artwork was done by John Howe, known from his work for, among others, 'Lord of the Rings'.
This year's anthology contains a foreword (by Stéphanie Nicot, a.o. the festival's artistic director) and fourteen stories. As is normal, some stories are to one's liking, others are not or less, but it's a perfect way to get to know new authors, obviously.
An overview:
01) La Machine différente - Jean-Laurent Del Socorro: 4/5
A story about Ada Lovelace, a robot coming to life, with an own personality, and Lord Byron. This story has also a philosophical side. Another ingredient is poetry. While I have no feeling with this style, all things considered, M. Del Socorro delivered the goods once again, as he did in his books. A new book is due either later this year or next year, if I'm not mistaken.
02) En commençant par la faim - Anthelme Hauchecorne: 3/5
A blind girl has lost her parents, is saved/taken care of by two nuns, who help the girl look for her "dog". But it's not really a dog. There's a horror-side to this - it involves being hungry- and all's not well and doesn't end well. Not for the nuns/sisters, at least.
03) Le Nid de la Sphinge - Claire Belmas & Robert Belmas: 2/5
A story in a World War 2-setting, something I don't often, if never, read. It's about the FFI or French Forces of the Interior, a resistance movement. They have to deal with an alien creature living in the forest and which seems to have abducted one of the important soldiers of the movement. Not all was clear to me, I had some difficulty to "see" the story.
04) Les Rêves de Venn Colomax - Patrick Moran: 2/5
Patrick Moran wrote La Crécerelle last year (2018). I think this short-story here is related to the book, or might take place in the same world. There are some interesting elements, like the city being divided into several islands, as channels cut through the city from various points. Another interesting and original (?) element is the creation of colourful clouds when emotions take the upper-hand in conversations. Still, I had some trouble with the writing style, the sometimes difficult vocabulary - which is normal when French is not your mother-tongue -, ... As far as I understood, the creature here is Hazug, who visits people in their dreams to give them a sense in life. Or at least, that's what they think after the visit.
05) Une chance sur six - Gabriel Katz: 4/5
This story takes place in a western setting, with cowboys and Indians, or sort of. It's more comparable to The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (to link one edition). It's about finding the (serial) killer, who also killed your girlfriend. Only... she's still alive. As if everything was staged. That's when the evil in man surfaces. All in all, a very entertaining story, I must say. Better than his last books, to be honest.
06) L'Homme d'argile - Adrien Tomas: 4/5
I've previously read some of Tomas's short-stories and each time, he proved he can handle a pen (or keyboard). Still on my TBR-list: La Geste du Sixième Royaume (which I hope to read soon) and La Maison des mages (the sequel). The story here is about a golem which is made several centuries ago, but resurfaces every 200 years or so, and also into modern times. Each time, there's someone or some group who wants to take him out (not for lunch, though), to find out the secret of his creation. Each time, he survives, thanks to his secret or other protectors.
07) Les Portes du monde - Elisabeth Vonarburg: 4/5
While Ms Vonarburg has written many stories and books, this story was my first encounter with her writing, even though Les voyageurs malgré eux is on my TBR-list. Her story for this anthoogy is about a young child with special powers: living much longer than your average human being. While we would have our own pet, she has her own (an)droid, given to her as a present by her father. Out in space, there's a sort of membrane, acting as a revolving door for people/researchers who visit the planet Anomalie/Catastrophe. You can get in, but you can't get out, or not the way you got in. And if you're unlucky, you're stuck for ever. As it's so dangerous, there a general prohibition to visit the planet. A bit like Chernobyl on Earth. The child is promised to a special, influential politician, who will make sure the girl is educated according to high standards and so finds a suitable position later on. Father is all for it, mother not really. Mother must be submissive, as father is the man in charge of the family.
08) Légende du premier monde - Fabien Cerutti: 4/5
I was told by M. Cerutti himself to read this story after Le Testament d'involution, as it reveals some information on the Elves in the series, told by Mendorallen, a character in the fourth book. Also, it's best to have read the series first, as you might feel lost or not like the story as much, if you haven't read any of the books so far. What's it about?
09) Une petite fleur - Olivier Gechter: 4/5
A light, but heart-warming story about a little fairy, hidden in a special kind of flower. She only comes out when our character - a large, fat drunkard - is not looking or awake or away. She cleans up his house, making everything tidy, despite him drinking loads of beer, eating lots of crisps (chips), and so on. Even after his visit to the mental hospital, she diligently carries out her tasks. Why? Out of thanks for him having taken care of her, of the little plant/flower that grew after he moisturised the soil in which it was planted. Even if it wasn't with water. But as soon as he's awake, she hides back into her flower.
10) Pied d'ombre - Hélène Larbaigt: 3/5
Another story I had some trouble with. Is it about a kind of bird that can change shape into a human being, though one suffering from severe pains? Pains that are lifted by visiting cats? IT was nicely written, though.
11) Desdemona - Fabien Fernandez: 2/5
Fabien Fernandez writes (also) for young adults and it shows in this story. The style is simple, very accessible. I thought at first that it was about finding a lost spaceship, Desdemona. But Desdemona isn't a ship, it's a creature, brought to life through the combination of genetics and nanotechnology. I honestly didn't really like it. Was it the style? The execution of ideas? No idea, it just didn't speak to me.
12) Casser la coquile - Jean-Claude Dunyach: 2/5
This is the second time I read a story by the hand of M. Dunyach and the second time that I can't really say I'm convinced. The first one was that of the 2016 anthology of Les Imaginales, but I don't know how much of it was written by him and how much by Mike Resnick. This new story involves robots, if I'm not mistaken or creatures of a different kind, in any case. Man wants to eradicate them, without much success. War is brewing. At the end, there's a bit of philosophy about assimilation.
13) La Traductrice et les monstres - Jean-Louis Trudel: 4/5
Man has conquered one of the many planets out there. However, the local population isn't easily defeated. On the contrary, man is the one who needs/ed to adapt, to assimilate. As both populations speak different languages, someone must interpret. This process involves more than transcribing and learning words. It involves a complex operation on one's brains of which the consequences (on physical and psychological level) are tremendously life-changing. For the better? Depends how you look at it. Who wins? All in all, a very nice story. Food for language fans, in general. But M. Trudel didn't go into detail, because of page restrictions. But who knows? Maybe he'll make a proper novel out of this, one day.
14) Elle a tes yeux - Estelle Faye: 4/5
Last but not least, another SF-story. One with human body parts are sold and re-used for other upgrades and adaptations/modifications. One character is on the search for her lost life-partner. At some point, she sees someone with her eyes and both characters meet up for further contact. Ms Faye has written once again a beautiful story about life, what it is to be human, how love is a driving factor in life, despite possible struggles and troubles. I'm looking forward to finally read one of her books: Les Seigneurs de Bohen.
----------
Conclusion: The majority of the pack make this anthology worth the reading-experience (some stories are worth expanding, or making novels out of them) and made me want to further explore the works of some of its authors or start reading the books I already own. Points of the Belgian jury are more between 3.5 and 4/5, as they've been for the previous editions as well. In other words, you can't really go wrong with this festival's anthology. I'm looking forward to this year's edition (2019).
One little remark: I had the impression that several texts were not properly checked and re-read. Several of them lacked commas (when speaking to a person or for subclauses), and a few (very few, though) had some typos.
Créatures is the theme of the 2018 edition of the fest's anthology. It's also the third anthology that I've read so far, after Fées et Automates - Anthologie des Imaginales 2016 (2016) and Destinations - Anthologie des Imaginales 2017 (2017).
We are all creatures in one form or way or another. The creatures in this anthology are robots, upgraded humans, made out of clay, fairies, underground beings, ...
As always, there are authors whose works you've read earlier (short-stories or full-blown novels, for example) and authors whose works you're not acquainted with. In this case, new authors for me were: Claire & Robert Belmas, Fabien Fernandez, Olivier Gechter, Anthelme Hauchecorne, Hélène Larbaigt, Patrick Moran, Jean-Louis Tudel, and Élisabeth Vonarburg. The artwork was done by John Howe, known from his work for, among others, 'Lord of the Rings'.
This year's anthology contains a foreword (by Stéphanie Nicot, a.o. the festival's artistic director) and fourteen stories. As is normal, some stories are to one's liking, others are not or less, but it's a perfect way to get to know new authors, obviously.
An overview:
01) La Machine différente - Jean-Laurent Del Socorro: 4/5
A story about Ada Lovelace, a robot coming to life, with an own personality, and Lord Byron. This story has also a philosophical side. Another ingredient is poetry. While I have no feeling with this style, all things considered, M. Del Socorro delivered the goods once again, as he did in his books. A new book is due either later this year or next year, if I'm not mistaken.
02) En commençant par la faim - Anthelme Hauchecorne: 3/5
A blind girl has lost her parents, is saved/taken care of by two nuns, who help the girl look for her "dog". But it's not really a dog. There's a horror-side to this - it involves being hungry- and all's not well and doesn't end well. Not for the nuns/sisters, at least.
03) Le Nid de la Sphinge - Claire Belmas & Robert Belmas: 2/5
A story in a World War 2-setting, something I don't often, if never, read. It's about the FFI or French Forces of the Interior, a resistance movement. They have to deal with an alien creature living in the forest and which seems to have abducted one of the important soldiers of the movement. Not all was clear to me, I had some difficulty to "see" the story.
04) Les Rêves de Venn Colomax - Patrick Moran: 2/5
Patrick Moran wrote La Crécerelle last year (2018). I think this short-story here is related to the book, or might take place in the same world. There are some interesting elements, like the city being divided into several islands, as channels cut through the city from various points. Another interesting and original (?) element is the creation of colourful clouds when emotions take the upper-hand in conversations. Still, I had some trouble with the writing style, the sometimes difficult vocabulary - which is normal when French is not your mother-tongue -, ... As far as I understood, the creature here is Hazug, who visits people in their dreams to give them a sense in life. Or at least, that's what they think after the visit.
05) Une chance sur six - Gabriel Katz: 4/5
This story takes place in a western setting, with cowboys and Indians, or sort of. It's more comparable to The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (to link one edition). It's about finding the (serial) killer, who also killed your girlfriend. Only... she's still alive. As if everything was staged. That's when the evil in man surfaces. All in all, a very entertaining story, I must say. Better than his last books, to be honest.
06) L'Homme d'argile - Adrien Tomas: 4/5
I've previously read some of Tomas's short-stories and each time, he proved he can handle a pen (or keyboard). Still on my TBR-list: La Geste du Sixième Royaume (which I hope to read soon) and La Maison des mages (the sequel). The story here is about a golem which is made several centuries ago, but resurfaces every 200 years or so, and also into modern times. Each time, there's someone or some group who wants to take him out (not for lunch, though), to find out the secret of his creation. Each time, he survives, thanks to his secret or other protectors.
07) Les Portes du monde - Elisabeth Vonarburg: 4/5
While Ms Vonarburg has written many stories and books, this story was my first encounter with her writing, even though Les voyageurs malgré eux is on my TBR-list. Her story for this anthoogy is about a young child with special powers: living much longer than your average human being. While we would have our own pet, she has her own (an)droid, given to her as a present by her father. Out in space, there's a sort of membrane, acting as a revolving door for people/researchers who visit the planet Anomalie/Catastrophe. You can get in, but you can't get out, or not the way you got in. And if you're unlucky, you're stuck for ever. As it's so dangerous, there a general prohibition to visit the planet. A bit like Chernobyl on Earth. The child is promised to a special, influential politician, who will make sure the girl is educated according to high standards and so finds a suitable position later on. Father is all for it, mother not really. Mother must be submissive, as father is the man in charge of the family.
08) Légende du premier monde - Fabien Cerutti: 4/5
I was told by M. Cerutti himself to read this story after Le Testament d'involution, as it reveals some information on the Elves in the series, told by Mendorallen, a character in the fourth book. Also, it's best to have read the series first, as you might feel lost or not like the story as much, if you haven't read any of the books so far. What's it about?
09) Une petite fleur - Olivier Gechter: 4/5
A light, but heart-warming story about a little fairy, hidden in a special kind of flower. She only comes out when our character - a large, fat drunkard - is not looking or awake or away. She cleans up his house, making everything tidy, despite him drinking loads of beer, eating lots of crisps (chips), and so on. Even after his visit to the mental hospital, she diligently carries out her tasks. Why? Out of thanks for him having taken care of her, of the little plant/flower that grew after he moisturised the soil in which it was planted. Even if it wasn't with water. But as soon as he's awake, she hides back into her flower.
10) Pied d'ombre - Hélène Larbaigt: 3/5
Another story I had some trouble with. Is it about a kind of bird that can change shape into a human being, though one suffering from severe pains? Pains that are lifted by visiting cats? IT was nicely written, though.
11) Desdemona - Fabien Fernandez: 2/5
Fabien Fernandez writes (also) for young adults and it shows in this story. The style is simple, very accessible. I thought at first that it was about finding a lost spaceship, Desdemona. But Desdemona isn't a ship, it's a creature, brought to life through the combination of genetics and nanotechnology. I honestly didn't really like it. Was it the style? The execution of ideas? No idea, it just didn't speak to me.
12) Casser la coquile - Jean-Claude Dunyach: 2/5
This is the second time I read a story by the hand of M. Dunyach and the second time that I can't really say I'm convinced. The first one was that of the 2016 anthology of Les Imaginales, but I don't know how much of it was written by him and how much by Mike Resnick. This new story involves robots, if I'm not mistaken or creatures of a different kind, in any case. Man wants to eradicate them, without much success. War is brewing. At the end, there's a bit of philosophy about assimilation.
13) La Traductrice et les monstres - Jean-Louis Trudel: 4/5
Man has conquered one of the many planets out there. However, the local population isn't easily defeated. On the contrary, man is the one who needs/ed to adapt, to assimilate. As both populations speak different languages, someone must interpret. This process involves more than transcribing and learning words. It involves a complex operation on one's brains of which the consequences (on physical and psychological level) are tremendously life-changing. For the better? Depends how you look at it. Who wins? All in all, a very nice story. Food for language fans, in general. But M. Trudel didn't go into detail, because of page restrictions. But who knows? Maybe he'll make a proper novel out of this, one day.
14) Elle a tes yeux - Estelle Faye: 4/5
Last but not least, another SF-story. One with human body parts are sold and re-used for other upgrades and adaptations/modifications. One character is on the search for her lost life-partner. At some point, she sees someone with her eyes and both characters meet up for further contact. Ms Faye has written once again a beautiful story about life, what it is to be human, how love is a driving factor in life, despite possible struggles and troubles. I'm looking forward to finally read one of her books: Les Seigneurs de Bohen.
----------
Conclusion: The majority of the pack make this anthology worth the reading-experience (some stories are worth expanding, or making novels out of them) and made me want to further explore the works of some of its authors or start reading the books I already own. Points of the Belgian jury are more between 3.5 and 4/5, as they've been for the previous editions as well. In other words, you can't really go wrong with this festival's anthology. I'm looking forward to this year's edition (2019).
One little remark: I had the impression that several texts were not properly checked and re-read. Several of them lacked commas (when speaking to a person or for subclauses), and a few (very few, though) had some typos.
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