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Le Melkine #1-3
Le Melkine - L'intégrale
Depuis trois cents ans, le navire-école Melkine parcourt la Galaxie, solitaire et vénéré, son algorithme de positionnement tenu secret. En 2400 de notre ère, considérant que c’était la seule issue pour l’espèce humaine, une flotte de 1 643 navires interstellaires, des vaisseaux-villes, a emmené de point de Lagrange en point de Lagrange des communautés terriennes qui avaient subi un conditionnement culturel les condamnant à oublier le passé. Ils ne devaient penser qu’au futur.
Mais quand le conditionnement culturel, garant de paix, est contrecarré par le développement de fréquences de communication, la guerre menace. L’une des fréquences, Banquise, sur laquelle règne Azuréa, candidate malheureuse au concours d’admission au navire-école, est bien décidée à libérer les peuples de l’emprise mythique du Melkine.
Une tragédie en trois actes, qui a pour héros un navire :
Le Melkine
La mort du Melkine
L’esprit du Melkine
Mais quand le conditionnement culturel, garant de paix, est contrecarré par le développement de fréquences de communication, la guerre menace. L’une des fréquences, Banquise, sur laquelle règne Azuréa, candidate malheureuse au concours d’admission au navire-école, est bien décidée à libérer les peuples de l’emprise mythique du Melkine.
Une tragédie en trois actes, qui a pour héros un navire :
Le Melkine
La mort du Melkine
L’esprit du Melkine
- GenresScience Fiction
1104 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published March 1, 2014
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
May 20, 2026
Olivier Paquet has quite a few books up his sleeve already. I wondered where to start, and I was recommended his debut trilogy "Le Melkine". Having a (mass market paperback) omnibus aids in having the complete story instead of having to search for each volume.
"Le Melkine" is set in space, several spaceships, it's a kind of school (Le Melkine) with students taught according to their culture or the culture of Le Melkine, rather. And there are frequencies, which you could see as territories, regions, conglomerates, each vying for a place on the Melkine and/or becoming the most powerful one. (Socio-)Political games, in other words.
I had started the book with good hopes and liked the original premise, the themes, and pretty accessible writing style, at least in the first volume. But not all was well, as especially the characters were hard to sympathise with, to distinguish one from the other. The second volume started well, felt even better than the first volume, but at some point I lost track of what was going on, because it takes place so many years after the events of the first volume. However, you must read them in chronological order.
But as I lost track, put the book aside with the intention of picking up where I left off, it's been too long and now more than before, I don't know what I'm reading. Reading other reviews on other websites, it seems I'm not the only one whose enthusiasm cooled down quite rapidly. And because I left the book unread for too long, I have to admit "defeat" and DNF it in favour of what else is still on my TBR-pile and will hopefully provide more reading pleasure.
Will I ever try one of Olivier Paquet's other books? Maybe, but that's undecided at this moment.
"Le Melkine" is set in space, several spaceships, it's a kind of school (Le Melkine) with students taught according to their culture or the culture of Le Melkine, rather. And there are frequencies, which you could see as territories, regions, conglomerates, each vying for a place on the Melkine and/or becoming the most powerful one. (Socio-)Political games, in other words.
I had started the book with good hopes and liked the original premise, the themes, and pretty accessible writing style, at least in the first volume. But not all was well, as especially the characters were hard to sympathise with, to distinguish one from the other. The second volume started well, felt even better than the first volume, but at some point I lost track of what was going on, because it takes place so many years after the events of the first volume. However, you must read them in chronological order.
But as I lost track, put the book aside with the intention of picking up where I left off, it's been too long and now more than before, I don't know what I'm reading. Reading other reviews on other websites, it seems I'm not the only one whose enthusiasm cooled down quite rapidly. And because I left the book unread for too long, I have to admit "defeat" and DNF it in favour of what else is still on my TBR-pile and will hopefully provide more reading pleasure.
Will I ever try one of Olivier Paquet's other books? Maybe, but that's undecided at this moment.
Displaying 1 of 1 review