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Des êtres synthétiques soumis à nos désirs , de l' orgasme en capsule, la radiographie du plaisir. Nos futurs nous réservent des fantasmes inédits et mystérieux... Douze auteurs soulèvent le lourd rideau des tabous pour emprunter la voie des sens et mieux affoler les nôtres.
166 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 2009
9 people want to read
About the author
Sylvie Lainé
82 books4 followersAuthor of Science Fiction stories and professor of Information Science at the University of Lyon.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
July 14, 2010
Science fiction and erotica... um... plenty to cover here.
When I first heard about this anthology, I was pleasantly surprised by two things. First, this is a French anthology that contains first-time published stories by some classic science fiction French authors (Joëlle Wintrebert and Francis Berthelot), some well-established young writers such as Mélanie Fazi, Stéphane Beauverger (whose wonderful novel Le Déchronologue I reviewed a while back), Charlotte Bousquet and Sylvie Lainé, and some not entirely unknown newcomers (Norbert Merjagnan, Virginie Bétruger and illustrator Daylon).
Second, this anthology is the remarkable work of a small independent house, Les 3 Souhaits, which is the editorial offspring of the science fiction news website Actu SF. I reviewed one of their titles, Le Guide des Fées. Regards sur la Femme [A Guide to Fairies. A study of women:] last year and they really deserve to be cheered for their original and thought-provoking work and ideas. I hope they will soon have the chance to be more widely distributed. At the moment, the only way to get a hold of their books is through their website or at conventions.
As it always the case with anthologies, some stories clearly stand out and that selection tends to vary from one reader to the next. IMHO, the one which belittles all others is Joëlle Wintrebert's 'Camélions'. For a long time, Joëlle Wintrebert was France's only female science fiction writer, and I'm ashamed to admit that I've never read any of her novels though I have her novel Pollen (Au Diable Vauvert, 2002) in my to-read pile(s)... somewhere.
'Camélions' is about a human colony which gets stranded on a hostile planet and one woman who will bring down barriers and taboos, and dare make contact with the local population (who resemble human-size butterflies) at the risk of being shunned by her peers. It's a powerful and sensuous story about survival, love and betrayal. And now I really need to unearth Pollen and get to it sometime this year!
The other two stories which stood out for me were Maïa Mazaurette's 'Saturnales' and Mélanie Fazi's 'Miroir de Porcelaine'.
Maïa Mazaurette is graphic artist, writer and blogger most well-known for her blog Sexactu. I had the opportunity to meet her at the Salon du Livre in March and she is lots of fun to be around. Her novel Rien ne nous survivra is yet another title which needs to make it in my read pile this year!.
'Saturnales' takes place in a future in which sex, and especially first times, is carefully planned and involves so many artifices that there is little to nothing natural about it anymore, but pleasure is guaranteed. It's filled with the stingy humor that characterizes Maïa Mazaurette and will leave you half-smiling, half-horrified.
Mélanie Fazi ranks among my favorite short story writers. I read her short story collection Notre-Dame-aux-Ecailles about two years ago and while I had an overall uneven impression, I simply adore her lyrical and poetic style. Really, she could be retelling this morning's news that I would still find it fascinating. She is also a very talented translator. She got the Jacques Chambon award for Best Translation for her work on Graham Joyce's The Facts of Life (French title: Lignes de Vie which I reviewed here). FYI, some of Mélanie Fazi's works have been translated in English and appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, The Year's Best Fantasy & Horror and The Third Alternative for those you who would like to check it out.
'Miroir de Porcelaine' is a dreamy (bordering on nightmarish), sensuous tale of lovers drawn apart by robots created for an artistic purpose. Well worth your time, and it won the Masterton Award 2010 - Best Short Story category.
I think the only thing lacking from this anthology is perhaps a compilation of short author bios because such an anthology could really appeal to non-genre readers who know nothing about these writers. Overall, a wonderful initiative and a thought-provoking result that I highly recommend.
When I first heard about this anthology, I was pleasantly surprised by two things. First, this is a French anthology that contains first-time published stories by some classic science fiction French authors (Joëlle Wintrebert and Francis Berthelot), some well-established young writers such as Mélanie Fazi, Stéphane Beauverger (whose wonderful novel Le Déchronologue I reviewed a while back), Charlotte Bousquet and Sylvie Lainé, and some not entirely unknown newcomers (Norbert Merjagnan, Virginie Bétruger and illustrator Daylon).
Second, this anthology is the remarkable work of a small independent house, Les 3 Souhaits, which is the editorial offspring of the science fiction news website Actu SF. I reviewed one of their titles, Le Guide des Fées. Regards sur la Femme [A Guide to Fairies. A study of women:] last year and they really deserve to be cheered for their original and thought-provoking work and ideas. I hope they will soon have the chance to be more widely distributed. At the moment, the only way to get a hold of their books is through their website or at conventions.
As it always the case with anthologies, some stories clearly stand out and that selection tends to vary from one reader to the next. IMHO, the one which belittles all others is Joëlle Wintrebert's 'Camélions'. For a long time, Joëlle Wintrebert was France's only female science fiction writer, and I'm ashamed to admit that I've never read any of her novels though I have her novel Pollen (Au Diable Vauvert, 2002) in my to-read pile(s)... somewhere.
'Camélions' is about a human colony which gets stranded on a hostile planet and one woman who will bring down barriers and taboos, and dare make contact with the local population (who resemble human-size butterflies) at the risk of being shunned by her peers. It's a powerful and sensuous story about survival, love and betrayal. And now I really need to unearth Pollen and get to it sometime this year!
The other two stories which stood out for me were Maïa Mazaurette's 'Saturnales' and Mélanie Fazi's 'Miroir de Porcelaine'.
Maïa Mazaurette is graphic artist, writer and blogger most well-known for her blog Sexactu. I had the opportunity to meet her at the Salon du Livre in March and she is lots of fun to be around. Her novel Rien ne nous survivra is yet another title which needs to make it in my read pile this year!.
'Saturnales' takes place in a future in which sex, and especially first times, is carefully planned and involves so many artifices that there is little to nothing natural about it anymore, but pleasure is guaranteed. It's filled with the stingy humor that characterizes Maïa Mazaurette and will leave you half-smiling, half-horrified.
Mélanie Fazi ranks among my favorite short story writers. I read her short story collection Notre-Dame-aux-Ecailles about two years ago and while I had an overall uneven impression, I simply adore her lyrical and poetic style. Really, she could be retelling this morning's news that I would still find it fascinating. She is also a very talented translator. She got the Jacques Chambon award for Best Translation for her work on Graham Joyce's The Facts of Life (French title: Lignes de Vie which I reviewed here). FYI, some of Mélanie Fazi's works have been translated in English and appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, The Year's Best Fantasy & Horror and The Third Alternative for those you who would like to check it out.
'Miroir de Porcelaine' is a dreamy (bordering on nightmarish), sensuous tale of lovers drawn apart by robots created for an artistic purpose. Well worth your time, and it won the Masterton Award 2010 - Best Short Story category.
I think the only thing lacking from this anthology is perhaps a compilation of short author bios because such an anthology could really appeal to non-genre readers who know nothing about these writers. Overall, a wonderful initiative and a thought-provoking result that I highly recommend.
March 21, 2013
J'ai mis la main sur ce recueil de nouvelles pour découvrir ce que pouvaient donner des nouvelles érotiques publiées. Publiée par ActuSF, cette anthologie combine donc la science-fiction, le fantastique, à l'érotisme. Comment est le résultat final ?
Il y a du bon, du moyen, et du pas très bon. Misvirginity de Daylon, et Sabbat de Gudule, font partie de cette dernière catégorie. Pour la première, je n'ai même pas été au bout.
Dans le bon, il y a des textes très différents. Saturnales et Descente (de Maia Mazaurette et Virginie Bétruger) m'ont beaucoup plu. Par l'humour et la crudité de leurs propos, principalement. Camélions, de Joelle Wintrebert, est également un bon texte. Mystérieux, intime, il mélange parfaitement la SF et l'érotisme, sans tomber dans le graveleux. Le dernier texte qui m'a touché par la grâce et la sensualité qu'il dégage est Miroir de Porcelaine, de Mélanie Fazi. A croire que les écrits de femmes me touchent plus.
Les autres textes sont plus anecdotiques, je trouve, même si Eddy Merckx n'est jamais allé à Vérone, de Stéphane Beauverger, est une entrée en matière, dans l'anthologie, de bonne facture.
Si vous recherchez une anthologie d'où perle l'érotisme, passez votre chemin. Il ne s'agit pas du thème central de la majorité des nouvelles. Mais si vous souhaitez découvrir quelques bons récits fantastiques avec une touche d'érotisme, laissez-vous porter !
Il y a du bon, du moyen, et du pas très bon. Misvirginity de Daylon, et Sabbat de Gudule, font partie de cette dernière catégorie. Pour la première, je n'ai même pas été au bout.
Dans le bon, il y a des textes très différents. Saturnales et Descente (de Maia Mazaurette et Virginie Bétruger) m'ont beaucoup plu. Par l'humour et la crudité de leurs propos, principalement. Camélions, de Joelle Wintrebert, est également un bon texte. Mystérieux, intime, il mélange parfaitement la SF et l'érotisme, sans tomber dans le graveleux. Le dernier texte qui m'a touché par la grâce et la sensualité qu'il dégage est Miroir de Porcelaine, de Mélanie Fazi. A croire que les écrits de femmes me touchent plus.
Les autres textes sont plus anecdotiques, je trouve, même si Eddy Merckx n'est jamais allé à Vérone, de Stéphane Beauverger, est une entrée en matière, dans l'anthologie, de bonne facture.
Si vous recherchez une anthologie d'où perle l'érotisme, passez votre chemin. Il ne s'agit pas du thème central de la majorité des nouvelles. Mais si vous souhaitez découvrir quelques bons récits fantastiques avec une touche d'érotisme, laissez-vous porter !
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews