In The Young Vampire (1920), a London girl is possessed by an extra-dimensional entity which mutates her body and turns her into a living vampire. The Supernatural Assassin (1923) tells the tale of a murderous wraith. Finally, Companions of the Universe (1934) is Rosny's last, great novel, a brilliant scientific romance in which a secret group of physicists attempts to breach the limits of the universe beyond photons, sub-particles and wave-sequences; while at the same time offering an in-depth study of the perversity of human sexual relationships. This is the sixth in a series of seven volumes translated and annotated by Brian Stableford presenting the classic works of J.-H. Rosny Aine, the second most important figure in French science fiction after Jules Verne. Until now, Rosny, a member of the Goncourt literary academy, has best been known to the English-speaking public for his prehistoric thriller, Quest for Fire.
J.-H. Rosny aîné was the pseudonym of Joseph Henri Honoré Boex, a French author of Belgian origin who is considered one of the founding figures of modern science fiction. Born in Brussels in 1856, he wrote together with his younger brother Séraphin Justin François Boex under the pen name J.-H. Rosny until 1908. After they ended their collaboration Joseph Boex continued to write under the name "Rosny aîné" (Rosny the Elder) while his brother used J.-H. Rosny jeune (Rosny the Younger).