Novels & worlds

Blue Sugar

After the War of the Six and the outbreak of the plague, blue sugar has become humanity's only source of food. Irène, an Agent of Reason serving The Triumphant Future, finds herself drawn into an investigation that may uncover a century-old taboo: what is the recipe for blue sugar?

This alternate-history novel with dystopian overtones follows the intertwined destinies of four characters. The reader discovers a transformed city of Lyon, shaped by brutalist architecture and the fragmented organization of a society crushed by an insidious totalitarian regime. As information and its manipulation lie at the heart of the novel, the story is constantly enriched by supplementary material, including advertisements, radio broadcasts, newspaper articles, and graffiti. Together, these elements create a rich, tangible, and immersive experience.

This novel is only available in French, but feel free to translate it with your favorite AI.

The Chain

In Maoist China, shortly before the Cultural Revolution of 1966, a Frenchman is imprisoned in a Buddhist temple hidden deep in the mountains. He believes he has been sent to a labor camp. In reality, he is trapped inside a strange asylum.

Inspired by the work of Taiwanese photographer Chien-chi Chang and the Lung-fa Tang Temple, an asylum where patients were chained together in pairs, this historical novel is grounded in extensive research. It immerses the reader in a China rushing toward modernity and explores questions of free will, mutual aid, and humanity. Written as a long monologue punctuated by the forced march of its chained narrator, the novel offers a sensory, almost experimental journey through the protagonist's ordeal.

This novel is only available in French, but feel free to translate it with your favorite AI.