Kirjailijakuva

Luce Basseterre

Teoksen Le Chant des Fenjicks tekijä

3 teosta 9 jäsentä 1 Review

Tekijän teokset

Le Chant des Fenjicks (2020) 4 kappaletta
La Débusqueuse de mondes (2017) 3 kappaletta
Les Enfants du passé (2016) 2 kappaletta

Merkitty avainsanalla

Yleistieto

Syntymäaika
1957-10-26
Sukupuoli
female
Kansalaisuus
France
Syntymäpaikka
Toulon, France

Jäseniä

Kirja-arvosteluja

French Space Opera, a book that has appeared on some lists and which I really wanted to check out. All the more reason then to have gone (in 2018) to the festival Les Imaginales in France, where the author was present.

'La Débusqueuse de Mondes' (roughly translated: The Flusher of Worlds) is about sowing the seeds of life on deserted planets and moons and those in need of a "remake", after which they are sold to colonisers. Captain D'Guéba, an amphibian, frog-like being, works alone, though in close connection with her spaceship aka cyber-shark (cybersquale), Koba, interacting through artificial intelligence. Koba has command over inspecting drones, which are sent out to explore potential planets and report their findings, even if danger looms around the corner, eh, bend.

On one planet, which will turn out to be Earth, she stumbles upon a survivor, whose spaceship has crashed. Previously, he was held hostage by a band of rebels, who took over control of the ship. But as that didn't go to well, they crashed, one way or another, and strangely enough, Otton was the sole survivor. As he told Guéba, he was a slave and had nowhere to go, she decided to help him out and then drop him off at the first planet, so that he could take up his life and seek new endeavours.

That, however, was not what Otton had in mind, knowing what Guéba's profession was. His behaviour was also a bit suspicious, yet Guéba gave him the benefit of the doubt. He knew about the plans for terraforming and injecting new life in one of the several planets (like Skad or Earth). As Otton saw his chance to gain a lot of money, he contacted his "friend"/"partner" Taguel and offered him the deal of a lifetime. Of course, deals with such persons are never without danger for one's life.

This little plan and Guéba's work didn't turn out as it was supposed to. On the one hand, political discussions, while on the other hand, Otton wanting his little scheme to come to fruition. Even if that included ordering (in Guéba's name, yet without her knowing) and setting out illegal creatures to get rid of invading other species.

As Guéba and Koba try to shake off Otton - who somehow , this will be to no avail. In the end, their roads meet again, so much even that a partnership is formed, despite everything. Especially after Otton's efforts to help with the terraforming and making the planet accessible for other species.


The various colonised planets and interactions involve different kinds of species, like is the case in the books of Becky Chambers, for example. That's also a key ingredient: harmony, respect for one another, despite political and other differences. Even if those differences cost some lives at some point.

The story is a light read, touches upon certain aspects only lightly; otherwise, it would have been a novel of at least twice its current length ( /- 600 pages). The most important is following our three main characters - Captain Guéba, Otton, and Koba - and having the story told from their points of view. Each chapter is thus told by one of these three. Mrs Basseterre kept her style fairly accessible - except for some vocabulary -, and foresaw enough events (political [dis]agreements, police intervention, battle, kidnapping, ...) to turn the story into a page-turner.

Despite its shortcomings, 'La Débusquese de Mondes' is an entertaining, light read for in between some heavier reads.

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I've got one big remark with regards to the editing: Has there been any at all? Or was it just my copy of the book?

* Punctuation: There are numerous phrases where the comma has been omitted, especially for subclauses. Or sentences with commas, where commas were absolutely out of place.
* Typos or wrong conjugations: "quoi que" instead of "quoique", "demandons accès" (here, it's Guéba demanding access) instead of "demandant accès", ...
… (lisätietoja)
 
Merkitty asiattomaksi
TechThing | Jan 22, 2021 |

Tilastot

Teokset
3
Jäseniä
9
Suosituimmuussija
#968,587
Arvio (tähdet)
4.0
Kirja-arvosteluja
1
ISBN:t
7
Kielet
1