The Night Orchid: Conan Doyle in Toulouse [Paperback]

Sheryl Curtis (Adapter), Jean-Louis Trudel (Adapter), Jean-Claude Dunyach (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 11, 2004

Arthur Conan Doyle takes Professor Challenger to the South of France to meet Professor Picard, Irene Adler and a horror from the ancient past. ("A treat... read it and grin," Tangent Online.) What extraordinary secrets lie in the weave of an ancient carpet? (Voted Best Story of 1998, Interzone; "particularly strong," scifi.com.) A young boy accidentally swallows a fairy. ("An intriguing glimpse into a different world," BestSF.net; "A disturbing fairy tale," Strange Horizons.) Mysterious cocoons fall to Earth bringing alien revelations. ("Vivid and engaging," Tangent Online.) What do corpses do to other corpses at night? ("Gripping... disquieting," Tangent Online.) In cyberspace all intelligences are edible. ("Worthy of Philip K. Dick," Mauvais Genres.) Fourteen stories by multiple award-winning French science fiction author Jean-Claude Dunyach, including six never before translated. This volume features Unravelling the Thread selected in Year's Best Science Fiction of 1999 and Watch Me When I Sleep included in Year's Best Fantasy and Horror of 2002. In his foreword, David Brin (The Postman, Earth) describes the author as "one of the most talented imaginations living today" and urges: "Feast upon the imagination of Jean-Claude Dunyach."

Product Details

• Paperback: 280 pages
• Publisher: Hollywood Comics (March 11, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 097407117X
• ISBN-13: 978-0974071176
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,247,498 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Jean-Claude Dunyach, born in 1957, has a Ph.D. in applied mathematics and supercomputing. He works for Airbus in Toulouse (south of France).
He has been writing science fiction since the beginning of the 1980s, and has already published seven novels and eight collections of short stories, garnering the French Science-Fiction award in 1983, four Rosny Ainé Award in 1992 (2), 1998 and 2008, as well as the "Grand Prix de l'Imaginaire" in 1998 and Prix Ozone in 1997.
The short story "Déchiffrer la trame" ("Unravelling the thread") was elected "best story of the year" by the Interzone magazine readers. Two collections of short stories are available in English: "THE NIGHT ORCHID: CONAN DOYLE IN TOULOUSE" and "THE THIEVES OF SILENCE", Black Coat Press.
His latest novel, "Etoiles Mourantes" (Dying Stars), written in collaboration with the famous French writer Ayerdhal, won the "Grand Prix de la Tour Eiffel" in 1999 as well as the "Prix Ozone". It is published by the French editor J'ai lu, as well as "Etoiles Mortes", Prix Rosny 1992 (published in Hungary by Galaktika). "Etoiles Mourantes" was also published in Italy by Fanucci ("Stelle Morenti") and in Hungary.
The French editor L'Atalante published two collections of short stories in 2000. Another collection appeared in May 2001 and the fourth one in May 2003, followed by the fifth one in May 2005, the sixth one in May 2007 and the seventh one in April 2011.
Jean-Claude Dunyach also writes lyrics for several French singers, which served as an inspiration for one of his novels about a rock and roll singer in a trashed future, touring in Antarctica with a zombie philharmonic orchestra...

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Embrace Imagination in "The Night Orchid", November 9, 2004

By 

Kevin Tipple (Plano, Texas) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Night Orchid: Conan Doyle in Toulouse (Paperback)

In this collection of stories by Jean-Claude Dunyach, imagination full of hopeful wonder is the key. The 14 stories in this 279-page book, all science fiction, are driven by imagination powered by hopeful wonder. This is science fiction in its truest form where the possibilities are endless and the vision, or the visions in this case, of the future are not negative and involving the downfall of civilization. Instead, anything that can be dreamed is the limit and even those boundaries known to man are blown away by the concept of wonder and imagination allowed to flow free across time and space.

It simply isn't possible to cover every story in depth. I have chosen three, that for this reader, really made an impression on my mind. This is one of those books that means massively different things to different readers so your favorites would vary. And I suspect, years from now when I read this book again, my selections would change as well. That is the mark of truly great literature.

"Time, as it evaporates..." (Page 91) opens with a city where time as if it were a lake, floats above. The level is slowly receding and compressing downward on the citizens of the town. The city has survived the rip in time until now, but the pool is diminishing and their days are numbered with no escape. Or is there?

"Watch Me When I Sleep" (Page 152) on its simplest level, is about a young boy who, while he slept, accidentally swallowed a fairy. This story was included in the "2002 Year's Best Fantasy and Horror" for good reasons.

"Footprints In The Snow" (Page 185) details a group that makes an annual pilgrimage high above the tundra line in the mountains. As their numbers slowly shrink every year, they keep faith with their purpose.

While those are just three examples of the work in this book, there is a stunning variation in subject matter, perspective, and vision of the future. Each story, written in the Jules Verne style by a modern author, shows incredible use of imagination and hope. These are not the downer cataclysmic end of the world type stories so often found today masquerading as science fiction. This is how science fiction used to be.

This book, courtesy of Black Coat Press, is another wonderful example of a publisher crossing continents to bring little known authors, at least in America, to a new audience. Owned and operated by Jean-Marc and Randy Lofficier, Black Coat Press books seem to always be quality novels worth reading over and over again. Whether the book is from the Doctor Omega series (sure to interest fans of Dr. Who), the Holmes vs. Lupine series, or this book, the stories are complex with interesting and varied characters. Additionally, the cover art and illustrations as well as the books themselves in terms of the printing process are always top notch.

This book in particular is a definite must read for science fiction fans hungry for a read where wonder and the imagination are still acceptable. Not everything has to be a doom and gloom future and it is nice once again to read a work that sees the positives.

Book Facts:


The Night Orchid: Conan Doyle In Toulouse
By Jean-Claude Dunyach
Adapted In English By Sheryl Curtis, Jean-Louis Trudel, Dominique Bennett, and Ann Cale
Black Coat Press
www.blackcoatpress.com
2004
ISBN # 0-9740711-7-X
Large Trade Paperback
$20.95 US


Kevin R. Tipple© 2004