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Aurorarama Hardcover – August 31, 2010
| Jean-Christophe Valtat (Author) Find all the books, read about the author, and more. See search results for this author |
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1908: New Venice--"the pearl of the Arctic"--a place of ice palaces and pneumatic tubes, of beautifully ornate carriage-sleds and elegant victorian garb, of long nights and vistas of ice.
But as the city prepares for spring, it feels more like qaartsiluni, "the time when something is about to explode in the dark." Local "poletics" are wracked by tensions with the Eskimos circling the city, with suffragette riots led by an underground music star, with drug round-ups by the secret police force known as the Gentlemen of the Night. An ominous black airship hovers over the city, and the Gentlemen are hunting for the author of a radical pamphlet calling for revolt.
Their lead suspect is Brentford Orsini, one of the city's most prominent figures. But as the Gentlemen of the Night tighten the net around him, Orsini receives a mysterious message from a long-lost love that compels him to act.
What transpires is a literary adventure novel unlike anything you've ever read before. Brilliant in its conception, masterful in its prose, thrilling in its plot twists, and laced with humor, suspense, and intelligence, it marks the beginning of a great new series of books set in New Venice-and the launch of an astonishing new writer.
- Print length416 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherMelville House
- Publication dateAugust 31, 2010
- Dimensions6.25 x 1.49 x 9.29 inches
- ISBN-101935554131
- ISBN-13978-1935554134
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Title pageA Panorama of New Venice"He drew a curtain aside...""...the disused Pneumatic subway line"
From Bookmarks Magazine
Review
"[Valtat] has a magical sense of shape, and a gift for lyrical prose that are rare in modern writing."
—La Croix
"Jean-Christophe Valtat is a writer of beautiful energy."
—Le Monde
About the Author
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Product details
- Publisher : Melville House; First Edition (August 31, 2010)
- Language : English
- Hardcover : 416 pages
- ISBN-10 : 1935554131
- ISBN-13 : 978-1935554134
- Item Weight : 1.51 pounds
- Dimensions : 6.25 x 1.49 x 9.29 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #3,465,309 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #8,130 in Alternate History Science Fiction (Books)
- #147,105 in Literary Fiction (Books)
- #151,516 in Action & Adventure Fiction (Books)
- Customer Reviews:
About the author

Jean-Christophe Valtat (1968-?) is a pure product of the Summer of Love and the French republican school system. He lives in Montpellier, France, and writes novels whenever he feels like it, either in French or in English.
He has just finished a "dream-punk" trilogy, "The Mysteries of New Venice", including "Aurorarama" (2010), "Luminous Chaos" (2013) and "Suspended Citadels" (2016).
More information at http://johnblank9.wixsite.com/blankpages
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I have bought the sequel and am really looking forward to reading it.
On the political side, Aurorarama belongs to the fruitful genre of utopias---fruitful, in the sense that the exoticism of the scenery helps you reflecting about your own experience. To be more precise, even though the story takes place in 1908, many of the lessons of the twentieth century are on the operating table. As in a laboratory, we lean over guinea-pig characters and follow their efforts to tackle issues such as polar post-colonialism (with tragicomic, vivid eskimo scenes), sustainable development (by 80° north), pervasive police (all the more chilling that they are exquisitely polite), or "hedonistic fascism" (with hype music bands and hyper-protective surgeons working for the ruling power)...
Aurorarama has also delighted the fiction-lover in me, by intertwinning an otherwise straightforward tale with shamanic trances, spiritual journeys to the pole, uncanny hallucinatory descriptions or dream restranscriptions. Without being ever tedious in his psychological forays, the author manages to usher the reader into the most secret recess of the characters. By the end of the book, the main characters have become old acquaintances whom you leave regretfully.
Eventually, the novel brims with wit. The numerous dialogues are swift, even during dramatic showdowns. They give to the whole novel an effervescent pace, page after page.
Enchanted scenery, instructive background, enthralling story, wealthy language and witty dialogues: five well-deserved stars.
All that being said, I honestly think that if you give this book a try you'll somehow manage to actually enjoy it despite frequent moments of utter confusion.


