La Saison des singes and L'Empire du sommeil form a diptych whose galactic framework and exotic planets echo Brian Aldiss's Helliconia and Hothouse. An adventure novel and a thriller at the same time, this investigation, that lasts over a thousand years, is also a reflection on the role of technoscience.

An extremely advanced human civilisation exists in a hundred light year radius around the Earth. It has brought together under the aegis of the Friends of Humanity Charter numerous worlds in order to define methodically the relationship between the branches of humanity and technoscience. Because of this, humans from the worlds in the Charter have access to certain modifications, but the Greatly Modified Ones, who established the basics of the Charter and master space flight and nanotechnology, have in fact the real power. 

L'Empire du sommeil

The most advanced human civilisation, represented by the GMOs and the Charter, but made weak by the great sleep epidemic, is enduring increasing attacks from the world of the Cartels.

At the same time, Irina Mincor, the GMO from the Abondant, has settled on an asteroid in orbit around the Ninhs planet with the idea of rebuilding her spaceship, all the while keeping an eye on Kiris T. Kiris, who was responsible for the crash. And she finds out that Kiris T. Kiris, profiting from their annual migrations in preparation for winter, is about to attack the native arboricultural population and the humans. She sends out a distress call, drawing the GMOs out of their usual territory.