L’Empire du Troll (The Troll’s Empire)

“I caught a glimpse of the dragon at the forge. He’s big, but not that big in comparison to me.

— At the forge, we often take on the young ones. Apprentices, on an internship agreement.

— Why do we do that?

— Because we don’t have to pay them!”

In this fantasy world, people have discovered progress and are hastily modernising their environment. Thus, in addition to elves, necromancers and unicorns, one can find a local equivalent of the Internet, video games and industrial organisations.

The stone Troll, the main character of the trilogy, is essentially made of granite. He is headstrong and totally out of sync with the modern world, so he sweeps away everything in his path. In the successive episodes of his adventures, he travels about with a motley crew, saving the world, stopping a particularly disastrous war, finding love and totting up his expenses...

As Jean Dunyach describes it, the stone Troll’s adventure is an unlikely fusion between The Lord of the Rings and the comic strip Dilbert.

Press

“It is a pure fantasy novel – you can’t dispute that – but all the codes and clichés of the genre are mercilessly ground through a mill and the result is a masterpiece of humour and fun.”

Jean-Luc Rivera, ActuSF