“This novel arose from several ideas. The first was to invent a Europe of the future, a complete reconstruction, whose purest manifestation would be a brand-new city of Paris. The capital is no longer a museum city, but a city of great tower blocks, districts hanging in the air and aerial transport systems. I have been helped with this by the “Revoir Paris” Exhibition, sourced from Schuitten and Peeter’s comic books, which presents all the reconstruction projects of the city since the 19th century.
Then I wanted a change of perspective on the question of the relationship between man and machine. It is becoming more and more of a cliché to accuse computers of transforming humans and of controlling and deforming them. In the Jardin d’hiver world, the machines are the only entities worthy of trust, since the humans never cease to lie, betray or put on a show to serve their own interests. I tried to explore all the possible symbioses between nature and mechanics, with all that this implies.
Finally, for the first time in a novel I managed to create a character possessing artificial intelligence. Like in my short story La reine d’Ambre, my A.I. called Sublime has no language but has developed communication based on sensuality and sensitivity. The power of this is gradually revealed.
From a more general point of view, it’s a novel about forgiveness with all its pretensions, an essential element for a conflict which will eventually come to an end. Expect big action scenes, excessive weaponry and characters dripping with heroism. Jardin d’hiver is a great saga with Europe as the backdrop.”
Olivier Paquet
