Alain Grousset and Pierre Bordage are two significant authors in the literature of the imaginary. Very significant. Together they have conjured up a rather unusual diptych with a giant planet as a backdrop, where travelling times are counted in months, at the very least, and more often in years.  At first what really strikes you is the thematic depth of the two novels. Gigante is promising by its very size and its mysteries, a little like Omale by Laurent Genefort. Even if the technique isn’t new, the exploration of a new planet in a science fiction novel always engenders a lot of curiosity. The two authors tackle many aspects of Gigante: travel and how the time it takes affects...