We have here a space opera that is ambitious and yet simple, a story that uses the immensity of the galaxy in order to talk about our own world. […]
Olivier Paquet manages this with a certain panache and tackles themes as vast as they are contemporary: for example culture and its influence upon us and the way we use it to get what we want. Depending on who is manipulating it, the results will not be the same and could be truly frightening. […]
A trilogy that gets off to a great start.
Stegg, Psychovision
A space opera which basically, as is often the case, is all about us.
Watch this space...
Hélène, Les Vagabonds du Rêve
Le Melkine imposes its narrative force progressively and having got over the obstacles of the first two hundred pages, clarifications on the reasons why some individuals fight against conditioning and cultural coercion seem more tangible and understandable. The writer, behind the mask of fiction, analyses recent disruptions in society triggered by extreme indoctrination and the consequences of the loss of all objectivity. We find ourselves appreciating all the more the daily life of these pupils taken from their families and their "educational" discovery of the worlds they travel through.
The Nantes editor L'Atalante has an amazing ability to discover unknown writers with great literary talent. If Le Melkine starts slowly the ending really makes you want to find out what happens next in this manifestly innovative philosophical space opera.
I had no difficulty at all in getting into the story, because it was such a good read, especially as I was longing to find out about this unusual stellar world. The author balances his phases of dialogue, narrative and description well so that we never lose interest. Another thing that I appreciated was the fact that it showed that it was possible to have a space opera without space combat.
Illman, If is dead
Watch out! Here is an author we must keep an eye on. He is likely to become one of the best young French science fiction authors in the very near future.
