Brussolo, Serge

Entry updated 12 September 2022. Tagged: Author.

(1951- ) French author active since the early 1980s; he has also published as by Zeb Chillicothe, Doom Kitty, D Morlok and Akira Suzuko. He has been prolific in several genres throughout his career, though for a decade or so from about 1981 he concentrated almost exclusively on sf, much of this output adventurously Equipoisal, with mythopoeic topoi conversing, at times joltingly, with plot lines derived from American Genre SF, many of his tales being exorbitant Space Operas. An sf tale like Portrait du diable en chapeau melon ["Portrait of the Devil in a Derby Hat"] (1982), on the other hand, depicts with surreal intensity a Ruined Earth world whose human protagonists – trapped in a coercive Keep by Robot nursemaids whose instructions are now fatally belated – must attempt to free themselves from these mechanized prison while simultaneously interpreting their nurses' mangled understanding of the human story.

Although the various twenty-first century Peggy Sue series for Young Adult readers have been exceedingly popular, the loose David Sarella sequence beginning with Le puzzle de chair ["The Puzzle of Flesh"] (1983) comprises a much more penetrative transaction between Fantastika in general and the innumerable permutations of the cauldron of story that subtends modern literatures (with the partial exception of the genres of realism). Sarella himself, very approximately, seems to manifest himself as a kind of Doppelganger of Brussolo himself: a writer, footloose and freelance, who seems to make his living – through an internally inconsistent array of storylines – plunging into the dream of the world. A strong example of this is Le syndrome du scaphandrier (1992; trans Edward Gauvin as The Deep Sea Diver's Syndrome 2016), where Sarella is a professional spelunker of Virtual-Reality-dense but constantly mutable dream worlds, where he scavenges artefacts of value on the "surface".

It is reasonable to expect that further translations into English of Brussolo's exceedingly large oeuvre will expose an author of very considerable significance. [JC]

Serge Brussolo

born Paris: 31 May 1951

works (highly selected)

series

David Sarella

Le puzzle de chair ["The Puzzle of Flesh"] (Paris: Fleuve Noir, 1983) [in the publisher's Anticipation series: David Sarella: pb/Tim White]
- Les semeurs d'abimes ["The Abyss of the Sowers"] (Paris: Fleuve Noir, 1983) [exp of the above as coll: in the publisher's Anticipation series: David Sarella: pb/Peter Goodfellow]
Ce qui mordait le ciel ["Those Who Kill the Sky"] (Paris: Fleuve Noir, 1983) [in the publisher's Anticipation series: David Sarella: pb/Tim White]
Crache-béton ["Split Concrete"] (Paris: Fleuve Noir, 1984) [in the publisher's Anticipation series: David Sarella: pb/Terry Oakes]
La nuit du bombardier ["The Night of the Bomber"] (Paris: Éditions Denoël, 1989) [in the publisher's Présence du Futur series: David Sarella: pb/Jean-Michel Nicollet]
L'Homme aux yeux de napalm ["The Man With the Napalm Eyes"] (Paris: Éditions Denoël, 1990) [in the publisher's Présence du Futur series: David Sarella: pb/Jessé Gomart]
Capitaine Suicide ["Captain Suicide"] (Paris: Fleuve Noir, 1992) [in the publisher's Anticipation series: David Sarella: pb/Jean-Yves Kervévan]
Le syndrome du scaphandrier (Paris: Éditions Denoël, 1992) [in the publisher's Présence du Futur series: David Sarella: pb/Jean-Yves Kervévan]
- The Deep Sea Diver's Syndrome (New York: Melville House, 2016) [trans by Edward Gauvin of the above: David Sarella: hb/Christopher King]
De l'autre côté du mur des ténèbres ["On the Other Side of the Wall of Darkness"] (Paris: Fleuve Noir, 1993) [in the publisher's Anticipation series: David Sarella: pb/Jean-Yves Kervévan]
Le sourire noir ["The Black Smile"] (Paris: La Librairie des Champs-Élysées, 1994) [in the publisher's Le Masque series: David Sarella: pb/Manchu]
Frontière barbare ["Frontier Barbarian"] (Paris: Gallimard, 2013) [David Sarella: pb/George Clarenko]
Anges de fer, paradis d'acier ["Angels of Iron, Paradise of Steel"] (Paris: Gallimard, 2015) [David Sarella: pb/George Clarenko]

La Planète des ouragans ["The Planet of Storms"]

Rempart des naufrageurs ["Wreckers of the Rampart"] (Paris: Fleuve Noir, 1985) [in the publisher's Anticipation series: Planète des ouragans: pb/George Smith]
Abattoir-Opéra ["Abattoir Opera"] (Paris: Fleuve Noir, 1985) [in the publisher's Anticipation series: Planète des ouragans: pb/John Harris]
Naufrage sur une chaise électrique ["Shipwrecked on an Electric Chair"] (Paris: Fleuve Noir, 1986) [in the publisher's Anticipation series: Planète des ouragans: pb/George Smith]
- La Planète des ouragans ["The Planet of Storms"] (Paris: Éditions Denoël, 2004) [omni of the above three: in the publisher's Folio SF series: Planète des ouragans: pb/Manchu]

Peggy Sue et les fantômes ["Peggy Sue and the Phantoms"] (selected)

Le jour du Chien bleu ["Blue Dog Day"] (Paris: Plon, 2001) [in the publisher's Pocket Jeunesse series: Peggy Sue et les fantômes: pb/]
Le sommeil du Démon ["Sleep of the Demon"] (Paris: Plon, 2001) [in the publisher's Pocket Jeunesse series: Peggy Sue et les fantômes: pb/]
Le papillon des Abîmes ["The Toy Dog of the Abyss"] (Paris: Plon, 2001) [in the publisher's Pocket Jeunesse series: Peggy Sue et les fantômes: pb/]
Le Zoo ensorcelé ["The Bewitched Zoo"] (Paris: Plon, 2001) [in the publisher's Pocket Jeunesse series: Peggy Sue et les fantômes: pb/]
Le château noir ["The Black Castle"] (Paris: Plon, 2001) [in the publisher's Pocket Jeunesse series: Peggy Sue et les fantômes: pb/]
La bête des souterrains ["The Beast from Underground"] (Paris: Plon, 2001) [in the publisher's Pocket Jeunesse series: Peggy Sue et les fantômes: pb/]
La révolte des Dragon ["The Revolt of the Dragons"] (Paris: Plon, 2001) [in the publisher's Pocket Jeunesse series: Peggy Sue et les fantômes: pb/]
La jungle rouge ["The Red Jungle"] (Paris: Plon, 2001) [in the publisher's Pocket Jeunesse series: Peggy Sue et les fantômes: pb/]
La lumière mystérieuse ["The Mysterious Light"] (Paris: Plon, 2006) [in the publisher's Pocket Jeunesse series: Peggy Sue et les fantômes: pb/] (Paris: Plon, 2006) [in the publisher's Pocket Jeunesse series: Peggy Sue et les fantômes: pb/]
Le Loup et la Fée ["The Wolf and the Fairy"] (Paris: Plon, 2008) [in the publisher's Pocket Jeunesse series: Peggy Sue et les fantômes: pb/]
Le Cirque maudit ["The Cursed Circus"] (Paris: Plon, 2008) [in the publisher's Pocket Jeunesse series: Peggy Sue et les fantômes: pb/]

Les Mondes Fantastiques de Peggy Sue ["The Fantastic Worlds of Peggy Sue"]

L'arbre qui n'existait pas ["The Tree That Did Not Exist"] (Paris: Sirius, 2011) [Mondes Fantastiques de Peggy Sue: pb/]
L'Homme à la tête de plomb ["The Man with a Head of Lead"] (Paris: Sirius, 2011) [Mondes Fantastiques de Peggy Sue: pb/]
Peggy Sue et les Larmes de cristal ["Peggy Sue and the Crystal Tears"] (Paris: Sirius, 2012) [Mondes Fantastiques de Peggy Sue: pb/]

individual titles (very highly selected)

Les sentinelles d'Almoha ["The Sentinels of Almoha"] (Paris: Fernand Nathan, 1981) [pb/Victor de la Fuente]
- La muraille interdite ["The Forbidden Wall"] (Paris: Bragelonne, 2012) [exp of the above as coll: in the publisher's Milady series: pb/Miguel Coimbra]
Sommeil de sang ["Blood Sleep"] (Paris: Éditions Denoël, 1982) [in the publisher's Présence du Futur series: pb/Stéphane Dumont and Blaise Sivignon]
Portrait du diable en chapeau melon ["Portrait of the Devil in a Derby Hat"] (Paris: Éditions Denoël, 1982) [in the publisher's Présence du Futur series: pb/André Paris]
Le carnaval de fer ["The Iron Carnival"] (Paris: Éditions Denoël, 1983) [in the publisher's Présence du Futur series: pb/Gilles Decock]

links

previous versions of this entry

Internet Archive