Illusions of Immortality
ILLUSIONS OF IMMORTALITY
by Edmond Haraucourt
adapted by Brian Stableford
cover by Vincent Laik
When the pale sun rose for the second time, humankind no longer existed, for the human race, by whose hand all other species had perished, was only to perish, like the rest, at human hands...
US$ 22.95 /GBP 14.99
5x8 tpb, 272 pages
ISBN-13: 978-1-61227-075-3
Edmond Haraucourt (1856-1941) was amongst the pioneers of French scientific romance influenced by H. G. Wells, easily ranking alongside the better-known Maurice Renard and J.-H. Rosny Aîné.
In this collection of nine ground-breaking science fiction stories, published beween 1888 and 1919, he describes the rise of the Antichrist, the cataclysmic consequences of the discovery of an immortality serum, a journey across the ruins of Paris in the Year 6983, the fall of the Moon upon the Earth, the last of the Great Wars that ends all life on Earth, and even a fututistic "Planet of the Apes" where evolved gorillas wonder, "Are Apes descended from Humans?"
Contents:
IMMORTALITY (Immortalité, conte philosophique - 1888)
THE MADONNA (La Madone - 1890)
THE ANTICHRIST (L'Antéchrist - 1893)
THE END OF THE WORLD (La Fin du Monde - 1893)
THE GORILLOID (Le Gorilloïde - 1906)
A TRIP TO PARIS (La Traversée de Paris - 1904)
A CHRISTMAS GIFT (Les Sabots de Noël - 1906)
DOCTOR AUGUÉRAND'S DISCOVERY (La découverte du docteur Auguérand - 1910)
THE SUPREME CONFLICT (Le conflit supreme - 1919)
Introduction and Notes by Brian Stableford