All that is, of course, pure speculation, which goes far beyond the teasing hints casually thrown out by La Roue fulgurante, almost certainly by accident—but that is, after all, the real point of La Roue fulgurante, and of speculative fiction in general.
Brian Stableford
Notes
1 An omnibus translation of the two Le Rouge novels is available from Black Coat Press as The Vampires of Mars, ISBN 9781934543306. Les Aventures merveilleuses de Serge Myrandhal was published by Black Coat Press in 2014, ISBN 978-1-61227-265-8. Another relevant work of the same period is Arnould Galopin’s Doctor Omega, Black Coat Press, ISBN 97810974071114.
2 tr. as The Nyctalope on Mars, Black Coat Press, ISBN 9781934543467.
3 Several further works in the Nyctalope series have been translated and published by Black Coat Press, including The Nyctalope vs. Lucifer, ISBN 9781932983982), Enter the Nyctalope (ISBN 9781934543993), The Nyctalope Steps In (ISBN 9781612270289), Night of the Nyctalope (ISBN 9781612271026) the interplanetary romance Le Roi de la nuit (included in Return of the Nyctalope, ISBN 9781612272115).
4 Black Coat Press, ISBN 9781612270753.
5 tr. as Dr. Lerne, Black Coat Press, ISBN 9781935558156.
6 tr. as The Blue Peril, Black Coat Press, ISBN 9781935558170.
7 tr. as “The Navigators of Space” in the eponymous Black Coat Press collection, ISBN 9781935558354.
8 La Hire calls the creatures monopèdes, fusing Greek and Latin roots in a manner that would make a pedant wince; it is arguably that “uniped” might have been more a appropriate translation than “monopod,” because of its symmetry with “biped” and “quadruped,” but monopod seems closer to La Hire’s term, given that “monoped” is too horrible to contemplate.
9 In English, nyctalopia means night-blindess, as its Greek roots clearly imply, not an ability to see in the dark” but dictionaries confirm that the inversion of meaning of its French equivalent, nyctalopie, seems to be intrinsic to the French language rather than idiosyncratic to La Hire. There is, however, no other evident way to translate the French nyctalopique, so I have allowed the contradiction to remain here, as I have in translations of La Hire’s novels featuring his series hero, the Nyctalope.
10 There is no observatory at Verrières, a suburb south of Paris, but just as “Constant Brularion” is an obvious substitute for Camille Flammarion, the observatory featured in the novel is an analogue of the one that Flammarion was gifted at Juvisy-sur-Orge, which subsequently became the property of the Societé Astronomique de France. The notion of an interplanetary projection of this kind had first been employed by Louis-Sébastien Mercier in one of the stories in Songes et visions philosophiques (1768), “Nouvelles de la lune” (tr. as “News from the Moon” in the Black Coat Press eponymous collrectoion, ISBN 9781932983890), which Flammarion had read and described in his book Les Mondes imaginaires et les mondes réels [Real and Imaginary Worlds] (1864), and which anticipated Lumen in several key respects. La Hire was certainly familiar with Flammarion’s book, and even gave the astronomer a starring role in The Nyctalope on Mars.
11 The original has “La Force soit avec vous!” This is the only mention of “the Force” in question in La Hire’s text, and it remains a trifle enigmatic, but it is obviously the same one subsequently featured, evidently coincidentally, in Star Wars.
12 The orthodox opinion is that the original Stylites were Christian mystics in the eastern remnant of the Roman Empire, but it would not be surprising of travelers’ tales of Indian fakirs brought back in the days of the Raj had credited them with similar exploits, or had at least inspired scholarly fantasists to do so during the occult revival.
13 Eugène Ducretet (1844-1915) was the leading French pioneer of wireless telegraphy; he transmitted the first wireless telegraphy signal in Paris, between the Eiffel Tower and the Panthéon, in 1898.
14 In its early days, when edited by François Buloz from 1831 to 1877 the Revue des Deux Mondes had been prominent in promoting the Romantic Movement, but since it had been taken over by Ferdinand Brunetière in 1893 it had reflected that editor’s strong commitment to Naturalism and a hatred of Symbolism that extended to a fervent disapproval of all imagination in literature; the animosity was mutual.
FRENCH SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY COLLECTION
105 Adolphe Ahaiza. Cybele
102 Alphonse Allais. The Adventures of Captain Cap
02 Henri Allorge. The Great Cataclysm
14 G.-J. Arnaud. The Ice Company
61 Charles Asselineau. The Double Life
103 S. Henry Berthoud. Martyrs of Science
23 Richard Bessière. The Gardens of the Apocalypse
26 Albert Bleunard. Ever Smaller
06 Félix Bodin. The Novel of the Future
92 Louis Boussenard. Monsieur Synthesis
39 Alphonse Brown. City of Glass
89. Alphonse Brown. The Conquest of the Air
98. Emile Calvet. In A Thousand Years
40 Félicien Champsaur. The Human Arrow
81 Félicien Champsaur. Ouha, King of the Apes
91. Félicien Champsaur. The Pharaoh’s Wife
03 Didier de Chousy. Ignis
97. Michel Corday. The Eternal Flame
67 Captain Danrit. Undersea Odyssey
17 C. I. Defontenay. Star (Psi Cassiopeia)
05 Charles Derennes. The People of the Pole
68 Georges T. Dodds. The Missing Link and Other Tales of Ape-Men
49 Alfred Driou. The Adventures of a Parisian Aeronaut
-- J.-C. Dunyach. The Night Orchid;
-- J.-C. Dunyach. The Thieves of Silence
10 Henri Duvernois. The Man Who Found Himself
08 Achille Eyraud. Voyage to Venus
01 Henri Falk. The Age of Lead
51 Charles de Fieux. Lamékis
31 Arnould Galopin. Doctor Omega
70 Arnould Galopin. Doctor Omega & The Shadowmen
88 Judith Gautier. Isoline and the Serpent-Flower
57 Edmond Haraucourt. Illusions of Immortality
24 Nathalie Henneberg. The Green Gods
29 Michel Jeury. Chronolysis
55 Gustave Kahn. The Tale of Gold and Silence
30 Gérard Klein. The Mote in Time’s Eye
90 Fernand Kolney. Love in 5000 Years
87 Louis-Guillaume de La Follie. The Unpretentious Philosopher
101 Jean de La Hire. The Fiery Wheel
50 André Laurie. Spiridon
52 Gabriel de Lautrec. The Vengeance of the Oval Portrait
82 Alain Le Drimeur. The Future City
27-28 Georges Le Faure & Henri de Graffigny. The Extraordinary Adventures of a Russian Scientist Across the Solar System (2 vols.)
07 Jules Lermina. Mysteryville
25 Jules Lermina. Panic in Paris
32 Jules Lermina. The Secret of Zippelius
66 Jules Lermina. To-Ho and the Gold Destroyers
15 Gustave Le Rouge. The Vampires of Mars
74 Gustave Le Rouge. The Transatlantic Threat
75 Gustave Le Rouge. The Psychic Spies
76 Gustave Le Rouge. The Victims Victorious
96. André Lichtenberger. The Centaurs
99. André Lichtenberger. The Children of the Crab
72 Xavier Mauméjean. The League of Heroes
78 Joseph Méry. The Tower of Destiny
77 Hippolyte Mettais. The Year 5865
83 Louise Michel. The Human Microbes
84 Louise Michel. The New World
93. Tony Moilin. Paris in the Year 2000
11 José Moselli. Illa’s End
38 John-Antoine Nau. Enemy Force
04 Henri de Parville. An Inhabitant of the Planet Mars
21 Gaston de Pawlowski. Journey to the Land of the Fourth Dimension
56 Georges Pellerin. The World in 2000 Years
79 Pierre Pelot. The Child Who Walked On The Sky
85 Ernest Per
ochon. The Frenetic People
100. Edgar Quinet. Ahasuerus
60 Henri de Régnier. A Surfeit of Mirrors
33 Maurice Renard. The Blue Peril
34 Maurice Renard. Doctor Lerne
35 Maurice Renard. The Doctored Man
36 Maurice Renard. A Man Among the Microbes
37 Maurice Renard. The Master of Light
41 Jean Richepin. The Wing
12 Albert Robida. The Clock of the Centuries
62 Albert Robida. Chalet in the Sky
69 Albert Robida. The Adventures of Saturnin Farandoul
95 Albert Robida. The Electric Life
46 J.-H. Rosny Aîné. The Givreuse Enigma
45 J.-H. Rosny Aîné. The Mysterious Force
48 J.-H. Rosny Aîné. Vamireh
44 J.-H. Rosny Aîné. The World of the Variants
47 J.-H. Rosny Aîné. The Young Vampire
71 J.-H. Rosny Aîné. Helgvor of the Blue River
24 Marcel Rouff. Journey to the Inverted World
09 Han Ryner. The Superhumans
106 Brian Stableford. The Conqueror of Death
20 Brian Stableford. The Germans on Venus
19 Brian Stableford. News from the Moon
63 Brian Stableford. The Supreme Progress
64 Brian Stableford. The World Above the World
65 Brian Stableford. Nemoville
80 Brian Stableford. Investigations of the Future
42 Jacques Spitz. The Eye of Purgatory
13 Kurt Steiner. Ortog
18 Eugène Thébault. Radio-Terror
58 C.-F. Tiphaigne de La Roche. Amilec
104 Louis Ulbach. Prince Bonifacio
53 Théo Varlet. The Xenobiotic Invasion (w/Octave Joncquel)
16 Théo Varlet. The Martian Epic; (w/André Blandin)
59 Théo Varlet. Timeslip Troopers
86 Théo Varlet. The Golden Rock
94 Théo Varlet. The Castaways of Eros
54 Paul Vibert. The Mysterious Fluid
English adaptation and introduction Copyright 2013 by Brian Stableford.
Cover illustration Copyright 2013 Mandy.
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ISBN 978-1-61227-217-7. First Printing. October 2013. Published by Black Coat Press, an imprint of Hollywood Comics.com, LLC, P.O. Box 17270, Encino, CA 91416. All rights reserved. Except for review purposes, no part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. The stories and characters depicted in this novel are entirely fictional. Printed in the United States of America.