Helgvor of the Blue RiverPaperback, 27 August 2010

This is the seventh in a series of seven volumes presenting the classic works of J.-H. Rosny Aîné, the second most important figure in French science fiction after Jules Verne. Until now, Rosny, a member of the Goncourt literary academy, has best been known to the English-speaking public for his prehistoric thriller, Quest for Fire. In Helgvor of the Blue River (1929), two desperate women flee their barbarous tribe, and cross paths with a prodigious warrior. The Giant Feline (1918) features two friends of different races who set off in search of greener pastures for their tribe, befriend a wild creature, and ally themselves with Wolf-Women... Rosny's final, action-packed prehistoric adventure novels chart the domestication and integration of savage human instincts into sympathetic culture. Together with Vamireh and Quest for Fire, they combine the restless vigor of youth, the violence and wisdom of ages, the species-imperative of accepting difference and diversity, and the exhilarating joy of defying tyranny and death.