Twenty thousand years ago, the North Pole was orientated toward a star
in Cygnus. On the plains of Europe the mammoth was about to become
extinct, while the emigration of the large wild beasts toward the Land
of Light and the northward flight of the reindeer were coming to an end.
The aurochs, the urus and the red deer were grazing forests and
savannahs. The colossal cave-bear had perished in the depths of its
caverns a long time ago. This is the fourth in a series of seven volumes
translated and annotated by Brian Stableford 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. Rosny gave nobility
to the prehistoric novel with classic works such as Vamireh (1892),
Eyrimah (1893) and Nomai (1897), in which he combined the notions of
modern drama with the ability to depict Man's early days in a colorful,
yet believable fashion, straddling the line between mainstream
literature and fantasy.