Books to see elsewhere…

Books to escape: An SF novel in space; the logbook of a reckless walker on the Pacific Crest Trail; and a topical wine thriller…

22/10/24

« Outsphere 4 » par Guy-Roger Duvert

History

It’s Vanessa Fulton’s turn to wake up from a centuries-old sleep. Eden has evolved further, sinking deeper and deeper into a quasi-medieval world where violence is king. However, the vestiges of what was Earth civilization are perhaps not all extinct. Accompanied by relic hunters on one side and curious survivors on the other, she begins a true odyssey through the known lands while maintaining a tenuous hope, but which she refuses to abandon: one day finding the one who was known under the name of Colonel Jake Bowman…

The author

Guy-Roger Duvert, is a novelist, film score composer, and director. He has lived in Los Angeles for ten years. In the Amazon rankings, it is ranked 66th in Science Fiction.

In 2019 he published his first science fiction novel, “Outsphere”, which the same year won the Amazon TV5 Monde prize and became a best seller. The saga has already seen a first adaptation into a board game with Fragments, published by Grrre Games.

What we think

We have reviewed the previous opuses and some other works (see here) by Guy-Roger Duvert. For fans of the genre (SF, dystopia), the Outsphère series is addictive. Endowed with a good imagination, a sense of scenario, fluid and cinematic writing, the author leaves no respite to the reader. As you read the pages, it’s hard not to jump straight into the next chapter when you’ve finished the previous one.

You can give this book to your teenager, they should enjoy it… And the icing on the cake, a volume 5 is planned…

Read an excerptici

IB Pratic : Outsphere 4: Orders and Chaos, by Guy-Roger Duvert, 311p, €19.99. Available online, here. See the author’s Instagram page / Virtual Revolution film trailer (VF) / Music / Board game

“The Path of Fools” by Stéphane Cabart

History

The Pacific Crest Trail is a path that stretches from the Mexican border to Canada for 4,270 kilometers. A legendary route for long-distance walkers, it crosses several American states: California, Oregon, Washington. It offers a wide range of landscapes and extreme climates. A refuge for wildlife, it is home to bears, rattlesnakes, wolves, cougars and other animals to be encountered with humility.

Stéphane Cabart, aka “Marmotte”, for several months traced his route, surveying burning deserts, high mountains and deep forests, confronting nature and himself. There, everyone writes their story, with sweat, emotion, fear, joy and dust. He shares his own with us, the adventure of a lifetime.

The author
Stéphane lives in Savoie. He spent his childhood and adolescence there and then studied literature and English. Having lived in Chambéry for twenty-six years, he knows the mountains and knows them. In 2022, he decides to live the adventure of a lifetime, the extreme, the insane, the unreasonable. His taste for writing, notes along the way and the desire to transmit five months of intense emotions will bring out, upon his return to France, the writer in him.

Read an excerpt here

What we think

An authentic adventure, on foot, solo. With its moments of joy, of doubt, of fear. Even if the author has prepared his journey well in advance, there is no shortage of surprises. And he will have to know how to make the right decisions… In this logbook there exudes an unfeigned sincerity and a simplicity in harmony with the type of journey. The writing is dynamic, the descriptions of landscapes and situations detailed without being heavy.

This book should be read before preparing for any long-term trip, or simply to experience vicariously the strong moments, when man meets nature, without filter…

IB Pratic : “The path of the insane” by Stéphane Cabart, Ed Unayok, 186p, €12.90. Order from your favorite bookseller or online here. See the page dedicated to the book on the publisher’s website, here.

“Bordeaux sees red” by Brigitte Lurton

History

Times are tough for Bordeaux wine growers, victims of the great global upheaval. But two of them, two friends, one at the head of a vineyard in Haut-Médoc, and the other a consulting oenologist in the United States, do not want to give in to gloom. They have an ingenious idea whose success will surpass them and unleash hatred and lust against them and theirs: the manufacture of a soda, Bordo-soda, likely to find a large target of consumers.
The adventure would be cut short, they would abandon their project to resume their previous lives, if their family was not a solid and confident point of attachment, and if a stubborn and cunning detective did not intervene in time. She will have to delve into hidden corners, unearth family secrets to, as she says, put the puzzle together.

The author

Brigitte Lurton is from Bordeaux. A graduate in Visual Arts, she became Manager of winemaking and communications at Vignobles Lucien Lurton and created two vineyards in Spain in 1992. Her career has led her to travel extensively around the world. Since 2010 she has devoted herself to her passion: writing.

What we think

The author knows the wine industry and its shortcomings well, and she depicts it very well in this work. This story immerses the reader in this very particular world, currently changing and in complete turbulence. A well-written story, effective writing, descriptions of realistic places and situations make it a work that we enjoy reading through.

IB Pratic : “Bordeaux sees red” by Brigitte Lurton, Ed. Geste, 248p, €13.90. Available from your bookseller, or to order from the publisher or on an internet platform

Happy reading!

Michel Lenoir