Thomas Cantaloube published the novel Les Mouettes a few weeks ago, an exciting book in the world of the Bureau des Légendes! Interview…
Bepolar : How was the idea for this novel born in the Bureau des Légendes universe?
Thomas Cantaloube : It was originally an idea from The Originals Production (TOP), the production company that created and developed the Legends Bureau. She was looking to continue the adventure of the series, without necessarily going through a sixth season or through audiovisual production. The idea thus emerged that a novel would make it possible to extend the same universe while standing out from the series, both in form (by switching to writing) and in substance (by focusing on another service of the DGSE).
Bepolar : How did you work? Was there a Bible? Did you have to watch everything? What was the place in the writing of the authors of the Bureau des Légendes?
Thomas Cantaloube : There was no Bible. The only two constraints placed on me were: 1) to write a novel starting from the Action service, that is to say the “commandos” of the DGSE; 2) respect the DNA of the television series, that is to say remain in the story of a realistic espionage, more centered on the characters, their psychology and the procedures of the world of spies. In other words, more John Le Carré than James Bond. From this starting point, I was completely free to create my own characters and the story I wanted. No screenwriters from the Legends Bureau participated in the novel. For my part, I had seen all five seasons of the series when they were broadcast and I chose to rewatch one or two episodes, but no more. Both for reasons of time (we’re still talking about a hundred hours of film!), but also because it allowed me to draw on the impressions and memories that were still surfacing in my mind a few years later. It was for me a way of filtering out the superfluous to retain only what had been imprinted in my memory.
Bepolar : Tell us about the Seagulls. Who are they?
Thomas Cantaloube : Les Mouettes is the nickname of the Action Service of the DGSE, that is to say the special forces of the French intelligence services. They are soldiers whose discretion must be absolute. They intervene in situations where the French government does not want to take responsibility for its actions or even be suspected. They are often said to be the garbage collectors of France, responsible for discreetly removing anything that is bothersome or dangerous.
Bepolar : We discover a new character, Yannick Corsan, who joins the Action Service of the DGSE. Who is he? How could you present it to us?
Thomas Cantaloube : Yannick Corsan is a thirty-five-year-old captain who joined the Action Service after going through the army’s special forces, a fairly standard path. He finds himself at a pivotal moment in his career, one where he must decide how to continue his career: climb the hierarchy by moving away from the field or return to civilian life. Furthermore, he was barely recovering from the accidental death of his wife 18 months earlier, an event which weakened him and led to his being removed from operations.
Bepolar : He must exfiltrate an agent who has found a place in a terrorist organization that threatens to commit an attack in Mali. How did you construct the story? That requires a lot of work in terms of geopolitical research, right?
Thomas Cantaloube : It turns out that before becoming a full-time novelist, I was a journalist for 25 years, specializing in international news. In particular, I covered several conflicts in the 2000s and 2010s, including that in the Sahel. I really wanted to tell the story of the kind of “mission impossible” that was entrusted to the French army and intelligence services to have to eradicate disparate terrorist and rebel movements in one of the most hostile areas in the world. I also wanted to demystify some of the motivations of jihadists, many of whom only act to earn a living. I relied on what I knew and what I had seen in Mali and Burkina Faso, then I supplemented with documentation and finally by interviewing former Seagulls. Not on specific missions, but rather on the procedures they follow, the means made available to them, etc.
Bepolar : Was it easy to slip into the world of other authors? You notably took over certain characters from the series…
Thomas Cantaloube : It was relatively easy in the sense that the series is one of the best ever written. The universe and its characters were very well defined, I just had to slip into it. Taking the characters from the series was a little trickier, because I didn’t want to betray or transform them. But, since they only appear in the background, it wasn’t that difficult. If I had had to take them on as main characters, I don’t think I would have agreed to write the novel. Not only because I would have found it less interesting than creating my own characters, but also because I would necessarily have fallen short of the authors of the series who spent hours and hours on their dialogues, their attitudes, etc. .
Bepolar : What would you like readers to take away from this reading? The pleasure of rediscovering the universe or the strength of this new story?
Thomas Cantaloube : Both, obviously. I hope that readers will find the flavor that they liked in the Legends Bureau. Or that those who have not seen the series discover this universe. At the same time, I tried not to do a repeat or a sixth season of the series. I wanted to open a new perspective on the world of espionage, in particular by working more on the action and the thrilling aspect. And if, in addition, I can shed a little light on some major geopolitical issues, I would have succeeded in my bet.
Bepolar : Will there be other novels in this universe? What are you working on on your side?
Thomas Cantaloube : I am currently writing Volume 2 of The Seagulls, which will start just after the end of the first volume and which should be published in the second half of 2025. I am also working, in collaboration with a co-writer, on the film adaptation Seagulls.
Bepolar : What makes a good thriller?
Thomas Cantaloube : Whether we are in the genre of the noir novel, like those I wrote at the Série Noire, or that of espionage, the two components of a good thriller remain the same from my point of view. First, tell a story gripping enough that readers want to turn page after page until the end. I try to dial this in with memorable characters and a strong plot. Then, I try to provide a second level of reading which is of the order of pedagogy, by striving to make the reader discover things that he did not know or knew little about: on geopolitics, on history , on geography, etc.
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