Jacques Sadoul
Encyclopedia
Jacques Sadoul is a French
author.
He has produced a number of anthologies
on the history of science fiction
.
His Histoire de la science fiction moderne (1973) was a major encouragement for the serious, academic study of SF, particularly among the East European peoples of that time, because the book was seen as very respectable, and, it was European, continental, while almost everything else science-fictional was produced across the Lamanche and across the Atlantic.
Sadoul is a well-known SF fan and magazine collector. In Paris, in 1973, he published an album of illustrations from American SF magazines, Hier, l’an 2000.
Those were the times when the year 2000 sounded very distant, and very science-fictional, so it was much found in SF titles.
He was one of the first editors to launch SF successfully in paperback form in France. He worked first with “Editions Opta” and then with “J’ai lu”, where he founded the SF imprint and edited the Les Meilleurs Recits series of anthologies of stories translated from the American pulp magazines. He was also a founder of the Prix Apollo award. Hier, l’an 2000: L’illustration de science fiction des annees 30 (1973; translated into English and published in the U.S. in 1975 as: 2000 A.D.: Illustrations From the Golden Age of Science Fiction Pulps), is a book of SF illustrations which he gathered, mostly black-and-white, a selection of SF nostalgia material, but has no index. His Histoire de la science-fiction moderne, 1911-1971 [“History of Modern SF”] (1973; in 2 volumes 1975; revised 1984) is a lengthy and enthusiastic survey of the field, but has been criticized for lacking deep critical analysis and containing too many sweeping generalizations and personal prejudices.
He wrote a trilogy of fantasy novels, La Passion selon Satan [“The Passion according to Satan”] (1960), Le Jardin de la licorne [“The Garden of the Unicorn”] (1978), and Les hautes terres du reve.
He has authored works on alchemy
, the fantastique
and crime fiction
.
Culture of France
The culture of France and of the French people has been shaped by geography, by profound historical events, and by foreign and internal forces and groups. France, and in particular Paris, has played an important role as a center of high culture and of decorative arts since the seventeenth...
author.
He has produced a number of anthologies
Anthology
An anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler. It may be a collection of poems, short stories, plays, songs, or excerpts...
on the history of science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
.
His Histoire de la science fiction moderne (1973) was a major encouragement for the serious, academic study of SF, particularly among the East European peoples of that time, because the book was seen as very respectable, and, it was European, continental, while almost everything else science-fictional was produced across the Lamanche and across the Atlantic.
Sadoul is a well-known SF fan and magazine collector. In Paris, in 1973, he published an album of illustrations from American SF magazines, Hier, l’an 2000.
Those were the times when the year 2000 sounded very distant, and very science-fictional, so it was much found in SF titles.
He was one of the first editors to launch SF successfully in paperback form in France. He worked first with “Editions Opta” and then with “J’ai lu”, where he founded the SF imprint and edited the Les Meilleurs Recits series of anthologies of stories translated from the American pulp magazines. He was also a founder of the Prix Apollo award. Hier, l’an 2000: L’illustration de science fiction des annees 30 (1973; translated into English and published in the U.S. in 1975 as: 2000 A.D.: Illustrations From the Golden Age of Science Fiction Pulps), is a book of SF illustrations which he gathered, mostly black-and-white, a selection of SF nostalgia material, but has no index. His Histoire de la science-fiction moderne, 1911-1971 [“History of Modern SF”] (1973; in 2 volumes 1975; revised 1984) is a lengthy and enthusiastic survey of the field, but has been criticized for lacking deep critical analysis and containing too many sweeping generalizations and personal prejudices.
He wrote a trilogy of fantasy novels, La Passion selon Satan [“The Passion according to Satan”] (1960), Le Jardin de la licorne [“The Garden of the Unicorn”] (1978), and Les hautes terres du reve.
He has authored works on alchemy
Alchemy
Alchemy is an influential philosophical tradition whose early practitioners’ claims to profound powers were known from antiquity. The defining objectives of alchemy are varied; these include the creation of the fabled philosopher's stone possessing powers including the capability of turning base...
, the fantastique
Fantastique
The Fantastique is a French term for a literary and cinematic genre that overlaps with science fiction, horror and fantasy.The fantastique is a substantial genre within French literature...
and crime fiction
Crime fiction
Crime fiction is the literary genre that fictionalizes crimes, their detection, criminals and their motives. It is usually distinguished from mainstream fiction and other genres such as science fiction or historical fiction, but boundaries can be, and indeed are, blurred...
.