Oms en Série
Encyclopedia
Oms en série is a French
science fiction
novel
written by Stefan Wul
, first published in 1957. It was later adapted into the animated
feature film
La Planète sauvage (Fantastic Planet
, 1973). An English translation was first published in 2010 – over 50 years later – by United Kingdom
publisher Creation Books
.
"), tiny people from Terre (French for "Earth"), who have been brought by the giant Draags to their home planet, Ygam. Some Oms are domesticated as pets, but others run wild in parks, and are exterminated every 2 Draag years (1 Draag day being roughly equivalent to 45 Earth days). The Draags' treatment of the Oms is ironically contrasted with their high level of technological and spiritual development. The protagonist is a domesticated Om named Terr (short for "terrible") who runs away and joins a group of wild Oms. He has learned some of the Draags' scientific knowledge while in captivity, and uses this to forge a new, equal relationship with the Draags.
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
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...
novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
written by Stefan Wul
Stefan Wul
Stefan Wul was the nom de plume of French science fiction writer Pierre Pairault . He was a dental surgeon, but science fiction was his real passion. Most of his books reflect that, showing a deep knowledge of scientific data...
, first published in 1957. It was later adapted into the animated
Animation
Animation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D or 3-D artwork or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. The effect is an optical illusion of motion due to the phenomenon of persistence of vision, and can be created and demonstrated in several ways...
feature film
Feature film
In the film industry, a feature film is a film production made for initial distribution in theaters and being the main attraction of the screening, rather than a short film screened before it; a full length movie...
La Planète sauvage (Fantastic Planet
Fantastic Planet
Fantastic Planet is a 1973 animated science fiction film directed by René Laloux, production designed by Roland Topor, written by both of them and animated at Jiří Trnka Studio. The film was an international production between France and Czechoslovakia and was distributed in the United States by...
, 1973). An English translation was first published in 2010 – over 50 years later – by United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
publisher Creation Books
Creation Books
Creation Books is a British publishing house specializing in experimental literature, surrealism, erotic and decadent literature. Creation also publish non-fiction, with books on magic, subcultures, and taboo topics such as suicide and serial killers. They are best known for publishing a number of...
.
Summary
The story, set in the far future, deals with Oms (a play on the French word "hommes," meaning "menHuman
Humans are the only living species in the Homo genus...
"), tiny people from Terre (French for "Earth"), who have been brought by the giant Draags to their home planet, Ygam. Some Oms are domesticated as pets, but others run wild in parks, and are exterminated every 2 Draag years (1 Draag day being roughly equivalent to 45 Earth days). The Draags' treatment of the Oms is ironically contrasted with their high level of technological and spiritual development. The protagonist is a domesticated Om named Terr (short for "terrible") who runs away and joins a group of wild Oms. He has learned some of the Draags' scientific knowledge while in captivity, and uses this to forge a new, equal relationship with the Draags.