Ravage (novel)
Encyclopedia
Ravage is a science fiction novel written by René Barjavel
, set in 2052 France
. It was first published in 1943 by Denoël. The English title is Ashes, ashes. Ravage has been included on many "all-time" best lists, including Annick Beguin's Les 100 principaux titres de la science-fiction.
suddenly disappears. Chaos, disease, and famine ensue, which readers witness through the adventures of a small group of survivors led by François Deschamps. The group leaves Paris
and starts a journey toward Provence
where the survivors will create a new patriarchal society with Deschamps as their leader.
René Barjavel
René Barjavel was a French author, journalist and critic who may have been the first to think of the grandfather paradox in time travel. He was born in Nyons, a town in the Drôme department in southeastern France...
, set in 2052 France
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...
. It was first published in 1943 by Denoël. The English title is Ashes, ashes. Ravage has been included on many "all-time" best lists, including Annick Beguin's Les 100 principaux titres de la science-fiction.
Plot
In the storyline, a civilization much more advanced than ours falls to its knees when electricityElectricity
Electricity is a general term encompassing a variety of phenomena resulting from the presence and flow of electric charge. These include many easily recognizable phenomena, such as lightning, static electricity, and the flow of electrical current in an electrical wire...
suddenly disappears. Chaos, disease, and famine ensue, which readers witness through the adventures of a small group of survivors led by François Deschamps. The group leaves Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
and starts a journey toward Provence
Provence
Provence ; Provençal: Provença in classical norm or Prouvènço in Mistralian norm) is a region of south eastern France on the Mediterranean adjacent to Italy. It is part of the administrative région of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur...
where the survivors will create a new patriarchal society with Deschamps as their leader.
Critics
This novel is considered as a reference in science-fiction in the following books :- Annick Beguin, Les 100 principaux titres de la science-fiction, Cosmos 2000, 1981;
- Jacques SadoulJacques SadoulJacques 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 was a major encouragement for the serious, academic study of SF, particularly among the East European peoples of that time, because the book was...
, Anthologie de la littérature de science-fiction, Ramsay, 1981; - Science-fiction. La bibliothèque idéale, Albin Michel, 1988;
- Lorris Murail, Les Maîtres de la science-fiction, Bordas, coll. « Compacts », 1993;
- Stan Barets, Le science-fictionnaire, Denoël, coll. « Présence du futur », 1994;
External links
- Summary of the novel (in French languageFrench languageFrench is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
) - Review of the novel (in French languageFrench languageFrench is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
)