The Givreuse Enigma

This is the fifth in a series of seven volumes translated and annotated by Brian Stableford presenting the classic works of J.-H. Rosny Aîné, the second most important figure in French science fiction after Jules Verne. Until now, Rosny, a member of the Goncourt literary academy, has best been known to the English-speaking public for his prehistoric thriller, Quest for Fire. A man is found mysteriously duplicated in the trenches of World War I. Brilliantly prefiguring the theme of cloning, The Givreuse Enigma (1917) features the “bipartition” of a human being into two totally similar individuals, each naturally believing himself to be the original. Adventure in the Wild (1935) takes place in the savage, unexplored depths of Sumatra where brave explorers encounter the mysterious hidden race of the bestial Carabao Men, creatures with “monstrous heads, eyes as phosphorescent as a leopard’s, canines elongated into tusks, and hair the color of iron.