Laurence Suhner

Since the discovery of the Trappist-1 system far away in space, a few authors have picked up their pens and written (short) stories about it. You can check 'em out on the dedicated website: click here.

One of the authors is the Swiss Laurence Suhner, of whom I have never heard, until I saw the link to the Trappist-1 website passing by whilst surfing the Web. She originally wrote the story in French, which can be read on her website (see here) or you can download the pdf-file (click here).

For the English version of this story, go to Nature's website, here. On this page, you can also download a pdf-version of this English translation.

In short, The Terminator is about discovering the new planets and the possibilities they offer for mankind. Could mankind live there or not? Are there other beings in that system? Will there be a meeting of species? Add a pinch of philosophy and you've got a very nice, but very short, story, an entry into this new world. One that will spawn many science-fiction novels and short stories in the years to come.… (meer)

(Yes, I read the French version, too. But for the sake of ease, I'll copy-paste my review for the English version here. De gustibus et coloribus... but I preferred the English version of the story, found it flowing a little smoother.)

Since the discovery of the Trappist-1 system far away in space, a few authors have picked up their pens and written (short) stories about it. You can check 'em out on the dedicated website: click target="_top">here.

One of the authors is the Swiss Laurence Suhner, of whom I have never heard, until I saw the link to the Trappist-1 website passing by whilst surfing the Web. She originally wrote the story in French, which can be read on her website (see here) or you can download the pdf-file (click here).

For the English version of this story, go to Nature's website, here. On this page, you can also download a pdf-version of this English translation.

In short, The Terminator is about discovering the new planets and the possibilities they offer for mankind. Could mankind live there or not? Are there other beings in that system? Will there be a meeting of species? Add a pinch of philosophy and you've got a very nice, but very short, story, an entry into this new world. One that will spawn many science-fiction novels and short stories in the years to come.… (meer)

Swiss author Laurence Suhner was present at this year's festival Les Imaginales in France. As I had not read any of her books before, I wasn't sure if I'd buy her QuanTika-trilogy (though after reading this anthology, my curiosity has been aroused, so I might add those books to my collection at a later time). Luckily, she's written a few short stories in her career and Éditions L'Atalante was so kind to put several of them together in this anthology. And that's a safer way, I find, to get to know this author's writing skills.

This anthology contains twelve stories, each preceded by a small introduction by Ms Suhner herself. Some of them were published previously in other anthologies or magazines. The other ones, never published before, I marked with an (*). Laurence Suhner takes the reader to London, Montreux, Geneva, space, be it in the future, in the past, ...

Le Terminateur (2016, published first in 2017): I read this one previously, as it is/was available online. See my reviews of the English (here) and French (here (same as the English one) versions. A short story taking place in the TRAPPIST-1 planetary system with the Terminator being the line that divides the dark side and the light side of one of the planets.
(*) La Fouine (2017): An H.P. Lovecraft-inspired story featuring a version of Cthulhu at CERN, creating problems with the Large Hadron Collider.
Différent (2012): A very short, almost dystopian, story about wanting to escape from society and lead a calmer life. Only, the world's been destroyed. Sole survivor, the character thinks he's king of the world. Or is he?
La Chose du Lac (2002, published in 2012): Previously published in the anthology Utopiales 12 (2012). It's about a thief who promised to steal a precious diamond, which is in the possession of a well-known artist. All reside at a hotel, far in the woods, near a lake. But said lake seems to hide alien creatures. A mystery/detective story, exciting and entertaining. But who's the thief? And how could he get to to work, despite the massive police force present in and around the hotel?
(*) Au-delà du Terminateur (2017): A sort of follow-up of Le Terminateur, this time longer and there is contact with the locals.
Homéotasie (2008, published in 2010): A bit of a creepy story about getting in mental contact with Gaïa, the Earth Goddess. Only, it's not Gaïa, but an alien entity that sees Earth as a sort of playground, toying with mankind and more.
(*) Le Corbeau (2003): A story about a writer who's decided to let his main character (after many stories) die and thus no longer write any stories at all. For that, the author is haunted, hides in his house, never lets the light in, because he fears for his life. One of his old friends, Jeffrey Sparrow, is invited and asked to seek the assassin. In the end, there's no real winner, not even lord Benthali.
Timkhä (2006, published in 2009): A prelude to the QuanTika-trilogy. This is the longest short story of the pack. Not that fluent, but good enough as a pre-taste for the full books.
(*) La Valise Noire (2015): A weird story about a woman who's hurrying to get to the station, but a car, abandoned and fully open, is blocking the road. Inside there's a black suitcase with clothes and a camera. She's on several of the photos, yet does not recall having been at that place where the photos were taken. She travels to her friend in Chantefleur, but she gets lost and asks for directions. Nobody knows. Is all this even real?
(*) M. Ablange (1980): This is Suhner's first short story ever, and I found it weird. Sure, the style is not that fluent as her later stories, but the events themselves are just weird. Something with school, strange things happening and leaving Earth. I couldn't make much of it, found it a bit hard to understand.
(*) L'autre Monde (1999): Seeking the answer to life, so to speak. And ending up at the other side. Strange, and a little creepy as well, I found. Never trust small shops, not when they have a cave with an alien population.
(*) L'accord Parfait (2016): The sound or music of life, with a guitar-like instrument as key artefact. But it comes at a price, a very high price, when one wants to do some research about a primitive, alien population. Meanwhile, Earth is not sitting still. Are the events linked? Who's whose master?

This collection is very varied, be it fantasy, magical realism, or science-fiction. Laurence Suhner is a versatile writer, can keep the reader's attention with these short stories. So I wonder if her QuanTika-trilogy is as entertaining and interesting.

Nevertheless, whether you are familiar with her work o not, I can certainly recommend this anthology.… (meer)