No, this is not the name of a pop music group of the 60s, but rather a series of novels published under the banner "Gerard de Villiers presents", and who has to his credit no less than ... 194 titles!
As usual, when the time comes to address a subject torrential, it is difficult to articulate and channel their ideas, especially in the context of a modest blog entry, which means friendly in a homely, far from an academic study of the subject. Over the years I have often had occasion to see the banner "Gerard de Villiers has" several books on literature decidedly popular, either through the spy series SAS ( I've never actually read, not being fond of the genre) or in other editorial projects, including a curious "Ultimate" works of the French novelist Serge has Brussolo arrested about twenty titles (although his work has about one hundred to fifty ...).
More recently, as part of my post about the literatures "post-apocalyptic," I spoke to you two series under the auspices of GoV or The Survivor and Jag. During visits to bookstores, I have repeatedly seen the novels of the series Blade, sold off at prices more or less ridiculous. What was that? I never really questioned until recently, when the longevity of this series intrigued me. Some search Web has, in addition, revealed little information, apart from critical and disparate overview of the series by Thomas Bauduret. We learn at the outset, the collection was signed by various English authors (under the collective nickname "Lord Jeffrey"), then after about forty titles, unpublished French have allowed the series to continue , sometimes in surprising feathers, like, sharp, corrosion Nadine Monfils.
The titles of these novels often made me smile through their excessive to refuse the "literary respectability." Among others these names Baroque and daunting typical of the genre "fantasy". Examples: - Sleeper OF WATER Draad
- THE FIVE KINGDOMS SARAM
- DRAGONS OF ANGLOR
- THE TRIBE OF RED KARGOIS
- androids MAK LOH
We are far from Marguerite Duras ... I must say that the character "serial" of these securities was fun, but was insufficient to intrigue me. By cons, other titles announced a more attractive baroque:
- The chessboard of living Hongshu
- The forest carnivore Jaghd
- The Seven duchies River Crimson
- The Empire scales
- The sun under the earth
- The graveyard of human-machine
- Seizures time
- The agony of the world without sky
- The invisible college of
- Planet carnage
At dose or less intense, these titles all promise something curious ... And what a series can really count on 194 titles without being renewed?
To get an idea, I read the first volume, The Axe bronze. It made the acquaintance of Richard Blade, a secret agent who has all the qualities. The first page of the book take this scenario for we make predictions about the future: In the London Times , "Blade read that in 2000, intelligent animals are probably used for some heavy work [...]. A gorilla foreman directing teams dogs, mules and horses? With a chimpanzee in accounting? " The supervisor sends our heroes visit a hunchback scientist ("the greatest scientist of Great Britain") in an underground lab (!) Almost entirely occupied by a supercomputer (the book was written in 1969). For the glory of England, Blade agrees to engage in a scientific experiment: it is part literally a computer that sends it into an unknown world that exists around us without our being able to see ("The computer has clouded his brain cells so as to enable him to see, and exist in a dimension that we can neither see nor understand, so it is perhaps even around us right now. We crossed it may be, ignoring its existence. Put simply, this is nothing more than a dog whistle, the dog hears but you do not hear. The sound is there yet! "). And now, voila! 
Each adventure Blade send it in a different dimension, this allowing it to evolve in universes more traditional and more fragmented. Of course, this first book in the series makes it difficult to judge the whole (of course, the beginnings are always wiser), but already, the play does not lack a certain piquancy, enhanced by the unintentional humor and a significant aspect anarchic. Propelled into a size typical "fantasy", Blade encounters a jailer ugly ("An impudent fellow with thinning hair who squinted dreadfully and a cleft lip disfigured") who becomes his ally, alongside a princess sour ( "She planted her hands on her hips and looked an exasperated ") and a gay man army (who spends his time telling Blade:" I have affection for you)! This quartet "shock" will have more adventures or less unbridled, during which our Blade holder will include several bears in a combat arena, to experience pleasure to aging queen decked out with a wig that does not take up (in terms of their grip, the blade leaves asleep while "the wig had fallen to the ground and [that] in light of flickering candles, it was just a bald old man with the painted face), face a giant in a circle of flames, insults of a raging mob, free themselves from the grip of a witch who tries to hypnotize him, etc.. Quite a program, far, far from self-fiction ... After my reading, a troubling question remains. According to the adage, "tell me what you read, and I'll tell you who you are." What should I include? 
Moreover, in closing, if you want to read a text from a colleague rather amusing blogger, go visit this page the blog of Dr. Pascal, where he tells us why he no longer goes to the movies much these days above. Difficult to prove him wrong, he describes the experience as akin alas, a ritual required! 
