Serge Lehman (born July 12, 1964) is the primary

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

French science fiction French science fiction is a substantial genre of French literature. It remains an active and productive genre which has evolved in conjunction with anglophone science fiction and other French and international literature. History Proto science ...

writer Pascal Fréjean.

Profile

Fréjean has also written under the names Corteval, Don Hérial, and Karel Dekk. He won the

Prix Rosny-Aîné The Prix Rosny-Aîné is a literary prize for French science fiction. It has been awarded annually since 1980 in two categories: best novel and best short fiction. Best Novel Winners *1980 : Michel Jeury, for ''Le territoire humain'' *1981 : Mic ...

with the novel trilogy ''F.A.U.S.T.'' and with such short fiction wor such as "Dans l'abîme" and "Origami". ''F.A.U.S.T'' also won the Grand Prix de l'Imaginaire 1998. His stories have also appeared in ''

Tales of the Shadowmen ''Tales of the Shadowmen'' is an American anthology of short fiction edited by Jean-Marc Lofficier and Randy Lofficier and published by Black Coat Press. The stories share the conceit of taking place in a fictional world where all of the character ...

'' and he worked on the script of the film '' Immortel (Ad Vitam)'' by

Enki Bilal Enki Bilal (born Enes Bilal; born 7 October 1951) is a French comic book creator, comics artist and film director. Biography Early life Bilal was born in Belgrade, PR Serbia, Yugoslavia, to a Czech mother, Ana, who came to Belgrade as child from ...

.New York Times movies section
/ref> He gained critical attention outside the science fiction field in France with '' The Chimera Brigade'' in 2009-2010. This comic book, illustrated by

Gess Gess is an abstract strategy board game for two players, involving a grid board and mutating pieces. The name was chosen as a conflation of "chess" and " Go". It is pronounced with a hard "g" as in "Go", and is thus homophonous with "guess". ...

, has been regarded by French critics as the French reply to

Alan Moore Alan Moore (born 18 November 1953) is an English author known primarily for his work in comic books including ''Watchmen'', ''V for Vendetta'', ''The Ballad of Halo Jones'', ''Swamp Thing'', ''Batman:'' ''The Killing Joke'', and ''From Hell' ...

's ''

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen ''The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen'' (''LoEG'') is a comic book series (inspired by the 1960 British film ''The League of Gentlemen'') co-created by writer Alan Moore and artist Kevin O'Neill which began in 1999. The series spans four volum ...

''. This

alternative history Alternate history (also alternative history, althist, AH) is a genre of speculative fiction of stories in which one or more historical events occur and are resolved differently than in real life. As conjecture based upon historical fact, alter ...

story is set just before

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. It describes how an elite band of superhumans, born or created during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, when dubious scientific experiments took place in order to create new superweapons, have now taken control of the capital cities of Europe and try to avoid or cause total war. They are then erased from existence, making been forgotten in European popular culture since then. Its inspiration comes from the idea that the superhero concept had its roots in European pulp literature, whose codes and tropes have been modernized by the modern American comic books. ''The Chimera Brigade'' won the Grand Prix de l'Imaginaire 2011 in the newly created comics category.

Select bibliography

Comics

* ''La Saison de la Couleuvre'' (2007-2010) * ''Thomas Lestrange'' (2007) * '' The Chimera Brigade'' (2009-2010, English translation 2014-) * ''Masqué'' (2012-2013) * ''L'Homme truqué'' (2013) * ''Metropolis'' (2014-ongoing) * ''L'Œil de la Nuit'' (2015-ongoing)

References

External links

Serge Lehman's official site

Unlimited''
Serge Lehman interview on ''The Chimerical Brigade'' by Dominiq Jenvrey, video documentary by

Alessandro Mercuri Alessandro Mercuri is a French-Italian author and director, born in 1973. After studying philosophy in France, he graduated from CalArts. with a MFA in Live Action. In 2001 he made ''Alien American'', a documentary film about a woman who claimed ...

and Haijun Park (25min), on ''

ParisLike ParisLike is a bi-lingual e-journal devoted to the new artistic, literary, intellectual and scientific practices. Founded in 2011 by Alessandro Mercuri and Haijun Park, the review features video documentaries, performances, interviews, critical ess ...

'', 2013 (ISSN 2117-4725) {{DEFAULTSORT:Lehman, Serge French science fiction writers 1964 births Living people French male novelists French comics writers