''The Red Gods'' (French: ''Les Dieux rouges'') is an adventure novel with elements of lost world

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...

, written by French writer

Jean d'Esme Jean Marie Henri d'Esménard, known as Jean d'Esme (27 September 1894 – 24 February 1966) was a French writer and journalist. Biography D'Esme was born in Shanghai, China in a noble French family originating from Provence. His father was a cust ...

Overview

''The Red Gods'' finds its locale in the mountainous areas of

Indochina Mainland Southeast Asia, also known as the Indochinese Peninsula or Indochina, is the continental portion of Southeast Asia. It lies east of the Indian subcontinent and south of Mainland China and is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the west an ...

. The geographical description of the novel's setting closely resembles that of modern-day

Laos Laos (, ''Lāo'' )), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic ( Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ, French: République démocratique populaire lao), is a socialist ...

. The novel is frame-narrated by Jacob Bressond – a friend of the protagonist – Pierre de Lursac. It is a tale of the protagonist's escape from Indochina, a region ruled and corrupted by its French rulers. On escaping the region, however, he finds himself fighting in

World War I 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 ...

, during which he dies. He spends some time in a place characterized by endemic and unseen flora and fauna, inhabited by hunter-gatherers and ruled by priestesses that perform elaborate sacrificial ceremonies.

Release and translations

The book was originally published in French by

La Renaissance du livre LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * La (musical note), or A, the sixth note * "L.A.", a song by Elliott Smith on ''Figur ...

in 1923. It was translated into English by

George Moreby Acklom George Moreby Acklom (17 November 1870 – 26 October 1959), was a British writer, editor, literary adviser and critic based in New York City, principally with the publisher E.P. Dutton, and the father of the Hollywood actor David Manners. Lif ...

and released as ''The Red Gods'' in 1924 by

E. P. Dutton E. P. Dutton was an American Publishing, book publishing company. It was founded as a book retailer in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1852 by Edward Payson Dutton. Since 1986, it has been an imprint of Penguin Group. Creator Edward Payson Dutton ( ...

. The same year, it was published in Russian as ''Красные боги''. ''The Red Gods'' is the book that brought Jean d'Esme most fame, and remains his only work ever translated into English. It was reissued numerous times in French in the subsequent years, and published in Polish as ''Czerwone bogi'' in 1990.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Red Gods, The 1923 French novels French adventure novels Lost world novels Novels set in Asia