Published on February 13, 2020 by H&O in the collection Littératures de l'imaginaire, Cendres vives is the first book by Serge Brussolo to be published by this publishing house. The book is available in both print and digital format. The publishing house also offers other novels by Serge Brussolo in digital format, including The Blind Gods released on October 26.
A life lulled by illusions
The hero of Cendres vives is called Jérémie Stalion. The reader follows him from childhood to adulthood. Raised in Chile, on the edge of the Amazon rainforest, Jérémie lost his brother at a very young age and was held responsible for his death by his parents. After a hasty return to the United States, he was placed in an isolated military boarding school in icy lands near Canada. Following the tragic fate of his brother, there is not a single period of Jérémie Stalion's life that is not marked by the discovery of lies, betrayals or conspiracies around him. As in many works of the talented Serge Brussolo, the paranoia of the main character holds a prominent place in the story and draws the reader, so much so that the latter comes to continually wonder: is this real or an invention of the hero's sick mind?
Ghosts of the Living
Like paranoia, ghosts occupy a crucial place in Serge Brussolo's work. Jérémie Stalion is constantly haunted by the ghosts of his past, which leave him no respite even across borders. This permanent presence helps to make him human, endearing and close to the reader. The ghosts of the main character are not the only ones wandering among the pages of the novel. Cendres vives gives pride of place to those who are attached to the secondary characters to the point of sometimes dictating their conduct, as well as to places emptied of all life. The reader thus finds himself wandering through an abandoned clinic that is now only the specter of the prestigious establishment it was a few pages before.
An enriching journey
Serge Brussolo is a curious author who, far from touching the subjects, will dig them deep in order to extract all the richness. Through his novels, he shares his knowledge, his passions and his questions with the reader. A master of description, he knows how to describe detail while handling words with a skill that always keeps boredom at bay. The reader is literally transported to the heart of the Amazon rainforest, with its way of life, the conflicts that play out there and the legends that spread there. Whether it's the secrets of Aztec civilization, the undercover techniques taught at the military boarding school, or the archaeology the hero studies at university, the reader is taken by the hand to discover new worlds that he is always eager to discover. The 320 pages of Cendres vives can be read in no time as the adventures of Jérémie Stalion are fascinating and keep the reader in a constant state of breath.
