As she did for most of the festival's anthologies (see here), Ms Stéphanie Nicot (artistic director of Les Imaginales), has collected 15 stories about this year's theme: Natures. Nature is all around us, be it the environment of fauna and flora, or even human nature (on various levels: political, psychological, etc.), for example.

In her foreword, Ms Nicot gives a quick rundown of the diversity of the assembled stories. The collection was divided into categories, as was the case in the 2017 anthology: 1) Nature Sauvage (5), 2) Nature Humaine (6), 3) Ailleurs et Demain (3), and 4) Poursuivre la réflexion... (1). The theme is also inspired and linked to the works of Lucretius (Wikipedia-link) and not in the least of Epicurus (Wikipedia-link).

New authors for me were: Ketty Steward, Ariel Holzl, Estelle Vagner, Philippe Tessier, Loïc Henry, Vincent Mondiot, and Jean Pruvost.

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David Bry - Je suis Forêt: 4/5
A touching story about a girl, Morgause, living with her father, a lumberjack, when all of a sudden, the forest starts to rebel. Rebel against mankind, who sees the forest as a nuisance, an obstruction for progress, though with a useful quality: wood. The forest and its inhabitants won't take it no longer. As Twisted Sister would say: We're not gonna take it! (YouTube-link) A story similar to [b:La Geste du Sixième Royaume|19201656|La Geste du Sixième Royaume|Adrien Tomas|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1386232857l/19201656._SY75_.jpg|17790125] by Adrien Tomas. After my first encounter with his short-stories [b:Le Roi de la clairière, suivi de Ce que l'homme croit|48209571|Le Roi de la clairière, suivi de Ce que l'homme croit|David Bry|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1568917949l/48209571._SX50_.jpg|73449165], this one too was well worth the read.

Ketty Steward - Mal de mer: 4/5
A little story that takes place in Sainte-Marie on the island Martinique, whence Ms Steward hails from. Having a bit of the local language in the dialogues adds that special touch. The god of the sea, Papa Dlo (de l'eau, I assume, of the water), has lost all will to live. He's in a depressed state and there's nothing that seems to interest him any more. His companion seeks help with other sea gods and creatures, but her quest is not that easy. No one has a solid solution to revive Papa Dlo's spirit, his lust for life. Until Tanya, his companion, on her way back, sees that mankind isn't as narrow-minded as Papa Dlo thought it was. Children have fun cleaning up the litter and garbage that others have left on the beach. This way, they contribute to making the world and the environment a better place to live in, for all. Or, to link it with the events of the last few months: The youngsters will stand up and lead the way in polluting less. It's the world, mankind, that needs to change, not the oceans.

Aurélie Wellenstein - La Mer monte: 3/5
This short story is, if I'm not mistaken, a prequel for her latest book, [b:Mers mortes|44087376|Mers mortes|Aurélie Wellenstein|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1550835304l/44087376._SY75_.jpg|68561454] (2019). Ms Wellenstein's stories revolve mostly around nature, be it oceans, wolves, birds, fawns, and so on. In this prequel, we follow Alastair, a big fan of Sea Shepherd, an organisation he eagerly wants to join. He has arrived at the Bay of Bengal, where tourists are enjoying the nice weather. Alastair, however, is not there for the same reasons. Rather, he sees how the water isn't that pure any more, how a fish is dying on the beach while a oncoming tsunami is about to wipe everything in its path. A fish, an animal long forgotten in his home-country, due to overfishing, pollution, and so on. In the end, as the tsunami has hit home, he does survive, (also) thanks to Sea Shepherd, if I understood correctly. Not a bad story - I found the writing style a bit on the tough side, to be honest -, but a bit radical. Man is the evil in the world and nature the good. On many occasions, nature has fought back (tsunamis, floods, fires, ...) and still man won't listen or learn. There is hope: The Ocean Cleanup (website), for example.

Stefan Platteau - Les Enfants d'Inanna: 5/5
While awaiting the last books of the 'Les Sentiers des Astres' series, we travel to India, to the Himalayan mountains. We follow the British mountaineer George Mallory, who in his days had climbed Mount Everest (see Wikipedia), together with his Irish partner Andrew "Sandy" Irvine. Both are now, anno 1939, opponents: Mallory on the British side, Irvine on the Italian side. Goal: Reach the top of the holy mountain Kangchenjunga, the third highest after the Everest and K2. Wiliam Trent, expert in ancient Sumerian, was to decode the chant of Inanna at the top. After all is said and done, it seems the dangerous undertaking was really not that necessary. Or maybe it was. As Mr Trent put it (in the story): We've gone up there to find something we already have down here. In fact, they let Mr Irvine have his victory, thanks to Mallory's wisdom: Why do all the way to the top and die trying, than avoid the last part and live to tell what you experienced and witnessed up high in the sky? I like how Mr Platteau again added cultural elements, like Inanna and her star (Wikipedia-link) and the Chinese mythical creature Qilin (Wikipedia-link), which makes the uchronic story all the more interesting.

Charlotte Bousquet - La Lumière de Malia: 3/5
This story takes place in the world of [b:Les Masques d'Azr'Khila|40490566|Les Masques d'Azr'Khila (Shâhra, #1)|Charlotte Bousquet|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1528409336l/40490566._SX50_.jpg|62795516], in an African setting. It revolves around Arrou, who has led his people through arid lands and is now searching for more fertile grounds. To do son, he must leave everyone behind, as leaders of other tribes have done before him to search in other directions for better land. Some never returned. Arrou wears stones and gems as talismans against evil forces. As he makes progress, the conditions become more demanding, physically and mentally. Animals like scarabs and chameleons cross his path. He dreams of his past, when all was well: enough food and water, taking care of the animals, and more. The journey becomes more and more dangerous. There are no fertile lands beyond, only more desert, devoid of living beings. Even the sky is empty: no stars, no sun (at least not in her brightest form), ... And so, far from his tribe, Arrou has suffered an untimely death, but with the knowledge and realisation that what Malia taught him was something he did possess, but had lost along the way: joy and colours (colours are, if I understood well, an important aspect in this culture and a tool to communicate with the gods). A story to be read carefully and attentively (as it contains a sort of life lesson), but I do believe that one needs to read the novel in order to understand the events and have a better impression of the characters in this short-story.

Ariel Holz - La Traversée du désert: 3/5
A story about a young man, Simon, who lives in an apartment in Saint-Cloud in Paris, France. In the vicinity of the building, Francis the tramp resides. The weather is dry, there's wind and the city is covered more and more with sand, rendering daily life more and more impossible. And as it happens, Simon has, troubled as he is, left his keys in his apartment. But then, as the sand has conquered to much territory, Simon encounters a fennec fox. Then a little girl (Lakshmi), followed by a woman (Aina), to end with Souaad with whom he wants to spend the rest of his life, considering the improved circumstances and mutual understanding. However, all this changes again when Souaad disappears and becomes Lakshmi again. The little girl calls out to Simon to come play with her and catch fireflies. I'm sorry, but despite this being a lovely story, I had trouble understanding its message. What's it about? How to deal with changes? That negative situations can be transformed into positive ones? That you can find new challenges in life to find again a reason to live? Just guessing here. Someone enlighten me.

Estelle Vagner - L'âme et le coeur: 3/5
I've never read anything by Ms Vagner, but 'L'âme et le coeur' is a nice story about mutants, people being able to change into animals. Here, it involves saving one beloved to save two lives for the very important reason that this beloved is pregnant. If she doesn't change back into human form, then not only the child will die, but she might as well.

Grégory Da Rosa - Comme ça: 5/5
Another highlight in this anthology. 'Comme ça' is a story about social acceptance, despite being different. We follow Svan, a young girl living with her caring mother and violent father (Igor the pig, as she calls him), who has a certain vision of the world around her. Everything that can go wrong is blamed on Svan, despite her mother telling people otherwise. There is famine, there is war, all elements to divide people and make them superstitious. Even is Svan stopped the slaughtering, the people still despise her. Svan's conclusion: "They don't accept me, but I accept them." and "On n'y peut rien. Ils sont comme ça." Accepting one another takes effort and time, is one of the hardest lessons in life. A wonderful story, one that transcends time and space. Especially in this day and age.

Claire & Robert Belmas - Seigneur de Colère: 3/5
The Seigneur de Colère, a god expressing himself through quakes, wants people to pledge allegiance to fight against the power of the Griffes Noires and the Descendeurs. This story is divided into chapters, chronicling the evolution of Taureau, who joins the army and soon enough rises in rank and power. French and British soldiers fight together, but the enemy is hard to slay. The explanation later is: The Griffes Noires are predators who destroy their environment in order to develop, until no more resources are available. In the end, after the Lord's final quake (or was it simply plate-tectonics?), only one group survives. Yep, them. Like I wrote in the beginning, this is a better story than the other one I read in the 2018 anthology, but my biggest problem here was "seeing" what was going on. I had a tough time "imagining" the places, the characters, the events themselves. I do like the play on words: Fondâbime (âbime = abyss, fond = bottom).

Philippe Tessier - Qui se souvient des hômlas?: 3/5
Like in Ms Vagner's story, animals take the lead here. It's an entertaining detective story, in which the duo Fuse - Souite takes the lead, about the cloning of rats. As the cats responsible for this project claim: "They are our masters." The story contains a touch of dark humour, indeed. I did find the ending a bit rushed, however. Nevertheless, it was a good story.

Jean-Laurent Del Socorro - Armée d'un livre et d'un crayon: 5/5
There's only one author who can masterfully turn historical events featuring women into attractive, captivating fiction. After [b:Boudicca|34514050|Boudicca|Jean-Laurent Del Socorro|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1489001283l/34514050._SX50_.jpg|55642248], Wendy Davis, and Ada Lovelace, it was time for the Pakistani Malala Yousafzai's story (Wikipedia-link) to be told. The US-representatives were "upgraded", their brains equipped with chips, suppressing the human touch. Malala fought for education for all women, but the Taliban would have none of it and would do everything in its power to prevent women from being educated. Women were to stay at home and breed, so the Taliban's Sharia orders. Resistance would be futile at some point, but Malala proved to be one hell of an opponent and fighter for women's rights, especially in her country and the entire region, if not the entire world.

Loïc Henry - Malaria: 4/5
As the title indicates, 'Malaria' is based in the world of biochemistry, biology, anything involving genes. There is a specific term that is used to describe the events: gene-drive (Wikipedia-link). Australia, like other continents, has been suffering from fauna brought in by man, fauna alien to the local environment and detrimental to the survival of the indigenous species. The invaders must thus be eradicated. A young, female scientist from MIT, famed for having eliminated the mosquitoes spreading the malaria-virus, is to apply the same method in Australia without harming the domestic species and without any other consequences, harmful or otherwise. Via gene-drive those specific species no longer procreate and so they go extinct. Were it not that surviving animals move around, roaming the country, seeking a way out... to arrive in Asia. Mixing with other breeds and species, the modified genes are spread and so, more and more rats - it were mainly rats on which this modification was tested - cease to exist. Rats, on the other hand, do have a function in life: taking care of garbage, the sewers. Without these creatures, the consequences can be/are damaging. All's well that ends well, but it's food for thought. Man tampers with nature, doesn't always consider the long-term consequences.

Vincent Mondiot - Par-delà les ruines: 4/5
Vincent Mondiot explores with this story the subject of cloning, cloning human beings until the perfect kind/species is born. We follow a female warrior, who's leading her people against the locals, who aren't as advanced as she (and her people) are. However, convinced that she's the best for a reason, she takes decisions that have dramatic results. Not thinking things through, acting too swiftly, can have serious consequences. And so, together with the oracle of her people, she finds out what really happened and why. Also, the oracle isn't your ordinary human being, but more like a cyborg (see, for example, Arnold Schwarzenegger in 'Terminator'). This story reminded me of Lionel Davoust's 'Point de sauvegarde', [b:Contes hybrides|49971725|Contes hybrides|Lionel Davoust|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1564596627l/49971725._SX50_SY75_.jpg|72583106].

Estelle Faye - Jardins: 4/5
Estelle Faye takes us into space. One man, thinking he's one of an entire crew, wakes up one day to find that the machines (for food and drinks) aren't working properly. As he calls his crew-mate responsible for these appliances, no one answers. At all. In fact, he's all alone on the ship. All he's got left, is his greenhouse, which provides oxygen and food. His only companion is a cherry tree, with which he rapidly forms a symbiosis, until a rescue party arrives. Like before, a fine story.

Jean Pruvost - Épinaturalement: 4/5
Food for language fans and linguists. It's a dedication to dictionaries, to the magic of the written word, to words themselves. No wonder, as Mr Pruvost is an expert in dictionaries, to say the least.

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This annual anthology has become a strong and trustworthy product over the years, providing stories from French and international authors. An excellent tool expand your horizon. ( )