The Givreuse Enigma

J.-H. Rosny Aîné is the second most important figure in modern French science fiction after Jules Verne. Rosny, who was a member of the distinguished Goncourt literary academy, was also the first writer to straddle the line between mainstream literature and science fiction. Until now, Rosny has best been known to the English-speaking public for his prehistoric thriller, Quest for Fire. A man is found mysteriously duplicated in the trenches of World War I. Brilliantly prefiguring the theme of cloning, The Givreuse Enigma (1917) features the "bipartition" of a human being into two totally similar individuals, each naturally believing himself to be the original. Adventure in the Wild (1935) takes place in the savage, unexplored depths of Sumatra where brave explorers encounter the mysterious hidden race of the bestial Carabao Men, creatures with "monstrous heads, eyes as phosphorescent as a leopard's, canines elongated into tusks, and hair the color of iron."