#uchronia

PADEL 15's restaurant, Paris. Architecture and design by Uchronia.

I want to write and draw about an utopist uchronia were we never decimated our megafauna and their predators, and we still got roaming hords of european bisons and aurochs, europeans hyenas and lions, lots of forest and grassland...

Fuel is used only when needed, for building big structures for exemple. We got a lot of railway with bridges for wildlife to go from town to town and transports the goods, "via verde" for smaller or slower travel, only a few domestic animals and almost no meat consumption...

Vampyria (first cycle) - Victor Dixen

I discovered Victor Dixen's work through his saga "Phobos" a few years ago. I liked it then but didn't follow his work until now. Going through the fantasy section of my trustworthy local bookshop, I fell upon the first three books of his new series: Vampyria.

I was curious, looking for good french authors, to see if there were writers that would suit my taste.

Once again, Dixen didn't disappoint me: he surpassed my expectations. And now I'm stuck while waiting for the new cycle of the series, so I will talk to you about the first one.

🩸 So what is Vampyria? 🩸

Have you ever imagined how the world would have been if supernatural, magic, and creatures existed? Vampyria did.

You are immersed into a dark world, stuck for 300 years in the 16th century. Louis XIV (yes, the Sun King himself), was turned into a vampire on the verge of death and decided to rule the entire world, and reshape society, nobility, and religion.

The world, now called "Magna Vampyria", is oppressing humans, who pay the tithe by donating blood. They live in the fear of the night, now unable to leave their village due to the enclosing law. Every member of the high nobility was turned into a vampire and is the one who receives the blood of the humans as well as the new church. You follow the adventures of Jeanne, a young grey-haired woman, who wants to kill the king after the assassination of her parents. And I can safely say, that she takes all the necessary measures to try to achieve her goal.

If you love fantasy, with a little bit of romance, a lot of drama, and vampires, you'll surely like these books.

🩸 My own, totally not vampiric, review 🩸

I didn't expect to like it at first. It took me a few pages to enter into the story, but it's always like this when I read Dixen's books. I'm not into vampires and was never truly a fan of them. But (and that's a big but), this series might have changed my mind about vampire literature.

This series works with "cycles" of books, and a cycle is the story told through the eyes of one character.

Even though the vampires are supposed to be enemies, I fell in love with the way they were described. They have their own rules as a society, with their codes, and their traditions... reading this book was like seeing a twisted version of the french court that we know and I loved it. More generally, it's like seeing a twisted version of french history, with the shadow of the Revolution behind every sentence.

I think that Dixen is doing a great job at piquing the interest of the reader. The more you advance the story, the more the plot thickens. His characters are all different, with their own mindsets and personalities and I always love to see a cast of characters that are not all lookalikes.

And, oh my god, the end (that serves as an introduction for the next cycle) is absolutely wonderful. It took me so off-guard that I had to reread it because I was too baffled to just go on.

So if you like vampires, history, and pirates (yes, pirates) you must give these books a shot.

🩸 Do I recommend these books? 🩸

Victor Dixen's style can be a hit or miss depending on the person. But for me, it was a massive hit, especially due to the world-building and the thrill of adventure and danger.