Background

Michel Jeury was born on January 23, 1934 in Razac-d'eymet, France, into a poor peasant family.

Career

Michel Jeury wrote his first novel "Destiny's Stars" at the age of 17. It was a science fiction novel, although science fiction was practically unknown in France at that time. However, that work was published only nine years later, in 1960 under the pseudonym Albert Higon. The same year, also under the pseudonym the novel "The Machine Of Power" was published. However, after this first literary experiment, Jeri abandoned literature for a decade.

Jeury returned to the French science fiction scene with "Le Temps Incertain" (1973), which was translated as "Chronolysis" in 1980, and "Les Singes du Temps" (1974, "The Time Monkeys"). Those books made him one of the most important writers in the French science fiction scene of the 1970s.

Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Jeury continued to produce a number of original novels. Among his works of that time were "Le Territoire Humain" (1979, "The Human Territory"), "Les Yeux Géants" (1980, "The Giant Eyes"), and "L'Orbe et la Roue", (1982, "The Orb And The Wheel").

In addition, in 1979, Jeury became a regular contributor to Fleuve Noir's Anticipation imprint, for which he wrote a total of 19 novels between 1980 and 1992. The first, "Les Îles de la Lune" (1979, "The Islands Of The Moon") started an interconnected book series that developed elements that had already been hinted at in the earlier works, progressively building the notion of a "Jeury Universe" that included "chronolysis", space islands, and history being manipulated by the "geoprogrammers", among others. That same universe was further developed in the trilogy of the "Colmateurs" ("The Pluggers"), starting in 1981 with "Cette Terre" (That Earth). The "Colmateurs" series was arguably Jeury's masterpiece, combining strong, dramatic characters, tightly-paced narration, cutting-edge science and epic conflicts on a truly mind-boggling scope.

However, the series was left unfinished when, in the late 1980s, Jeury turned to write a number of mainstream best-selling novels about life in his native southwestern France at the turn of the century.

Achievements

• Michel Jeury was one of the most famous science fiction writers of the post-war generation. His books have received many awards, including Jules Verne Prize in 1960 for the novel "Machine of Power" (published under the pseudonym Albert Higon), the Prix Apollo Award in 1983 for the novel "Sphere and Wheel", the Julia Verlange Prize in 1986, and the Imaginer Prize for the best science fiction novel in French "May of the World" in 2011, among others.

Works

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• book

  • Chronolysis

    (Chronolysis is one of the most important French SF novels...)

    1980
  • L'univers-ombre 1979
  • Au Cabaret des Oiseaux 1993
  • Le Sombre Éclat 1980
  • Les Trois Veuves
  • Le Sablier Vert 1977
  • Les Écumeurs du Silence 1980
  • Les Colmateurs
  • Goer de la Terre 1982
  • Le Dernier Paradis 1985
  • Le Jeune Amour 2006
  • Le Soir du Vent Fou 1991
  • Le Vrai Goût de la Vie 1988

Connections

Michel Jeury's daughter is Danièle Jeury, everyone calls her Dany.

Daughter:

Danièle Jeury

References

• Contemporary Authors New Revision Series