Ceux de nulle part


Ceux de nulle part is a 1954 science fiction novel written by French scientist François Bordes under the pen name Francis Carsac.
In 1962 Carsac published the sequel, Ce monde est nôtre.

Plot sketch

Doctor Vsévolod Clair helps out aliens in a flying saucer downed by the military of some Earth country. Aliens communicate telepathically and they suggest him to join their interstellar travel via ahun to their native universe. They invite Clair to take part in the struggle against invaders called misliks. Misliks prefer to live near the absolute zero because their metabolism is based on superconductivity, and therefore they are extinguishing the stars in the star systems they colonize. Clair is the only one who can handle misliks due to his unique red blood: others are killed by some kind of radiation produced by misliks.
The novel is structured as a "story within a story within a story". It begins with the narration of Frank Borie, a colleague of doctor Clair. Clair tells him his story. In the epilogue Clair tells Borie that the aliens decided to call Earthlings for help and suggests Borie to join the team. The last paragraph of the epilogue says that this manuscript was found behind the sofa in Borie's apartment, who disappeared, last seen visited by a tall brunette man and a beautiful blonde woman.

Translations

  • Hungarian: A sehollakók
  • Italian: Galassia maledetta, 1954, transl. Antonio Crimi, 1979, transl.
  • Russian: Пришельцы ниоткуда, 1967, 1994, 2003
  • Spanish: Los habitantes de la nada
  • Portuguese: A união dos universos, ''Guerra de Estrelas''