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Climate fiction that urges us to find a new, more balanced world before it’s too late
In the near future, climate change has divided the world in two: the domed ‘smart cities,’ where nature flourishes through sophisticated technological controls; and outside the domes, where small groups of people eke out a living in ‘autonomous villages’ and off-the-grid communities. In this golden era of green capitalism, private firms are contracted to manage the planetary environment, none more successfully than Torrents.
Clémence Saint-Pierre, Torrents’ young Head of Comms, is lost in her routine until the unthinkable happens: the Gulf of Saint Lawrence is emptied of marine life overnight. The ensuing crisis unleashes mass protests, and Clémence is followed by a mysteriously connected woman, a fox, and a flying drone. As the company seeks to understand the disaster, Clémence unravels a sinister plot and secret experiments that make her question her faith in her employer and society.
Natural Resources presents a world of bioengineered creatures, human-AI amalgams, interspecies assemblages with unified consciousness, and mysterious mists with magical properties. But this alternate future is, above all, a cogent and lyrical critique of capitalism and contemporary society’s unwillingness to deal with climate change.
‘Plunges us into a world of ecological dystopia where nature is wholly mediated by technology. A compelling story of adapting to climate change and finding balance in a world where our work is killing us.’ – Radio-Canada
‘Vadnais scrutinizes the specter of green capitalism and lucidly sketches a future that has somehow avoided becoming a nightmare ... a style of dreamlike imagery, poetry, and great beauty, where subtlety and lightness convey harsh truths, threats, and betrayals. A beautiful and powerful novel, at once soothing and unsettling.’ – Sonia Sarfati, Le Devoir
‘A blend of sci-fi and fantasy that explores climate change from diverse points of view, both human and animal. A powerful read that spurs us to action by challenging our perceptions of the climate crisis…’ – Maxime Valentin, Les Libraires
Praise for Fauna
‘With a devotion to language, to rhythm, to imagery (beautifully translated by Pablo Strauss) Vadnais injects a mythical, even scriptural quality to the stark realities of global warming.’ – Ian Mond, Locus Magazine
‘Strauss’s phenomenal English translation makes Fauna one of the most beautifully written books in contemporary anglophone climate-fiction.’ – Anna Kasradze, Full Stop Magazine
‘This dark, sensual novel invites the reader to imagine nature thriving in the toxic aftermath of human domination, and makes for an essential addition to the recent crop of eco-fiction.’ – Publishers Weekly
‘[A] lush, haunting book of climate fiction ... Vadnais’s prose is unsettling, imbued with a weighty, wet sensuality and an encroachment of life that is both frightening and strangely seductive in a Kafka-esque world of dread and bodily transformation. Survival and contagion swirl around each other in deadly battle as Vadnais’s characters rebel, fight, or give into the bitter, primitive hunger that threatens to swallow their world whole.’ – Leah von Essen, Booklist
‘Vadnais’s writing is raw, erotic, and dream-like. She’ll take you deep into the foggy, haunted woods and tantalize you to the core.’ – Mary Woodbury, Chicago Review of Books
‘[D]reamily surreal … Quebecois author Christiane Vadnais takes the middle road in Fauna, delicately tracing the decline of humanity’s dominion over nature ... While the stories in the first half of the book are uncertain and seem to have little relation to one another, those in the latter half are much more confident, tangible, and even, at times, inspired. Vadnais’s portrait of a world reshaping people in its own image may not be particularly unique, but it has an ethereal quality all its own.’ – Rachel S. Cordasco, World Literature Review
Christiane Vadnais is a novelist, short story writer, and screenwriter. Her fiction explores the instability of reality, bodily transformation, and the intimate connections between living beings. Her debut book, Faunes (published in English as Fauna), earned her the Prix des Horizons imaginaires, the Prix du CALQ (Emerging Artist Award for the Capitale-Nationale region), and the Literary Creation Award from the City of Quebec and the Quebec City International Book Fair; it has also been translated into six languages. Holding a master’s degree in creative writing, she frequently contributes to collaborative projects in which her words blend with other art forms.
Pablo Strauss’s recent translations of fiction from Quebec include Asbestos, Horsefly, What I Know About You, The Second Substance, Aquariums, Fauna, and The Dishwasher. He is a three-time finalist for the Governor General’s Literary Award for Translation. Pablo grew up in Victoria, BC, and has lived in Quebec City for two decades.