The FURTIVES

Alain Damasio

(La Volte, 520 pages, 2004)

*** 2019 book of the year lire magazine ***

*** 100,000 copies sold ***

 When their only daughter, four-year-old Tishka, suddenly vanishes, Lorca and Sahar Varese’s marriage collapses. As the days drag on with no Tishka in sight, Sahar tries unsuccessfully to mourn her lost daughter, giving up hope of ever seeing her again. But Lorca is convinced that his daughter was kidnapped by the Furtives. Made of flesh and sound, the Furtives live among us in the shadows, unseen. To feed, they consume minerals, animals, plants, and even trash to satisfy their incessant hunger. Armed with the conviction to save his only child, Lorca joins a covert unit of the army tasked with taking the Furtives down.

We follow Lorca to a dark future in which large corporations have total control of our daily lives. Every person wears a ring that enables them to be linked to the rest of the world. Not only does it function as an internal social networking system, this ring also offers an alter ego using artificial intelligence that cares for all their immediate needs. But this new system becomes profitable only for society’s elite; owned by multinational corporations, most, if not all, cities are divided into standard, premium, or privilege zones depending on the tax bracket of that area. Though seemingly freeing, the rings provide constant traceability and ultimately submission to the current power structure.

Lorca must travel to the most extreme corners of this dystopian society to bring his daughter home. He battles not only an invisible enemy found only in the shadows, but also an oppressive government and way of life. But as Lorca navigates this world with the help of his unit, he still holds the hope that Tishka might be alive.

Awarded 2019 Book of the Year by the magazine Lire, The Furtives confirms Alain Damasio’s talent for world building.

Always inspired by modern political and philosophical critics, Damasio brings to us in The Furtives a scathing commentary on the dangers of capitalism and corporate control. Having already been sold at more than 100,000 copies since its publication in April 2019, The Furtives establishes Damasio as a notable author of French science fiction.

Alain Damasio is the author of three best-selling novels in France: La Zone du Dehors (1999 and 2007, 100,000 copies sold)—winner of the European Utopiales Prize 2007, the Imaginales high-schoolers Prize 2006, and adapted for the stage in 2016; La Horde du Contrevent (2004, 300,000 copies sold)—winner of three literary prizes including the Grand Prix de l’Imaginaire 2006 in the category “Francophone novel” and adapted into a graphic novel in 2017; and Les Furtifs (April 2019, 100,000 copies sold).