Place, François
Entry updated 6 January 2025. Tagged: Artist, Author.
(1957- ) French illustrator and author, many of whose works [not translated and not listed below] present imaginary maps of various regions as executed by the magi geographers of the Island of Orbæ. After an early career illustrating various authors of children's and Young Adult books, he released Les Derniers Géants (1992 chap; trans William Rodarmor as The Last Giants 1993 chap), a tale of sf interest whose Illustrations play an integral explanatory role. Set in 1849 and told in the style of a Proto SF Fantastic Voyage, the tale comprises the illustrated travel diary of Archibald Ruthmore, a nineteenth century scientist-explorer who modestly resembles figures like Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859), not mentioned, or Charles Darwin (1809-1882), who is quoted in praise of his eventual published treatise.
Having been given a giant tooth incised with a tiny map, Ruthmore uses it to discover after many perils a Lost World in the heart of Inner Asia, a Pastoral Zone inhabited by the nine survivors of a race of giants (see Great and Small), perhaps (he surmises) from Atlantis, who hibernate centuries at a stretch, only waking briefly to contemplate the stars and mate, each typically "singing in an incredibly sweet voice". Their skins are entirely covered with dancing tattoos that tell the story of the unfolding world, much amplifying their schematic predecessor in the frame story of Ray Bradbury's The Illustrated Man (coll 1951) (see Horror in SF), and also richer than the cheerleader tattoos that adorn the trickster god Maui in Moana (2016), an animated film from the Walt Disney Company. After Ruthmore's return to Europe, and the publication of his scientific treatise, which locates the giants' haven, they are massacred by the British military (see Imperialism). Ruthmore abandons science and has his own body tattooed with stories. [JC]
François Place
born Ézanville, Val-d'Oise, France: 26 April 1957
works (highly selected)
- Les Derniers Géants (Tournai, Belgium: Editions Casterman, 1992) [chap: illus/François Place: binding unknown/François Place]
- The Last Giants (London: Pavilion, 1993) [chap: trans by William Rodarmor of the above: illus/hb/François Place]
- La Douane volante ["The Flying Customs Inspector"] (Paris: Gallimard Jeunesse, 2010) [binding unknown/]
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