Jacques Sadoul (1934 – 18 January 2013) was a French novelist, book editor and non-fiction author.

Work on science fiction

His ''Histoire de la science-fiction moderne, 1911-1971'' ��History of Modern SF”(1973; in 2 volumes 1975; revised 1984) is a lengthy and enthusiastic survey of the field. While having been criticized in western countries for lacking deep critical analysis and containing too many sweeping generalizations and personal prejudices, it has been a major incentive to the serious, academic study of SF, particularly among the East European countries of his days, because the book was considered both authoritative and trustable, and it was a European, continental source, while almost everything science-fictional was published across the Channel or the Atlantic. Sadoul was a well-known SF fan and magazine collector. In Paris, in 1973, he published an album of illustrations from American SF magazines, ''Hier, l’an 2000.'' He was one of the first editors to launch SF successfully in

paperback A paperback (softcover, softback) book is one with a thick paper or paperboard cover, also known as wrappers, and often held together with adhesive, glue rather than stitch (textile arts), stitches or Staple (fastener), staples. In contrast, ...

form in France. He was born at

Agen Agen (, , ) is the prefecture of the Lot-et-Garonne department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Southwestern France. It lies on the river Garonne, southeast of Bordeaux. In 2021, the commune had a population of 32,485. Geography The city of Agen l ...

, and worked first with “Editions Opta” and then with “J’ai lu”, where he founded the SF imprint and edited the Les Meilleurs Recits series of anthologies of stories translated from the American pulp magazines. He was also a founder of the Prix Apollo award. Hier, l’an 2000: L’illustration de science fiction des annees 30 (1973; translated into English and published in the U.S. in 1975 as: 2000 A.D.: Illustrations From the Golden Age of Science Fiction Pulps), is a book of SF illustrations which he gathered, mostly black-and-white, a selection of SF nostalgia material, but has no index.

Other work

Sadoul was a prolific novelist. His work includes crime-fiction/ spy-fiction novels such as the "Carol Evans cycle" (consisting of ten novels),

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...

novels (such as the trilogy ''La Passion selon Satan'' ��The Passion according to Satan”(1960), ''Le Jardin de la licorne'' ��The Garden of the Unicorn”(1978), and ''Les hautes terres du rêve'') and science fiction novels. In 1987, he received the Grand Prix de Littérature Policière for ''Trois morts au soleil''. Sadoul has authored works on

alchemy Alchemy (from the Arabic word , ) is an ancient branch of natural philosophy, a philosophical and protoscientific tradition that was historically practised in China, India, the Muslim world, and Europe. In its Western form, alchemy is first ...

, the fantastique and

crime fiction Crime fiction, detective story, murder mystery, crime novel, mystery novel, and police novel are terms used to describe narratives or fiction that centre on criminal acts and especially on the investigation, either by an amateur or a professiona ...

. In 2006 he published his

memoirs A memoir (; , ) is any nonfiction narrative writing based on the author's personal memories. The assertions made in the work are thus understood to be factual. While memoir has historically been defined as a subcategory of biography or autobio ...

''C’est dans la poche !''.

References

French science fiction writers French fantasy writers French crime fiction writers People from Agen 1934 births 2013 deaths French male novelists French male short story writers French short story writers 20th-century French novelists 20th-century French short story writers 20th-century French male writers {{France-writer-stub