ENG : Pierre Bottero

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Biography

<< As a child, I used to dream of dizzying adventures teeming with danger, but I couldn’t find the gateway to a parallel world! I ended up convincing myself that it didn’t exist. I grew up, grew old, and was content with a classic world… until the day I began to write novels. A scent of adventure then crept into my life. Strange colors, astonishing creatures, strange cities… I had found the door. >>

Pierre Bottero

General biography

• Pierre Bottero was born on February 13, 1964 in Barcelonnette, in the Alps.
• During his childhood, he moved to Provence, a region he loved and would live in for the rest of his life.
• He became a French teacher in middle school.
• In 2001, he published his first text, « Amies à vies, » edited by Flammarion. Others followed, up to the beginning of the Elsewhere Cycle (Gwendalavir) with the first volume of Ewilan’s Quest in 2003, which truly launched him as an author.
• Pierre Bottero gave up his job as a teacher in 2005 to devote himself full-time to writing.
• He was a regular at the Imaginales festival, where he met his audiences.
• He died on November 8, 2009 (at the age of 45) on a Provence’s road in a motorcycle accident. (A tribute to his death is paid in A Comme Association, by Erik l’Homme.)

Inspirations

• As a child, he read Jack London, Fenimore Cooper, James Oliver.
• He discovered fantasy and fantastic literature at a young age through the work of J.R.R. Tolkien and the worlds of Farmer, Zelazny, Howard, Zimmer Bradley, Moorcock, Leiber (among others).
• The works and authors he readily cites as inspirations for his reflection on violence in his books: Conan,  The Quiet Man (John Ford), Kill Bill (Quentin Tarantino), Friday (Robert Heinlein), House Of Flying Daggers (Zhang Yimou), Mytale (Ayerdhal), Paladin Of The Night (Margaret Weis).
• More generally, in interviews he readily quotes : Howard & Tolkien, Dan Simmons, Alain Damasio (how so), Terry Pratchett, Ayerdhal, Pierre Bordage, U.K. Le Guin, Vinge.
• Pierre’s experience as a role-playing game master inspires his worlds and storytelling. He particularly played Dungeons & Dragons and later his own creations.

You can read the official (sometimes imaginary) biographies and autobiographies written by Pierre Bottero’s publishers on our dedicated article _(Fr).

Bibliography in France

Pierre Bottero is translated in 10 languages, but not yet officially in English. Maybe it will (we hope for it) after the diffusion of the Animated series Ewilan’s Quest.

Outside the Cycle

• Amies à vie, Père Castor-Flammarion, coll. Castor poche, 2001 ; coll. Flammarion jeunesse, 2011
• Le Garçon qui voulait courir vite, Père Castor-Flammarion, coll. Castor poche, 2002 ; Flammarion jeunesse, 2011
• Tsina, Père Castor-Flammarion, coll. Castor poche, 2002-2003 ; Flammarion jeunesse, 2011
  – Un Galop pour Tsina. Mon cheval, mon destin,
  – Un Galop pour Tsina, 2 : Un cheval en Irlande
• Fils de sorcières, Rageot, coll. Cascade, 2003 ; coll. Romans, 2006
• Zouck, Flammarion, coll. Tribal, 2004
• Tour B2, mon amour, Flammarion, coll. Tribal, 2004
• Le Voleur de chouchous, ill. Claire Delvaux, Rageot, 2006
• Princesse en danger, Rageot, 2006
• Météorite, ill. Vincent Wagner, Rageot, 2009
• A comme Association, with Erik L’Homme, Gallimard Jeunesse, 2010-2012 (Posthumous work)
  – Les limites obscures de la magie (II)
  – Le subtil parfum du soufre (IV)

The Elsewhere Cycle (Gwendalavir)

Books related to the world of Gwendalavir (directly or indirectly). (Detailed articles in French in links).
English titles are translated by us, nothing official. For Marchombre, you can found “Shadowalkers” but also “Unchained”.

• Ewilan’s Quest / ( Fr : La Quête d’Ewilan) (trilogy), Rageot, 2003
  • D’un monde à l’autre, – Les Frontières de glace, – L’Île du destin.
• Ewilan’s Worlds / Les Mondes d’Ewilan (trilogy), Rageot, 2004-2005
  • La Forêt des captifs, – L’Œil d’Otolep, – Les Tentacules du mal.
• The Other / L’Autre (trilogy), Rageot, 2006-2007)
  • Le Souffle de la hyène, Le Maître des tempêtes, and La Huitième Porte.
• The Pact of the Shadowalkers / Le Pacte des Marchombres, (trilogy), ill. by Jean-Louis Thouard, Rageot, 2006-2008
  • Ellana, Ellana l’envol, and Ellana la prophétie
• The Crossed Souls, Les Âmes croisées, Rageot, 2010 ; (Posthumous work)
• The Troll’s Song, Le Chant du troll, graphic novel, with Gilles Francescano, Rageot, 2010 – (Posthumous work)
• The Eagles from Vishan Lour / Les Aigles de Vishan Lour, ill. by Armel Gaulme, in Je Bouquine, n° 261, n°377, Bayard Jeunesse, 2005, p. 12-54. (+Ré-édition Rageot 2019)
• Isayama, album, ill. by Jean-Louis Thouard, Milan, 2007

Reception

With 3 millions French readers from multiple generations, Pierre Bottero’s work has become a literary prize machine. It has also become a fertile ground for every kind of adaptations.

Press reception :

Adaptations

Translations :
– German, Spanish, Italian, Czech, Portuguese, Korean, Polish, Turkish. (See the detailed article in Eng.)
According to its editor (Caroline Westberg), it has been translated into ten languages.
Cinéma :
– Short film “Ewilan”, by Guillaume Deleuze et Manuel Laurent, 2017
– Ewilan’s Quest, the Animation Series, by Andarta Pictures (announcement _-fr-)(more info _-fr-)
Comics (fr) :
– BD Ewilan’s Quest, Lylian and Laurence Baldetti (2013-2019),
– BD Ewilan’s Worlds, Lylian and Laurence Baldetti (2020-2025-Still in production),
– BD Ellana, Lylian et Montse Martin (2016-2021),
– Comics L’Autre (in production)
Others types of adaptations :
– Theater : Isayama, par la Compagnie Exodus (2012)
– Theater : Isayama – Le Spectacle, by Quentin Ripoll and Matthieu Garreau (2018)
– Album for young Illustrated Fils de Sorcières, by Maxe L’Hermenier (2019)
– Audios CD’s  of Pierre Bottero
– Gamebooks : Escape, by Lylian and Laurence Baldetti
    – Le Labyrinthe du Mercenaire, (2019)
– Les Ruines d’All-Poll, (2020)
– An amateur videogame : La Quête d’Ewilan (type MMORPG), (8 Novembre 2010)

French Literary Prizes

Sources :

_{As it is our first language (and the first we shall think to update), in case of doubt, the French version is authoritative.}