The Quest for Fire

The Quest for Fire (, literally The War of Fire) is a 1911 Belgian fantasy novel by J.-H. Rosny, the pseudonym of two brothers; the author was actually the elder of the two, Joseph Henri Honoré Boex (1856–1940). It was first published in English in an abridged edition in 1967.

Setting

The Quest for Fire takes place in 100,000 BC in Europe. The fauna of this period is omnipresent, including: mammoths, cave lions, aurochs, cave bears, saber-toothed cats, giant elks and saiga antelopes. Several humanoid species live alongside animals:

1. The Ulams - Neanderthal-like hunters-gatherers who worship the fire and are able to ally themselves with beasts.
2. The Wahs - People without shoulders from marshes.
3. The Blue-Haired Men - Huge four-handed simians with a bluish fur.
4. The Men-Eaters - Bestial cannibals.
5. The Red Dwarfs - Extremely warmongering and xenophobic pygmies.

Plot

Scientific response

Italian paleontologist praised both the novel and its movie adaptation for their prescient vision: for him, they can alternatively be seen as a journey through human evolution, where the protagonists meet different species of Homo that succeeded one another through time; or, as a journey through space, with different human species that coexisted (and interbred) in different parts of the world. Finally, they could also be seen as a representation of diversity within Neanderthals, that are now known to have had "modern" traits, like the production of jewelry, but to also have engaged in cannibalism.

Adaptation

It was adapted into the critically acclaimed 1981 film Quest for Fire starring Everett McGill, Ron Perlman, Nicholas Kadi, and Rae Dawn Chong. The film is not a faithful adaptation of the book.

References

External links