Damasio is a French science fiction novelist whose books treat prose as a material. La Horde du Contrevent follows a group crossing a continent against a permanent wind, with each of its many narrators marked by a distinct typographic symbol, so the reader identifies a voice before reading a word of it.
He studied political science and philosophy, and both disciplines are visible in his fiction, which is explicitly concerned with power, control and the possibility of escape from it. Poetry and oral performance shape his sentences, and he regularly performs his texts with musicians, treating the written word as something meant to be spoken aloud.
Recurring subjects: collective action against an overwhelming force, surveillance and technological control, and freedom pursued as a physical rather than an abstract condition. His prose invents vocabulary freely, uses typography as a narrative device, and demands attention. Groups rather than individuals carry his stories.
His wind novel is one of the most celebrated works of French science fiction, winning the country's major genre award and building a durable following through word of mouth. His later work on ubiquitous technology has been widely discussed outside genre circles, and he is a recognised public voice in French debates on digital surveillance.
For readers who want fiction that demands effort and repays it. Suited to anyone who enjoys formal experiment, and to those who read science fiction for political argument. Not for readers looking for a fast plot.
