In An Invasion of Macrobes (1909), Professor Tornada, unhinged by the death of his wife and daughter, and unable to withstand the blow of having been rejected by the French Academy, unleashes giant, flesh-eating bacteria, immune to the assaults of artillery and high explosives, on Paris, intent on smashing it flat. In the ground-breaking The Androgyne (1922), Tornada turns a man into a woman. Andre Couvreur (1865-1944) was a medical doctor who penned several medical treatises, and was also the author of eight romans scientifiques dealing with "medical concepts" featuring the mad scientists Doctor Caresco, then Professor Tornada. These are collected in a series of five volumes, translated and annotated by Brian Stableford, presenting for the first time the ground-breaking works of this pioneer of French science fiction.

In The Phosphorescent Waltzer(1923), the indomitable Professor Tornada creates an android and in Memoirs Of An Immortal(1924), he tackles the concept of suspended animation. Andre Couvreur (1865-1944) was a medical doctor who penned several medical treatises, and was also the author of eight romans scientifiques dealing with "medical concepts" featuring the mad scientists Doctor Caresco, then Professor Tornada. These are collected in a series of five volumes, translated and annotated by Brian Stableford, presenting for the first time the ground-breaking works of this pioneer of French science fiction.

In The Biocole (1927), Professor Tornada conquers death itself and becomes the creator and virtual god of a utopian enclave called Biocolia. In The Case of Baroness Sasoitsu (1939), the eccentric scientist solves a baffling murder case by using his psychovisor which translates thoughts into images. The book also includes the novella In the Afterlife (1936), a story in a lighter comic vein. Andre Couvreur (1865-1944) was a medical doctor who penned several medical treatises, and was also the author of eight romans scientifiques dealing with "medical concepts" featuring the mad scientists Doctor Caresco, then Professor Tornada. These are collected in a series of five volumes, translated and annotated by Brian Stableford, presenting for the first time the ground-breaking works of this pioneer of French science fiction.

Dr. Caresco returns in Caresco, Superman (1904), in which the brilliant but mad scientist rules the body-shaped island of Eucrasia whose inhabitants have been transformed--"improved"--by a variety of advanced surgical techniques. The natives are addicted to sensual pleasures, subservient to the will of Caresco, whom they call the "Superman," for fear that he will castrate them--or worse. Andre Couvreur (1865-1944) was a medical doctor who penned several medical treatises, and was also the author of eight romans scientifiques dealing with "medical concepts" featuring the mad scientists Doctor Caresco, then Professor Tornada. These are collected in a series of five volumes, translated and annotated by Brian Stableford, presenting for the first time the ground-breaking works of this pioneer of French science fiction.

The Necessary Evil (1899) features Dr. Armand Caresco, a conscienceless surgeon carrying out medical experiments. Caresco sees himself as an intellectual superman whose discoveries might enable humankind to take a leap forward. This daring book dared to broach such shocking topics as the methodology and occasional necessity of hysterectomies. Andre Couvreur (1863-1944), himself a medical doctor, depicts Caresco's surgical exploits in an explicit, even flamboyant, fashion that harks back to the notorious Marquis de Sade. In spite of his flagrant disapproval of Caresco's morality and alleged madness, Couvreur remains willing to give his views serious consideration, and to explore their potential in a manner that refuses to write them off merely because they are tainted with megalomaniac delusion.