Maurice Limat was a French author of science fiction. His œuvre, particularly abundant, was published primarily by publisher Fleuve Noir. He used a variety of pseudonyms, notably Maurice Lionel, Maurice d'Escrignelles, and Lionel Rex.
Overview
Maurice Limat published science fiction novels such as Les Fiancés de la Planète Mars and Les Naufragés de la Voie Lactée , with a style that was reminiscent of the type of science fiction published before or just after World War I. During that period, the prolific Limat also authored a number of adventure novels with fantasy elements such as La Montagne aux Vampires , about a man who could control vampires, L'Araignée d'Argent , featuring a robotic spider created by an Ancient civilization, Le Septième Cerveau , Le Zodiaque de l'Himalaya and La Comète Écarlate , to name but a few. During the 1950s, Limat wrote more science fiction novels, such as Les Faiseurs de Planètes , Comète 73 , Courrier Interplanétaire and Le Mal des Étoiles , disguising his abundant production with various pseudonyms. During 1955, he contributed SOS Galaxie to the imprintSérie 2000 and then wrote Monsieur Cosmos which dealt with the theme of the macrocosmic man, creator of universes. His novels began to display the influence of American "space operas". By the time he began writing for the Anticipation imprint of Editions Fleuve Noir, during 1959, Limat was already a veteran writer. Les Enfants du Chaos , in which men use psychic powers to create a world, but then ask themselves whether they have earned the right to play God, is somewhat characteristic of his subsequent production. Limat continued to be a prolific writer, authoring numerous, lyrical, sometimes even religious, space operas for Fleuve Noir—107 in total, until Atoxa-des-Abysses —as well as some horror novels for Fleuve Noir's Angoisse imprint, which featured as main character a detective of the supernatural, Teddy Verano. Limat introduced the character of futuristic police commissionerRobin Muscat in Les Foudroyants , in which a hapless young man is turned into an electromagnetic force. His most popular, long-running hero was the green-eyed, telepathic Chevalier Coqdor introduced in L'Étoile de Satan . Muscat and Coqdor often teamed with each other and were featured, separately or together, in a great number of subsequent novels. The Chevalier Coqdor adventures usually celebrated the power of love and tolerance, and a genuine belief in God, the Great Architect of the Universe, something unusual in science fiction. New stories featuring Chevalier Coqdor are now written by Jean-Michel Archaimbault & Jean-Marc Lofficier.
