Le Vingtième Siècle: La Vie Électrique

In a near‑future version of the 1950s, humanity has turned electricity into a tool for reshaping the climate. Massive “artificial reservoirs” siphon storms, melt relentless snows, and summon rain to once‑parched deserts, while engineers like the enigmatic Philox Lorris claim to have mastered the very forces that once ruled the seasons. The narrative paints a world where the weather is no longer a hostile master but a programmable resource, promising new harvests in Nubia, revived steppes in Persia, and a winter‑free West Europe.

When a routine thawing operation at the great N‑reservoir in Ardèche goes awry on 12 December 1955, an inexplicable surge ignites a ferocious electrical storm that races across the continent. The upheaval rattles ordinary citizens and the scientific elite alike, exposing the fragile balance between human ambition and the raw power they now wield. As the tempest rolls onward, the story follows Philox’s son, his father’s cautions, and the first uneasy signs that tampering with nature may have unforeseen costs.