La Nuit des temps
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Science-fiction novel written by René Barjavel. English title - The Ice People.
When a French expedition in Antarctica reveals the ruins of a 900,000 years old civilization, scientists from all over the world flock to the site to help explore and understand. The entire planet watches, mesmerized, as they uncover a chamber in which a man and a woman have been sleeping since, as the French title suggests, 'the night of times'. The woman, Eléa is awoken, and through a translating machine she tells her story, the story of her world and how war destroyed her civilization. She also hints at an incredibly advanced knowledge that her still-asleep companion possesses, knowledge that could give energy and food to all humans at no cost. But the super powers of the world are not ready to let Eléa's secrets spread, and show that, 900,000 years and an apocalypse later, mankind has not grown up and is ready to make the same mistakes again.
"Ils sont là! Ils sont nous! Ils ont repeuplé le monde, et ils sont aussi cons qu'avant, et prêts à faire de nouveau sauter la baraque. C'est pas beau, ça? C'est l'homme!"
First published in 1968 by Les Presses de la Cité.
