Page 30 - Trillium Book Awards 2021, ONTARIO CREATES

Trillium Book Award
Finalist
Charles-Étienne Ferland
Métamorphoses
Éditions L’Interligne
Finally, the long-awaited follow-up to the science fiction novel Dévorés! Nearly a year has passed since the end of the world as we know it. While research centre staff in Toronto recruit survivors to rebuild civilization, Jack leaves Montreal for Main Duck Island, where his family has taken refuge. On the way, numerous dangers await him, such as a bloodthirsty creature that prowls around a domed community. Will Jack manage to vanquish the beast and escape?
A dark and suspenseful apocalyptic tale, Métamorphoses plunges us into a hellish world in which each of us is just trying to survive, reminiscent of the series Stranger Things and video game The Last of Us.
Born in Montreal in 1992, Charles-Étienne Ferland is an author, actor, musician and entomologist. He has published two novels and a collection of short stories. With a master’s degree in insect ecology from the University of Guelph, he is a contributor to the Bugdex project at the Natural History Museum of Denmark.
Jury Comment: Relying on the knowledge accumulated during a scientific education to bring forth a literary work is a perplexing challenge. We also have to salute the talent of those who, like Charles- Étienne Ferland, have managed to transform the essay form because, in situating Métamorphoses, the continuing post-apocalyptic adventures of an anti-hero searching for redemption, in a world of chaos that giant wasps have created, we’re deeply indebted to insect ecologist Ferland’s literary process. Beside the St. Lawrence River and Highway 401, the author sets up a gripping plot that borrows the irresistible aspects from adventure novels and science fiction but, above all, Ferland skilfully revisits contemporary drama, the metaphor hiding here and there of the evils shaking our societies. It’s an explosive novel in keeping with the times.
30