In his late 20s, a piano teacher of disinterested pupils, has recently been dumped and his musical project rejected by all the record companies. Ultimately, Julien’s existence could be described as banal, mediocre; almost pointless. He’s one of those average people to whom life doesn’t always smile. One evening, a little sadder than another, he stumbles into the Anti-World, a virtual parallel world where everything seems possible. This new life is a form of rebirth for Julien: his own uchrony. Little by little, the boundary between virtual and real becomes blurred, until he no longer knows which of the two lives is the “real” one.

But virtual entities are not just technological, they can also be artistic. If poetry was originally written on paper, can’t it be pixelated? In a world where Julien’s art was misunderstood by all, it could be that his texts enchant the greatest number of people in the virtual mirror of the Anti-world.

Virtual worlds are commonplace in the audiovisual world, and particularly in cinema (Black Mirror – S5 ep1 “Striking Vipers”, Don’t worry Darling, Code Lyoko…), but this subject is still new in literature, and that’s what makes Les Liens Artificiels a singular and innovative work.

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Pauline Meunier

After studying literature and languages, Pauline joined the Albertine team as an intern during her gap year. Passionate about stories of all kinds, she enjoys reading contemporary novels, thrillers and tries her hand at ecological essays (especially those on the animal cause!).

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