Georges-Jean Arnaud (born July 3, 1928) is a French author.
Arnaud was born in Saint-Gilles-du-Gard, Camargue, Gard.
He made his first appearance in the Anticipation science fiction imprint of French publisher Fleuve Noir in 1971 with Les Croisés de Mara [The Crusaders Of Mara] the first volume of a trilogy entitled Chroniques de la Longue Séparation [Chronicles of the Long Separation], in which a group of characters from the lost human colony of Mara, which had reverted to feudalism, rediscovered their origins and then embarked on a quest through space to find Earth.
Arnaud, a prolific writer, is the author of well over three hundred novels in different genres, including espionage thrillers, detective fiction, science fiction, horror, erotic fiction, and mainstream literature.
His espionage fiction include two series of note: Luc Ferran (16 novels), written under the pseudonym of "Gil Darcy" for publisher L'Arabesque from 1963 to 1969; and Le Commander for Fleuve Noir's Espionnage imprint, with about thirty novels written between 1967 and 1980.
Arnaud also wrote non-series espionage novels under the pseudonyms of "Saint-Gilles" and "Georges Murey" for Ferenczi (1958–60) and L'Arabesque (1957–65), and another fifty-odd novels under his own name for Fleuve Noir's Espionnage (1961–86).
Arnaud's best known work is La Compagnie des glaces (The Ice Company), a post-apocalyptic science fiction saga set in a new ice age where railway companies rule the world. [1] La Compagnie des glaces was adapted in 2007 into a Canadian television series entitled Grand Star, and likely inspired the Japanese anime and manga series Overman King Gainer which ran for 26 episodes from 2002 to 2003. The series also served as the basis for the computer game Transarctica (North American title, Arctic Baron). The first novel in the series was translated in 2010 under the title The Ice Company by Jean-Marc Lofficier & Randy Lofficier ISBN 978-1-935558-31-6
His work has earned a number of awards, including: