The Great Collision

The Great Collision is a science fiction novel by the French economist and writer Jacques Attali. The Chinese edition, translated by Yan Hansheng, was published by China Literature Press in October 1999. About 160,000 characters long, it is divided into seven chapters—Light, Sky, Earth, Bird, Fish, Human, Peace—whose titles move from cosmic elements down to humanity and "peace," giving the structure the feel of a progressive allegory. Attali is best known for his work in political economy and futurology and long served as a special adviser to French President Mitterrand; in this novel he turns his long-standing reflections on technology, power, and the fate of civilization into fictional narrative. The book does not stop at mere technological spectacle but places human civilization within a violent "collision" and turning point, exploring civilization's choices in the face of crisis through a progression from nature to human order. As a modern French science fiction work, it is closer to a philosophical thought allegory: plot serves the presentation of ideas, and characters' actions often point to broader human circumstances. It should be noted that reliable online information about the book's specific characters, plot, and ending is very limited, so this summary describes it cautiously based only on copyright-page and table-of-contents information. Readers might treat it as "science fiction written by an economist": it offers both a cold-eyed speculation about the future and an inquiry into human nature and peace. The Chinese edition had a print run of only 5,000 copies and is now hard to find.