Townscapes

Three tales here, linked by a common character–a lean, blond man capable of amazing feats–are about small towns threatened by bigness. In The Cruise of Lost Souls (1975), weird military-scientific testing threatens an agricultural village; in Ship of Stone (1976), resort developers want to erase a Breton fishing village; and in The Town That Didn't Exist (1977), a conglomerate plans to scuttle the factory on which the livelihood of little Jedancourt depends. With the help of the supernatural forces the blond can rally, the towns fight back. The stories are equally beautiful, but each is less comical and more humorous than its predecessor.