A ship called the "Antinéa" is sailing peacefully on the Indian Ocean. Its mission is a humanitarian one, since it is carrying grain to a war-torn nation plagued by famine. But the cargo of grain gets attacked by voracious insects that multiply at an exponential rate. Soon the critters are everywhere, leaving a suffocating stench in their wake. While life on the ship turns into a constant torment, outside observers fear for even more chaos and disruption...
A mix of science fiction and thriller, "La guerre des insectes" is set into an unspecified near-future. It deals with a disturbing premise, to wit the emergence (or re-emergence) of an unusually ravenous, hardy and prolific insect species potentially capable of wiping out our planet's harvests and food reserves. As if this idea weren't chilling enough, the plot includes an extra twist in the person of a long-time criminal who believes that every crisis represents an opportunity. Having come into possession of some insects, the man uses them in order to extort money and, eventually, to threaten a whole nation. (Watch out for a marvelously repulsive performance by Miguel Fernandes as Mike Moheno.)
Although the series is not particularly funny - au contraire - it does contain touches of mordant satire, especially when describing the sad fate of the war-torn country of Wadhi. In the beginning, a ship tries to bring charitable relief to the starving population. Alas, the grain transports need to be halted in order to avoid contamination. The "Antinéa" incident causes a world-wide round of study, rumor, intrigue, diplomacy and panic. Meanwhile Wadhi is left to fend for itself. Presumably it is starving still.
I may have missed something, but I thought that the various makers of the series had an unduly sunny view of insecticides. If your nasty critter is immune to all known insecticides, just develop a new insecticide, that will solve all your troubles. Get that formula written down and uncork the champagne - mission accomplished ! Those bugs are TOAST ! Sadly enough, insecticides tend to come with a high cost, both in terms of ecology and of human health, meaning that we might be dealing with the replacement of one catastrophe by another catastrophe. Now this second disaster might be more slow and more insidious in declaring its effects, but that would not make it any less detrimental.
Anyway, "La guerre des insectes" is an interesting series sure to invite intelligent discussion of topics such as the spread of invasive exotic species, which, nowadays, has been turbo-charged by the easy availability of long-range transport all across the globe.
A mix of science fiction and thriller, "La guerre des insectes" is set into an unspecified near-future. It deals with a disturbing premise, to wit the emergence (or re-emergence) of an unusually ravenous, hardy and prolific insect species potentially capable of wiping out our planet's harvests and food reserves. As if this idea weren't chilling enough, the plot includes an extra twist in the person of a long-time criminal who believes that every crisis represents an opportunity. Having come into possession of some insects, the man uses them in order to extort money and, eventually, to threaten a whole nation. (Watch out for a marvelously repulsive performance by Miguel Fernandes as Mike Moheno.)
Although the series is not particularly funny - au contraire - it does contain touches of mordant satire, especially when describing the sad fate of the war-torn country of Wadhi. In the beginning, a ship tries to bring charitable relief to the starving population. Alas, the grain transports need to be halted in order to avoid contamination. The "Antinéa" incident causes a world-wide round of study, rumor, intrigue, diplomacy and panic. Meanwhile Wadhi is left to fend for itself. Presumably it is starving still.
I may have missed something, but I thought that the various makers of the series had an unduly sunny view of insecticides. If your nasty critter is immune to all known insecticides, just develop a new insecticide, that will solve all your troubles. Get that formula written down and uncork the champagne - mission accomplished ! Those bugs are TOAST ! Sadly enough, insecticides tend to come with a high cost, both in terms of ecology and of human health, meaning that we might be dealing with the replacement of one catastrophe by another catastrophe. Now this second disaster might be more slow and more insidious in declaring its effects, but that would not make it any less detrimental.
Anyway, "La guerre des insectes" is an interesting series sure to invite intelligent discussion of topics such as the spread of invasive exotic species, which, nowadays, has been turbo-charged by the easy availability of long-range transport all across the globe.