Claus - Bertauski, Tony

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Résumé :
Long before he became a legend, Nicholas Santa was an Arctic explorer fighting to survive the frozen edge of the world. When a violent polar storm tears him from his family, Nicholas stumbles upon something impossible beneath the ice: a hidden civilization of elves, ancient machines, and secrets older than recorded history. What begins as survival quickly becomes initiation into a world where myth and technology are indistinguishable. As tensions rise between isolationist elven elders and a dangerous rebel known as Jack, Nicholas is drawn into a conflict that threatens to erupt into open war between worlds. To endure, he must confront altered reindeer, intelligent snow beings, and technology so advanced it borders on the divine, all while discovering that the choices he makes will echo far beyond the ice. Claus: Legend of the Fat Man is a sweeping epic fantasy that reimagines the origin of Santa Claus as myth, not folklore. Darker, richer, and more ambitious than traditional holiday tales, this is Christmas mythology for readers who crave deep worldbuilding, high-stakes adventure, and the birth of a legend forged in snow and fire. Book One of the Claus Universe series....

Biographie:
Tony Bertauski began his writing career with magazine columns, landscape design textbooks, and a gardening column for the Post and Courier in Charleston, South Carolina, before turning fully to fiction. Influenced by a grandfather whose shelves overflowed with classic science fiction, his work explores consciousness, identity, and what it means to be human. In 2008, he won the South Carolina Fiction Open for his short story Four Letter Words. He is best known for the Claus Universe and the Socket Greeny Saga, writing stories that emphasize momentum, emotional connection, and unexpected twists, always with entertainment at the forefront....

Sommaire:
THE RED SUIT COMES LATER. FIRST, HE MUST SURVIVE. Look, we all know how this story ends. Red suit, reindeer, milk and cookies. But nobody told you how it actually started, and spoiler alert: it's way more intense than your childhood Christmas specials led you to believe. So there's Nicholas Santa (yeah, that's his real name). He disappears with his family during an expedition to the North Pole. Because nothing says quality family time like hiking to the most inhospitable place on Earth in the 19th century. When a storm hits, Nicholas gets separated from his wife Jessica and son Jon, plus everything he understood about reality. Beneath the ice lives an ancient race of elves who've been playing hide-and-seek since the Ice Age. Short, stout, and equipped with technology that makes modern smartphones look like stone tablets, they've maintained a peaceful existence until now. Enter Jack. The one guy who ruins it for everyone. He's the elf who complains about everything and has strong opinions about the way things used to be. He's rallying the discontented with plans to abandon the North Pole and redecorate the rest of the world. Fueled by rage and mommy issues, Jack's leading a supernatural revolt. Standing between Jack and global conquest is Nicholas, the first human to stumble into their secret society, wondering how his simple polar expedition turned into a fantasy novel. Claus: Legend of the Fat Man explains how milk-and-cookies Santa evolved from the guy who survived an elven civil war. It's the origin story nobody asked for but everyone secretly wants, proving that even beloved holiday icons started somewhere. And that somewhere was apparently much more complicated than anyone wanted to admit. Perfect for fans of Christopher Moore's The Stupidest Angel, Matt Haig's The Midnight Library (and his Father Christmas series), Neil Gaiman's Norse Mythology, and Terry Pratchett's Hogfather....