Paschal Grousset

One of Grousset's most notable science fiction novels was Les Exilés de la Terre – Selene-Company Limited (1887).

In it, a consortium which intends to exploit the Moon’s mineral resources decides that, since our satellite is too far to be reached, it must be brought closer to the Earth.

Solar reflectors are used to provide the energy required to convert the mountain into a huge electro-magnet, with miles of cables wrapped around it.

Other notable works by Grousset published under the Laurie pseudonym include De New York à Brest en Sept Heures [New York to Brest in Seven Hours] (1888), which predicted a transatlantic tunnel; Le Secret du Mage (The Secret of the Magician) (1890), in which evidence of an advanced prehistoric is discovered; Le Rubis du Grand Lama [The Ruby of the Great Lama] (1894), which features a steam-powered flying island; Atlantis (1895), which describes how the mythical kingdom has survived under a glass dome at the bottom of the sea near the Azores; Le Maître de l'Abîme (The Master of the Abyss) (1905), which features a revolutionary submarine, and finally Spiridon le Muet (Spiridon The Mute) (1907), a novel about a human-sized, intelligent ant.

The character of Spiridon, depicted as a non-human alien, gifted with great knowledge, an insatiable scientific curiosity but no human feelings or emotions, the victim of mankind's petty jealousies and racial fears, is a striking departure from the Vernian influence that permeated the rest of Laurie's works.