Maurice Renard (1875–1939) is a French science fiction writer and master of the detective novel. Following Voltaire’s principle “all genres are good except the boring,” Renard did not divide literature into “high” and “low”: his works violate the usual logic plot development and combine entertainment and intelligence. It is no coincidence that Renard was popular not only among readers, but also among literary critics, and in the 21st century was called “the brilliant forerunner of modern science fiction” (“Dictionary of Detective Literature,” edited by Claude Mesplede, 2003). His work had a noticeable influence on the subsequent development of genre literature and in many ways anticipated the plots of famous fantasy works of the Golden Age. This edition includes the novels “Doctor Lern, Demigod” (1908), “The Blue Menace” (1912), “Lord of Light” (1933 ), as well as the short stories “The Opera Singer”, “The Glory of Comacchio”, “Monsieur de Troupier, Noble Physicist” and “A Sound in the Mountains”.