The first ever English translation of Alain Damasio’s Horde of the Counterwind (or, to give the book its original name La Horde du Contrevent) is going on sale later this year. The novel, a cult classic that is cited as one of the driving inspirations behind the acclaimed and best-selling Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, will be available in hardback on 13th October, 2026 via Abrams Books in the US. The UK date seems to be listed as 12th November on Amazon; we have contacted the publisher for clarification.
“Follow a horde of hardened expeditioners as they climb endlessly against the wind that plagues their desolate homeland,” reads a blurb for the book. “Their only purpose: to make it to the Upper Reaches and identify the wind’s mysterious source. Over the course of eight hundred years, thirty-three hordes before them have tried and failed.”
Similarly to the game, the 2004 book focuses on loss, grief, and unending perseverance in the face of almost impossible odds. Awarded the Grand Prix de l’Imaginaire 2006 in the category “Francophone novel”, it quickly became a cult hit amongst French-language speakers, and is considered a modern classic in sci-fi today.
The book has long been considered impossible to translate thanks to the intricacies and uniqueness of its prose, but poet, novelist, translator and literary scholar Alexander Dickow is giving it a damn good go for the sake of English audiences. He’s got some pretty good credits, too: to date, Dickow has translated The Central Laboratory by Max Jacob, The Neverending Quest for the Other Shore by Sylvie Kandé, Showers and Bright Spells: Selected Poems 2009–2019 by Henri Droguet, and Air of Solitude and Requiem by Gustave Roud (the last two were co-translated with Sean T. Reynolds, but I think that oeuvre more than paints a picture of Dickow’s tastes and talents).
Before Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 launched in 2025, Sandfall Interactive co-founder and chief technology officer Tom Guillermin told Unreal that Damasio’s book was one of the inspirations for the game: “On the story side, there is also a French novel called ‘La Horde du Contrevent’, which is a fantasy novel about a group of explorers travelling the world, which our game also took some inspiration from as we made a story about people venturing into the unknown on a dangerous adventure,” he told the blog.
The novel is cited as a major inspiration for the hit RPG alongside the Belle Époque era of European history, an unnamed painting that struck something inside game director Guillaume Broche, and video games like Persona, Final Fantasy, and Lost Odyssey. “All these influences (and many more) helped shape our original vision for the game and develop something that feels completely unique for players,” Guillermin concluded.
This book has been on my StoryGraph ‘to read’ column for a while now, so I’m pleased we finally get a chance to read it in English later this year. I’ll be checking it out when it launches, and – having completed Expedition 33 twice, now – I plan to write up what I learn about the game’s narrative inspirations when I’m done. I hope you’re all as excited as I am about this book finally making its way to our shores. Tomorrow comes.
