Le Dragon blanc (The White Dragon in English) is the first volume of the Science Fantasy series Les Enfants de Prométhée (Prometheus's Children) written by Sophie Renaudin
. It was self-published in 2014.
Society in the New Cities relies heavily on the Pillars, people who were blessed at birth by Prometheus with psychic or Elemental Powers. These people are highly respected and each of them is assigned a job befitting of their power. However, on some occasions, Pillars give birth to a powerless child. Such children, commonly called White People, always have white hair and eyes, never live old, and are rumored to be cursed. Dimitri, a White person, can only rely on his sister Olympe to keep his job as a gardener at the Pillars' Academy, where Olympe teaches Telepathy.
One day, their city is struck by an unprecedented disaster, and it quickly becomes apparent that the Federation has a lot to hide about the Pillars. When Olympe's Childhood Friend Eric disappears, the two siblings go on their separate ways to investigate.
Les Enfants de Prométhée provides examples of:
- Blessed with Suck: Cancellers, whom the Federation sees as too dangerous to the rest of society. Their very existence is a well-kept secret: every child born with this ability is taken prisoner and raised underground. One such woman caused every Pillar in Primville to lose their powers at the same time when hers got out of control.
- Similarly, Aaron makes it clear that being able to walk through walls can have horrifying consequences - like falling to the center of the Earth.
- And of course, the White People: Muggles Born of Mages with Mystical White Hair and eyes who never live old and are rumored to be cursed - which means most people treat them like dirt. As it turns out, they have the ability to create the energy that allows Pillars to control their Psychic Powers - unfortunately, the burden of the very energy they are creating is what kills White People.
- Belligerent Sexual Tension: Olympe and Aaron have it in spades.
- Blow You Away: Mathias. He uses it to pilot blimps.
- The Brute: Dimitri has a Hair-Trigger Temper and is downright vicious when angered, to the point that he is reduced to an animalistic state of mind. It triggers his Emergency Transformation when he touches Prometheus.
- The Chosen Many: Pillars. All of them got their powers at birth from Prometheus.
- Double-Meaning Title: So, is the titular white dragon a ship? Or something else?
- Driven to Suicide: When she hears about the damage she caused by losing control of her power, the Canceller begs a policewoman to kill her. She gets her wish.
- Dumb Muscle: Dimitri. This is the main reason why Eric hates him.
- Emergency Transformation: At the end of the first volume, Prometheus turns Dimitri into a dragon.
- Extra-ore-dinary: Eric. Every Pillar with this ability gets the surname "Side."
- Fantastic Racism: The superstitions regarding White People. Some rumors pretend that they can steal a Pillar's power.
- Hair-Trigger Temper: Maybe it's just as well that Dimitri doesn't have any powers...
- Handsome Lech: Aaron. Olympe isn't amused.
- Have You Seen My God?: No one is really sure who - or what - Prometheus even is. Some characters eventually put His very existence into question. He does exist as a Green Rock with immense power that appears to be sentient, but the reason for the Power Incontinence is left unclear at the end of the first book.
- Living Macguffin: Olympe discovers that White People are disappearing from Primville. The Federation is actually aware that they can create pronoïac energy: the White People who get captured are used as guinea pigs to find out how to fix Prometheus' Power Incontinence.
- Making a Splash: Lieutenant Line Hydre. Any other Pillar with this ability would get the surname "Hydre."
- Mind over Matter: Victor and Corentin. A Pillar with this ability gets the surname "Kines." As such, with the boy's talent, Victor already considers Corentin like part of his family and calls him "son" on one occasion. Right in front of Dimitri.
- Misanthrope Supreme: Considering how White People are treated, it's no wonder that Dimitri became like this. The only exceptions are his sister Olympe and his coworker Thomas, who both treat him like their equal.
- Morality Chain: In the beginning, Olympe is the only reason Dimitri doesn't try to kill everyone who mocks him for being White. As the story progresses, he does warm up to a select few characters.
- Morality Pet: For all of his flaws, Victor cares deeply about his daughter Olympe and is very proud of her.
- My Sister Is Off-Limits: Dimitri is clearly opposed to Eric wooing his sister, mostly because he can't stand the man. The trope is deconstructed when Dimitri falls sick: he ultimately decides to use the few days he has left to bring Eric back so he can be sure that his sister won't be alone after his death.
- Mystical White Hair: The White People.
- The Noodle Incident:Dimitri: Just come out and say I break everything I touch!Olympe: You have to admit that you're a big brute. I still remember the time I tried to teach you how to sew...Dimitri: That's 'cause I have big hands, alright?
- Parental Abandonment: Victor likes to pretend that Dimitri doesn't exist.
- Power Incontinence: The very first sign that something is wrong with the Pillars is Mathias losing control of the wind and crashing an airplane. As Olympe soon finds out, it wasn't an isolated incident.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: Eric is the Blue to Dimitri's Red.
- Suicide by Cop: See Driven to Suicide above.
- Telepathy: Olympe and Mathilde. They can communicate telepathically with anyone wearing their 'anchors' (jewelry charged with their power). Every Pillar with this ability gets the surname "Psyche."
- Thicker Than Water: Olympe and Dimitri are very close, even though the latter is a violent man when angered and a White Person.Olympe: He is my brother and I love him. There is nothing strange about that.
- The Unfavorite: Dimitri, due to his father's Fantastic Racism. Dimitri suffers greatly from it, but doesn't begrudge Olympe their father's preference.
- Unlucky Childhood Friend: Olympe is well aware of Eric's feelings for her, but can't bring herself to view him as anything more than a very dear friend. But since he never openly confessed, she never outright rejected him either.
- What You Are in the Dark: Eric is ruthless when Olympe isn't watching: on Red Tuesday, he shot at the crowd to disperse the riot. Even Dimitri was shocked.
- Your Days Are Numbered: At twenty-seven, Dimitri is considered exceptionally old for a White person. Eric likes to rub it in.
