Niourk
Cover art by René Brantonne
Niourk (published 1957) is a science fiction novel by the French writer Stefan Wul. It first appeared as one of the Fleuve Noir "Anticipation" novels, a series published in France since 1951 which reflected the authors' attitudes towards the supposed post war rise of a "technocracy" in the country.[1]
Plot
It presents an Earth where the oceans have gone dry and humans are hunter-gatherer bands. Haiti is the mountain range "Hait", and New York City becomes the ruins of "Niourk".
The "black child" goes to Niourk where he wanders through the ruins and the still functioning automatic devices. He finds a pair of shipwrecked humans from a space-bound branch of mankind. Their technological civilization has suppressed sexual reproduction and sexual organs. The child eats the radioactive brains of giant vertebrated mutant earth octopuses and becomes more intelligent. He teaches himself reading and the rest of the ruined technology and evolves into a superior species of Homo.