Product Description
Translation of Les Indes-Noirs ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Don't Buy This Edition!
This is a poorly formatted edition of the public domain translation available several places on the internet.This translation was heavily edited for the english language edition by Verne's publisher.For a new translation from the original french version, containing three more chapters, try ISBN 1-84282-080-x.It is more enjoyable reading.

Typical Verne
I would like to start off by applauding Amazon and the publisher for printing this relatively obscure title. A reader looking for the mainstream works by Verne has multiple options - those of us who want to read a larger selection of his works ...must search!

"The Underground City" is a relatively short but entertaining novel. The first 100 pages read very fast - and reminded me strongly of "Journey to the Center of the Earth". The final 80 pages were a little more hoo-hum... and I was left disappointed in the ending. In fact, the novel was a little disjointed - and I wondered if this was one of the woks that was finished by Verne's son after his death (Which I still do not know).

Some reveiwers find the story unrealistic... well that is to be expected by Verne. While many think of his works as "Science Fiction" I think they have moved to the genre of fantasy. Verne transports you to a time and place where science was seen as having limitless possibilities... now in the 21st century we better understand what is possible and what is just our imagination.

"The Underground City" is a typical work by Verne. Certainly not his greatest work - it really doesn't compare to "The Mysterious Island". Yet, most fans will be satisified that they were able to find and read something that is just "typical" Verne.

A good book that no one's heard of
The story line is a little far-fetched, but somewhat plausible.It is a fun book to read.The characters are fun to read and the plot is pretty good, too.Not the best book in the world, but worth reading if you're bored some winter day.

Not To Bad
This was a well written novel. It started a little slow and the author gets a little long winded in spots but overall it was an excellent read. If your looking for a good bok, this one has the hero, the heorin, the bad guy, the whole nine yards. The only thing that disappointed me, it was far fetched, which all sci-fi is but i really wouldn't categorized this as a science fiction book. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Great source for new French paperbacks
The book was delivered promptly in perfect condition (it was new).If I need more French paperbacks I'll definitely look here first.Thanks! ... Read more

Product Description
Jules Verne, one of the founding fathers of science fiction, was the author of such thrilling and perennial favorites as Around the World in Eighty Days, Journey to the Center of the Earth, and Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, as well as more than sixty other novels of adventure and exploration. One hundred years after his death, this magnificent new collection celebrates Verne’s amazing vision. A host of today’s top science fiction authors pay homage to Verne’s genius with a series of stories inspired by his groundbreaking imagination and original characters. In this anthology are extraordinary voyages of discovery and adventure from the four corners of the globe, and even within it. Following the tradition of Verne’s original tales, Ian Watson tells of a journey deep into the center of the Earth, where Verne himself does battle with occultist Nazis, and Adam Roberts takes us to latter-day California, where a descendant of Verne’s character Hector Servadac is preparing for the end of the world as we know it. These and many more compelling adventures add up to an anthology that will introduce a new generation to the wonder of Jules Verne and delight readers already familiar with the master. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Just So-So
This was a fine idea that didn't pan out so well. The stories are all pulled from some part of Jules Verne's works, but for the most part are themselves boring, the exception being the ones about Captain Nemo. Spend your hard-earned money on something more worthy.

High Quality Homages to Jules Verne
I've decided to treat myself to only one of these a week after reading the first 4 this weekend.Who knows if we'll ever get new Verne stories again by authors of this caliber.(The editorial review doesn't do justice to the contributors. Check the table of contents scan.)Each story deserves to be savored fully.The first four are each very different - one's even a parody of Paris in the 20th Century - reflecting the various strengths and tastes of the authors; but, at the same time, you feel that you are reading Verne himself somehow.Even the parody! ... Read more

Product Description
Product Details * Pub. Date: August 2010 * Publisher: Sterling Publishing * Format: Hardcover, 1196pp * Sales Rank: 5,822 * Series: Leatherbound Classics Series, # * ISBN-13: 9781435122956 * ISBN: 143512295X ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Excellent collection!
This book contains the best translations of "The Clipper of the Clouds" and "Around the World in 80 Days". It includes all of the original illustrations, unlike most books, which olny have a few. The one flaw of this book is that it has an inferior translation of "Journey to the Center of the Earth" (but it does have the original illustrations). It is easily worth the money. ... Read more

Product Description
A new translation of one of the world's greatest adventure Stories

Originally published in 1864, this Jules Verne classic has wowed generations of readers with its portrayal of an imaginary odyssey into a subterranean wonderland. When Axel deciphers an old parchment describing a secret passage through a volcano to the center of the earth, nothing will stop his eccentric Uncle Lidenbrock from setting out at once. With silent Hans as guide, the two men encounter natural hazards, prehistoric beasts, and other curiosities on their perilous, astonishing, terrifying trek through the underworld. ... Read more

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Product Description
Axel and his uncle find a note that describes a path to Earths center!The men climb deep inside a volcano and discover amazing wonders.They also run into danger, which could trap them below the surface forever. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Practice your Spanish with volcanoes and dinosaurs
I've been listening to audio books to practice my Spanish for a while now, and I've always found Fonolibro's CDs to have great voice acting and narration.My only complaint with this one is that it was rather short (only 2 CDs, from a 250 page book), and a lot of good episodes from the book were cut.Still, if you want a simple way to practice your Spanish and listen to a classic story in the process, this is a great place to start.

Un Libro de Julio Vernes
Un Clásico de Julio Vernes. Una novela que se tiene que leer

Sciencie and romanticism walking each other's hand
It's 8 years now since I first read the book. Since then i've reread it once more. What can i say about the book? it's enthralling, daring, imaginative in its vocabulary and many things more. I'm keen of adventurebooks but when you add exotic landscapes to accurate data you make amasterpiece. You may think the book does not deserve its 5 stars but justread the story and tell me 'du ecrivain français'.Bye ... Read more

Product Description
Un extrait:

"...«Qu'y a-t-il? s'écrie mon oncle. Avons-nous touché?»

Hans montre du doigt, à une distance de deux cents toises, une masse noirâtre qui s'élève et s'abaisse tour à tour. Je regarde et je m'écrie:

«C'est un marsouin colossal!

--Oui, réplique mon oncle, et voilà maintenant un lézard de mer d'une grosseur peu commune.

--Et plus loin un crocodile monstrueux! Voyez sa large mâchoire et les rangées de dents dont elle est armée. Ah! il disparaît!

--Une baleine! une baleine! s'écrie alors le professeur. J'aperçois ses nageoires énormes! Vois l'air et l'eau qu'elle chasse par ses évents!»

En effet, deux colonnes liquides s'élèvent à une hauteur considérable au-dessus de la mer. Nous restons surpris, stupéfaits, épouvantés, en présence de ce troupeau de monstres marins. Ils ont des dimensions surnaturelles, et le moindre d'entre eux briserait le radeau d'un coup de dent. Hans veut mettre la barre au vent, afin de fuir ce voisinage dangereux; mais il aperçoit sur l'autre bord d'autres ennemis non moins redoutables: une tortue large de quarante pieds, et un serpent long de trente, qui darde sa tête énorme au-dessus des flots.

Impossible de fuir. Ces reptiles s'approchent; ils tournent autour du radeau avec une rapidité que des convois lancés à grande vitesse ne sauraient égaler; ils tracent autour de lui des cercles concentriques. J'ai pris ma carabine. Mais quel effet peut produire une balle sur les écailles dont le corps de ces animaux est recouvert?

Nous sommes muets d'effroi. Les voici qui s'approchent! D'un côté le crocodile, de l'autre le serpent. Le reste du troupeau marin a disparu. Je vais faire feu. Hans m'arrête d'un signe. Les deux monstres passent à cinquante toises du radeau, se précipitent l'un sur l'autre, et leur fureur les empêche de nous apercevoir. Le combat s'engage à cent toises du radeau. Nous voyons distinctement les deux monstres aux prises..."
... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Kindle Vernian
Really good Kindle edition, beautiful illustrations . I would like to buy the whole Verne Books Collection with this quality ! J attends avec impatience d autre romans de Jules Verne dans la meme edition electronique ;-) ... Read more

Product Description
The book tells the adventures of five American prisoners of war on an uncharted island in the South Pacific. Begining in the American Civil War, as famine and death ravage the city of Richmond, Virginia, five northern POWs decide to escape in a rather unusual way – by hijacking a balloon! This is only the beginning of their adventures...
... Read more

Product Description
Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea (French: Vingt mille lieues sous les mers) is a classic science fiction novel by French writer Jules Verne published in 1870. It tells the story of Captain Nemo and his submarine Nautilus as seen from the perspective of Professor Pierre Aronnax. The first illustrated edition (not the original edition which had no illustrations) was published by Hetzel and contains a number of illustrations by Alphonse de Neuville and Édouard Riou. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Bad Printing Choices
I am not commenting on Jules Verne's writing, but rather the format of this particular edition.From the outside, this edition is very nice; as other reviewers have noted, it's great to have the map on the front cover.However, the print inside the book is VERY small. I'm not sure what the publisher was thinking; I've never seen a published book with type this tiny before.The pages are also larger than the average paperback, and the combination of big pages and tiny type gives me an instant headache.Avoid eye strain and buy another edition.

Twenty Thousand Leagues
A mysterious creature is haunting the seas, and Professor Aronnax is determined to discover the origins of the beast. However, the encounter brings more than he ever expected, as he is captured by the strange and withdrawn captain of a submarine ship and whirled around the world's oceans. The aquatic wonders he experiences thrill his academic soul, while the actions and motivations of his host leave him questioning both the individual and civilizations at large.

Verne's underwater adventure is the latest novel I have read to my toddler at bedtime, and is far from my favorite. As we finished the third Verne novel we have approached I found myself lamenting a brilliant story bogged down by careless prose; I found that the language was flat and uninspired, and the sentence structure was unbelievably choppy. The failings of the writing itself took away from what would otherwise have been a book full of wonders, and I believe we will leave Verne buried once and for all.

very nice version
This book looks very nice, it is great to have the whole map on the cover so you can actually follow the travels. I really liked the book, very nice version.

great version!
This is a great copy of Jule Vern's 20000 Leagues und the Sea, it has a nicecover that shows the route of Nemo's Nautilus on it and is easy to read, the font is perfect. Great copy!

very nice copy
This version is Verne's original and it is the best. I love the book! Also it is nicely done, easy to read and I think probably the best version out there. ... Read more

Product Description
French naturalist Professor Aronnax has joined a task force to rid the seas of a monster that is terrorizing shipping lanes. But the Professor’s mission takes an unexpected turn when he falls overboard – to be rescued by a submarine called Nautilus, built by the mysterious Captain Nemo. At first this new journey is exciting, as Nemo takes Aronnax on an adventure through underwater marvels, but soon he realizes that his host’s motives may be more sinister than he realized. This triumphant work of the imagination shows the limitless possibilities of science and the dark depths of the human mind. ... Read more

Product Description

A group of men set sail to solve the mystery of a sea monster in this amazing underwater adventure.

• A concise introduction that gives readers important background information

• A chronology of the author's life and work

• A timeline of significant events that provides the book's historical context

• An outline of key themes and plot points to help readers form their own interpretations

• Detailed explanatory notes

• Critical analysis, including contemporary and modern perspectives on the work

• Discussion questions to promote lively classroom and book group interaction

• A list of recommended related books and films to broaden the reader's experience

Customer Reviews (4)

The Almost Perfect Book I Have Ever Read!!!!
This book is about a detective name Nemo.He is at an underwater submerine,and they used a lot of math.They are trying to capture a realy long seamonster.The rest I won't tell.

The things that I like about this book is everything,some you'll hate.

The things that I hate about this book is that yhe ending wasn't the best thing for me,but I think you'll love it.Also the math part I don't like it only if you like the math part.

This book was is the great adventure\underwater detective book. I wish that They would make a movie out of it.THIS BOOK YOU'LL LOVE!!!!
I hope you will ENJOY this book!!!!!!!!!!

This Version of a Great Story is Garbage
Shameful. To use a widely discredited translation when better, more accurate translations exist, and to have such horrendous errors in the notes is just shameful. There is absolutely no reason to reprint a discredited translation that is full of outrageous errors and huge omissions, and which "enriches" the text with completely erroneous notes. Abysmal. This butchered version of a great story deserves a negative five star rating. No school should purchase this edition. No library should have it on its shelves. And no individual should waste their hard earned money on this when better editions already exist, and when better editions can be easily and readily reprinted by the publisher, Simon & Schuster, Inc.

DO NOT BUY THIS BOOK. _Much_ better editions exist. Read the excellent reviews below by J. M. Margot and F. P. Walter to discover what editions you should be looking for.

And if you are a fan of Verne, or just a fan of quality publishing, please write Simon & Schuster, Inc., and tell them to replace this absolutely abysmal edition(especially since they have access to better translations):

Jack Romanos President and CEO
Simon & Schuster, Inc.
1230 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10020
Phone: 212-698-7000
Fax: 212-698-7099

Don't buy this book!
If you're going to read one of the great classics of literature-and you should-don't pick up this edition. It is a reprint of a version that dates back to the 1870s and was exposed more than 40 years ago for cutting nearly one-quarter of Verne's story and mistranslating much of the remainder. Its reappearance in this edition is all the more amazing considering Tor's status as a leading science fiction publisher, and the company's willingness to perpetrate this fraud on is many readers is truly stunning. If you want to truly get to know Verne's novel, pick up the elegant Naval Institute Press edition, in a modern, complete, updated translation, with commentary by the leading American Verne expert today, Walter James Miller. That book also comes with many of the artistic engravings that illustrated the original French first edition (no illustrations are to be found in the B&N Mercier reprint). Less attractive but more academic is the Oxford Classics version of Twenty Thousand Leagues. This review is posted on behalf of the North American Jules Verne Society by Jean-Michel Margot, president NAJVS.

DREADFUL TRANSLATION, UNRELIABLE NOTES
A sorry example of the laziness and irresponsibility of many trade editors today -- and it's especially shameful in a publication targeted to students and youngsters.

First, the basic text is dreadful: though unidentified, it's the long-discredited translation signed by "Mercier Lewis" and rushed into print in 1872 by the London firm of Sampson, Low. As modern scholars have documented on numerous occasions, Verne's original French was politically censored, drastically abridged, couched in stilted Victorian prose, and riddled with hundreds of inane translating errors. Its clunky, antiquated English is something no American student could possibly enjoy ("I own my heart beat," says the narrator, who actually means, "I admit my heart was pounding"). As for the translating blunders, some are asinine beyond belief -- Verne's characters start a fire with a lentil (Verne: lens) . . . loosen bolts with a key (Verne: wrench) . . . and claim iron is lighter than water (Verne: the opposite, of course).

Are these obscure facts? Anything but. Over the past four decades, this translation's inadequacy has been bemoaned repeatedly in basic reference works (Taves & Michaluk's JULES VERNE ENCYCLOPEDIA), online (the Jules Verne Forum at http://jv.gilead.org.il/forum/), and in readily available MODERN translations of this novel (e.g., the paperback editions from Signet, Oxford, and the U.S. Naval Institute). What's more, not only has Simon & Schuster's current editorial staff shirked the most rudimentary homework, they're apparently too lazy even to double-check their OWN publishing files: as long ago as 1966, S & S issued a revised edition of the Mercier Lewis translation; they hired NYU expert Walter James Miller to correct and reword Lewis's text -- which, in a specially written preface, Miller denounced as a "botched up translation . . . slashed and slapdash." Lewis's renderings, he said, "bristle with technical errors and omit whole passages vital to the technical integrity, the character development, even the humor of the story."

In short, Simon & Schuster could easily have reprinted their own 1966 version, not ideal but vastly better than Lewis's original. Or, alternatively, they could have reprinted either of the other two English translations in the public domain, both superior in accuracy and completeness. But, these days, indolence and ignorance apparently rule in the halls of S & S.

So, though this Enriched Classics series boasts on its back covers about its "practical scholarship," the said scholarship, not surprisingly, often works out to be dismally unreliable. The "helpful notes" and "insightful commentary" can range from the useless to the ridiculous. On p. 425, the explanatory notes can only tell us that such sea creatures as tubipores, gorgones, and spondyles are "various kinds of marine life." Big help. (They're corals, sea fans, and oysters, folks.) On the other hand, when the notes attempt more, they're often worse: on p. 426, for instance, I was amazed to learn that porphitae and asterophytons are "igneous outcrops." Nooo!!! These aren't rocks, people, they're animals! (Jellyfish and starfish, for Lord's sake.)

If you're as astonished as I am that such bluff and nonsense is being palmed off on our kids as "scholarship," write S & S this week.

Meantime, what edition of 20,000 LEAGUES should you acquire? First, in addition to this Enriched Classics version, also avoid those other student editions (!) published by Scholastic, Tor, and Apple -- they don't identify it either, but they all blindly reprint this same hopeless 1872 Mercier Lewis translation. Fortunately, however, there are four sound paperback texts of 20,000 LEAGUES, all readily available, all immeasurably superior in accuracy, completeness, and readablility. For general readers the Bonner (Bantam) andBrunetti (Signet) translations are both worthwhile. For readers wanting an annotated edition, there are two good ones: Butcher's (Oxford), which is strong on the novel's genesis and manuscript record, and Miller's own illustrated retranslation (U.S. Naval Institute), which is strong on the marine biology -- and on which I myself collaborated. All are competitively priced, so there's no need to settle for something inferior.

By the way, the above-cited deficiencies may well be typical of this Enriched Classics collection as a whole -- I note that their edition of Dumas' MONTE CRISTO also features a seriously inadequate text. Students, parents, and teachers are warned to proceed with caution vis-à-vis the entire series.


... Read more

Product Description
A group of boys find themselves adrift at sea, and after a terrible storm they are cast upon a deserted island, where they must learn to get along together to survive. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Review
This book is a clear respite from today's highly technological and impersonal life, taking you back to the 1800's.

Lost In Adrift Titles--Yet Jugo Shonen Hyouryuki Worked
The adventure story of 15 boys of different country origins took the heart of Japanese young people and lots of dramas, movies, comics based upon this story had been created in Japan and the love for this adventure would never seem to fade. What made this obscure Verne story into one of the most well known Verne classic in Japan is the title of the translation from English version "Adrift In The Pacific"

Coined as "Jugo Shonen Hyouryuuki(The adventure of fifteen boys adrift at sea)" this story was made distinctive, which made its original title from French original "Two Years Vacation" left forgotten.

The story line is very simple, 15 boys accidentally adrift in the huge boat find an uninhabited island and create their miniature world community thereupon with fights though with lesser degree than adults and final dramatic discovery of Patagonian coast which eventually rescue themselves. It is no doubt no less exciting than famous Verne classics such as "Around The World In Eighty Days" "Journey To The Center Of The World" and "20,000 leagues Under The Sea".

Highly recommended if you like Tom Sawyer styled adventure stories.

Not just a "child's version of Mysterious Island"
I know best the title of this book as "A Long Vacation".In English,
other variants are "Boy Castaways", "Two Year Holiday", "Two
Year's Vacation", "A Two Years' Vacation","Adrift in the Pacific", etc.
The "Adrift" part is misleading, since most of the book the boys are
actually on land.I have also heard of this book being published in
two volumes: #1 Adrift in the Pacific, and #2 Two Year's Holiday.
In any case the story is about a group of boys on a ship that has
drifted away from her dock and they are blown across the globe to an island
off South America.Unlike Mysterious Island, there is no Civil War,
no adults, no scientist like Cyrus Harding, etc. so there are many
more differences than similarities.As usual Verne anticipates
the future with things like para-sailing.A very good, exciting story.
Compare it to Golding's "Lord of the Flies". ... Read more

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Product Description
"It was seen first in North Carolina, or something was, smoking up from a mountain crater.With blinding speed, it roared past cars on a Pennsylvania road.It skimmed the Atlantic, thenat the flick of its captain's willdove beneath the waves...It was the "Terror"...ship, sub, plane, and land vehicle in one and a letter from its inventor claimed that with it, he would rule the world." Long recognized as a truly prophetic science fiction classic, this exciting adventure was also Verne's last novel. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Above and Beyond Humanity!
This 127-page novella presents another scientific genius gone amuck--like Dr. Moreau or Dr. Jekyll. The 19th century placed implicit faith in Science and the reasoning power of the human
brain.Yet by the end of the 1800's France's leading exponent of sci fi literature was beginning to question man's ability to make proper use of the inventions of his fertile mind: to benefit--not harm or enslave--his fellow men.Choosing to make his protagonist an American, JV sets the entire story in the New World--perhaps a tribute to Yankee ingenuity.Yet discerning readers will detect inevitable hints of his Gallic predilection.

John Strock of the not yet so-called FBI is assigned by its director to investigate strange and frightening circumstances at the Great Eyrie--an inaccessible basin (or volcanic crater?) in the remote Blue Ridge Montains of North Carolina.(European readers would be well advised to consult an atlas of the USA, to better follow the various chase scenes.)Inexplicable phenomena are reported in other regions of the alarmed country--both on land and on sea.Some arrogant scientst has invented a four-way transforming vehicle with which he plans to rule the world and even challenge the elements.Can no one prevent this self-proclaimed Master of the World from carrying out his inhumane threats?From Man of the Hour he is quickly relegated to Public Enemy #1, becoming the object and focus of intense federal investigation.Curious, determined and dedicated to the safety of the public, John Strock and associates are ready to pursue him--on, over or under the continent. If the devil did not exist, would man find it necessary to invent him?This story is a shade dark, but reads well enough until the last third of the book, where there is practically no dialogue.Still, an interesting tale, reflecting the author's disillusion with the the world. Captain Nemo carried to extreme.

Time Has Killed This Book
This book might have been exciting back in the day it was written, but given the context of our modern world, it's a complete bore. Written in a dry, matter-of-fact style that kills all the excitement & adventure, the wonder & mystery is ruined by modern technology as well as by the style of writing. The idea of a car, boat & plane is nothing to the modern imagination, but must have been a big deal back when the book was written. Maybe it was a great book a hundred or so years ago, but now it's just a snooze-fest.

The master does it again!
Verne has done it again! Once again Robur takes to the skies in a new shipthe "Terror". Except this time his conquest of the elementscovers them all. Water(both above and below the waves),Land(racing acrossthe land at 100s of miles an hour), and the skies(soaring with the agilityof the birds). Mr. Stock, a goverment ageant investigating a strangeoccurence in the mountains, is accidently pulled aboard the Terror and seesthe true genius and maddness of Robur. In the end the very elements Robursought to conquer destroy him. Showing that only nature can stop the"Master of the World".

One of Verne's best novels.
This book is nothing like the movie with Vincent Price, which is actually a strange combination of both "Master of the World" and "Clipper of the Clouds".The story mainly follows the adventures of U.S. secret agent John Stark as he tries to solve the strange appearances of a fantasy craft along the eastern American seaboard.Robur doesn't make an appearance until the last quarter of the book, but its an exciting read.The chase across Lake Ontario and Robur's escape over Niagara Falls is one of the most memorable scenes from the book. The Terror definately stands out as one of the best of Verne's incredible machines since the Nautilus.

A Challenge to the World from the ultimate ATV
Verne's "Master of the World" is usually published with its prequel "Robur, the Conquerer" as part 1 of the book.In "Robur, the Conquerer" we meet the engineer Robur who has built the great aeronef "Albatross" which he proposes to use to destroy all fighting ships and machines in the world, thus ending once and for all the scourge of war.He kidnaps Mr. Prudent, a weapons maker from Philadelphia, his son-in-law and principle antagonist in their mutual desire to build the ultimate ballon, and Mr. Brock, an American agent, who accompany him on his tour of the world but who ultimately bring about his downfall. In "Master of the World", Robur returns at the helm of the amazing all-terrain vehicle, the "Terror", once again preparing to try to end war and assuming upon himself the title of "Master of the World".The Terror can zoom at great speeds across land or water, submerge like a submarine, or soar into the air on a pair of retractable rotors.This effort, too, comes to naught, but as we progress we see more of the genius and pain of Robur. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (1)

The Gold in Verne's Meteor Finally Mined


The Meteor Hunt, a translation of La Chasse au météore, is a work of the foremost literary importance, both within and outside its genre.This is one of the best Verne translations I have read (in over nearly forty years of reading Verne), filled with idioms vividly conveyed in a modern manner that reveals the experience of the team of noted Verne translators Frederick Paul Walter and Walter James Miller, the dean of American Verne translators.As the first critical English-language edition of an original version of Jules Verne's posthumously published novels, and as science fiction, The Meteor Hunt is one of the most significant publications of its type.

There are two major misconceptions about Verne's later works.First, that they demonstrated a slackening imagination and literary ability, and second that they reveal a distrust of science which is distinct from the optimistic tone of his earlier, more famous books.Verne's later books, without the editorial guidance (and censorship) of his mentor, publisher Pierre-Jules Hetzel, are more slender and tightly plotted, devoid of extraneous matter.Verne's focus is stronger, and The Meteor Hunt demonstrates this with its continual tracing of the meteor's human effects, with only minor subplots that enhance the primary narrative.

The Meteor Hunt is revelatory of Verne's view of the United States, the capstone of a series of stories using an American setting or persons.The tone is light, the characterizations memorable, full of sharp wit and delicate irony, with the whole perfectly plotted.The Meteor Hunt also displays a warm cynicism, gently chiding the amateur scientists, the American competitiveness they represent, and the greed first for glory, then for gold that is a basic element of human nature.

The tension mounts as the two astronomers, simultaneously discovering the meteor, become antagonists, spreading the conflict to their families, ultimately igniting the partisan press and leading to an international rivalry.With the realization that the meteor is composed of gold, and descending in its orbit around the Earth, their own feud over its ownership is reflected in larger terms against the backdrop of the possible global economic ramifications.Verne was aware that any meteor of gold would have melted in the atmosphere, given the low temperature at which gold becomes liquid, but scientific accuracy was not the purpose.As international conferences struggle to resolve the matter ineffectually, Verne carries his satire to a new level, with a global indictment of competing national interests over an extra-terrestrial object.

Previously, La Chasse au météore had only been available in translations from a version rewritten by Verne's son, Michel, variously entitled in English The Chase of the Golden Meteor (first published contemporaneously with the French edition in 1909) and The Hunt for the Meteor (published in 1965).The Meteor Hunt is unique among the original editions of the posthumous novels in that the reader can easily access a translation of the alternate text that Michel wrote:The Chase of the Golden Meteor was reprinted in 1998 by the very same press that is now publishing The Meteor Hunt, but without noting the issue of authorship (see my review under that title).From a literary standpoint, The Meteor Hunt is superior, especially for its translation and critical notes.Nonetheless, many readers, especially science fiction enthusiasts, will be curious to read the other edition.In this way the differences between the two texts may be explored and readers may decide for themselves on the respective merits of the two Vernes, father and son.

Michel makes his most substantial intervention in the novel by changing its genre from what might be most appropriately called speculative fiction into outright science fiction.While his father's forecasts were usually limited to what could be extrapolated from the known science of the day, Michel went considerably beyond these confining bounds of probability.While lacking the effortless simplicity of his father's expression, Michel deepens his father's themes, adding to the melodrama.

The Meteor Hunt is the first in a projected series of four Jules Verne books from the University of Nebraska Press that were previously translated only in the versions modified by Michel, using manuscripts that were discovered in the 1970s.The Meteor Hunt was translated from one of the seven posthumously published Verne novels that were guided into print by Michel.For many years, the Verne family argued that Michel's changes did not go beyond stylistic polishing, updating, or possible verbal instructions from father to son; indeed the two had already collaborated during the father's lifetime.Whatever the reason or motive, Michel altered all the works posthumously published under his father's name, in both minor and major ways, even originating two of the books himself.Subsequently, Michel carried forward his rewriting of his father's stories by adapting them to the screen as a movie producer.The story of Jules and Michel and their collaboration, both together and after the father's death, is a saga of science fiction authorship that is only beginning to be told, and The Meteor Hunt and the University of Nebraska Press series do much to bring it to light for readers.
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Product Description
Guy Davenport - regarded by the "New York Times" "one of our most gifted and versatile men of letters" - has produced in this collection of stories a remarkably harmonious synthesis of subjects and forms. Melding history, biography, botany, political theory, geology, and other interests, Davenport creates fictions that are complex but unified, mature, balanced, and resolved. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Three angels, or daimons, or maybe neutrinos
Three angels, or "daimons," or maybe neutrinos--who may also have been the Three Wise Men--"drop" into several of these stories via their steam balloon, the Jules Verne.They bring messages from the "Consiliarii," but who are they?A council of heavenly spirits?The Force?A code name for God?And what might their message be?Could it be as simple as "All you need is love"?Maybe.Davenport ranges from ancient Greece to a somewhat contemporary Denmark; from Christian theology and ancient philosophy to pubescent phallocentrism and drug overdose."The Jules Verne Steam Balloon" is perplexing and enlightening, humorous and melancholy, and vibrant with life and the joy of living it.These stories move as only Davenport's fiction does, as full of "fact" as of "fiction," as full of life in the body and in the world as of philosophical discourse and natural science.And--oh,yes! be warned--accompanied by much doffing of undergarments. ... Read more