Early Classics Of Science Fiction
8 total works
This conclusion to the spellbinding adventures of Captain Nemo and his submarine, Nautilus, features text now reset in the original typeface and illustrations newly reproduced from the original canvases. Full-color and black-and-white illustrations."
"Citizens of the United States! My name is Robur. I am worthy of the name! I am forty years old, although I look but thirty, and I have a constitution of iron, a healthy vigor that nothing can shake, a muscular strength that few can equal, and a digestion that would be thought first class even in an ostrich!" Jules Verne's classic "Robur the Conqueror" originally published in 1886. A true literary gem.
The work raises a host of concerns - environmental, cultural, and political. In the story the proposed sea threatens the nomadic way of life of those Islamic tribes living on the site, and they declare war.
"Such, gentlemen, is my secret. It is simple, and, like most simple things, it cannot fail to succeed. The dilation and contraction of the gas in the balloon is my means of locomotion, which calls for neither cumbersome wings, nor any other mechanical motor. A calorifere to produce the changes of temperature, and a cylinder to generate the heat, are neither inconvenient nor heavy. I think, therefore, that I have combined all the elements of success." Jules Verne's classic "Five Weeks in a Balloon" originally published in 1863. A true literary gem.
Castaways on a barren island in the South Seas, Karl and Pieter Kip are rescued by the brig James Cook. After helping to quell an onboard mutiny, however, they suddenly find themselves accused and convicted of the captain's murder. In this story, one of his last Voyages Extraordinaires, Verne interweaves an exciting exploration of the South Pacific with a tale of judicial error reminiscent of the infamous Dreyfus Affair. This Wesleyan edition brings together the first English translation with one of the first detailed critical analyses of the novel, and features all the illustrations from the original 1902 publication.
Jules Verne (1828-1905) was the first author to popularize the literary genre of science fiction. Written in 1898 and part of the author's famous series Voyages Extraordinaires, The Mighty Orinoco tells the story of a young man's search for his father along the then-uncharted Orinoco River of Venezuela. The text contains all the ingredients of a classic Verne scientific-adventure tale: exploration and discovery, humor and drama, dastardly villains and intrepid heroes, and a host of near-fatal encounters with crocodiles, jungle fever, Indians and outlaws - all set in a wonderfully exotic locale. The Mighty Orinoco also includes a unique twist that will appeal to feminists - readers will need to discover it for themselves. This Wesleyan edition features notes, and a critical introduction by renowned Verne scholar Walter James Miller, as well as reproductions of the illustrations from the original French edition.
CONTRIBUTORS: Walter James Miller, Stanford Luce, Arthur B. Evans.
CONTRIBUTORS: Walter James Miller, Stanford Luce, Arthur B. Evans.
When two European scientists unexpectedly inherit an Indian rajah's fortune, each builds an experimental city of his dreams in the wilds of the American Northwest. France-Ville is a harmonious urban community devoted to health and hygiene, the specialty of its French founder, Dr. Francois Sarrasin. Stahlstadt, or City of Steel, is a fortress-like factory town devoted to the manufacture of high-tech weapons of war. Its German creator, the fanatically pro-Aryan Herr Schultze, is Verne's first truly evil scientist. In his quest for world domination and racial supremacy, Schultze decides to showcase his deadly wares by destroying France-Ville and all its inhabitants. Both prescient and cautionary, The Begum's Millions is a masterpiece of scientific and political speculation and constitutes one of the earliest technological utopia/dystopias in Western literature. This Wesleyan edition features notes, appendices, and a critical introduction as well as all the illustrations from the original French edition.
Nine students from London's Antillean School receive travel scholarships to visit their island homelands in the Caribbean. Accompanied by their eccentric Latin professor, they set sail on what they expect to be a thrilling educational voyage. Little do they realize that, prior to their arrival on board, their ship had been hijacked by escaped convicts who murdered its original captain and crew. This is the only novel by the legendary Jules Verne that has never been available in English until now. Although ostensibly written for an adolescent audience, its suspense-filled plot, sophisticated narrative style, and critique of European colonialism make it an engrossing read for all ages.