The Count of Chanteleine: A Tale of the French Revolution by Jules Verne

A book by a renowned French author known for his adventure and science fiction novels. This lesser-known work by Verne was published in 1864 and is set against the backdrop of the French Revolution, is a hidden gem.

The story follows the character of the Count of Chanteleine, a nobleman who finds himself torn between his loyalty to the monarchy and his sense of duty to the revolutionary cause. As the French Revolution unfolds and political tensions rise, the Count is faced with difficult choices that will test his principles and beliefs.

The novel explores themes of loyalty, honour, and the impact of historical events on individual lives. While "The Count of Chanteleine" is not as well-known as some of Verne's other works, it provides a fascinating glimpse into a turbulent period of French history and offers insight into the complexities of human nature during times of upheaval.

Verne paints a vivid picture of the Count's struggle.  The Count grapples with weighty decisions, his principles and beliefs constantly tested.  This introspective journey explores profound themes:

-Loyalty: Can the Count reconcile his duty to the crown with the ideals of the revolution?

-Honor: Where does one's true honour lie – in upholding tradition or embracing change?

-The Human Cost of History: How do grand historical movements impact the lives of ordinary people, like the Count and his family?

The Survivors of the Chancellor by Jules Verner

Mr. Kazallon thought that booking passage on a cargo ship from Charleston to Liverpool would be a charming way to return to his English homeland. If only he knew! A crazed sea captain, a disaster in the hold, storms, oppressive heat, sharks and starvation are just some of the many travails that will beset both passengers and crew. Will any of them survive the wreck of the Chancellor?

This book takes away the desire to be a shipwreck, it describes one misfortune after another, when I finished the book I felt exhausted

As an interesting note

In season four of the TV series Lost, a minor character named Regina is shown reading The Survivors of the Chancellor.

In the movie Hawaii, Eugenio gives Martin a Spanish translation of the book, “El Chancellor” to read.

The Underground City por Jules Verne

 How can humans survive and prosper 1,500 feet below the earth's surface? Jules Verne successfully weaves a dark yet magnificent story into this equally dark world. The story takes place in a revived and now prosperous coal mine. Amazingly, life in the mine has everything that one desires, including a lake, fish and attractive homes. Yet there lurks an evil presence. Unexplainable, malicious, and life-threatening occurrences begin. But why? The evil force could destroy the underground world and everyone in it!

Master of the World

Original Title: Maitre du Monde

Narrative form: Novelist.

Author Name: Jules Verne.

Publisher: Edibook

Year of the edition: 1998

Year of reading: 2007

Additional Information:

-This is the second part of the book Robur the Conqueror.

-This novel was written in the most pessimistic and dark phase of July

Summary of the work:

The plot in the novel (oddly too brief, compared to any other) concerns the strange appearances of a mysterious craft, both as a high-speed vehicle on land and as a ship or even a flying craft, throughout the United States and the fruitless efforts of the police to stop it in order to interrogate its inventor and thus find out the means by which he has achieved such an advance.

After several futile attempts to approach the mysterious ship and its secrets, a police inspector, Stroke, manages to be kidnapped by his crew, who turn out to be led by the American engineer Robur, the same one who appeared years earlier at one of the meetings. of the "Weldon Institute" in Philadelphia (in the novel "Robur the Conqueror").

Robur the Conqueror

 Title of the work: Robur the conqueror

Original title: Robur-le-Conquérant

Narrative form: Novel

Author Name: Jules Verne

Publisher: R. B. A Coleccionadles S. A

Year of the edition: 2003

Genre: Fantasy

Year of reading: 2007

Additional Information:

-Make sure you have the version that has both parts, you save it if you have 18 chapters in total.

-You have to read Owners of the world, which would be the second part of this book.

-Fun fact: Shortly after this book there was a wave of similar 1896-1897 aircraft throughout the United States, and one of them even collided with a windmill in Aurora, Texas in 1897.

Summary of the work:

The novel refers to the advances in air navigation of the time by presenting an American engineer (Robur) who, before the members of the Weldon Institute in Philadelphia, a society that advocates the use of aerostats, defends the use of aerial aircraft "heavier than the air".

After being mocked out, he kidnaps the president, the company's secretary, and their servant, and puts them on the ship he has built, thus demonstrating to them the efficacy, safety, and power of his invention. The ship is called "Albatross", after the sea bird that is capable of flying for a long time and traveling enormous distances.

Described as a ship with numerous masts, a powerful internal machine (probably electric) turns the propellers that crown them: the author describes a kind of helicopter. To prevent it from turning on itself in flight, use is made of propellers that rotate in the opposite direction. The entire ship has been created based on paper pulp glued and pressed at high pressure: in this way, it is light and fireproof at the same time. The Albatross travels to numerous places, from Paris to the Poles, going around the world.

Later, the Albatross is seen inside a hurricane from which she cannot escape and it ends up on Equis Island to fix the damage. The truth is that Uncle Prudent and Phil Evans come up with the idea of ​​lighting dynamite so that it explodes at night while they escape with the servant to the island. They succeed, and the Albatross explodes at 3,000 meters.

Instead, at the Weldon Institute they are very concerned about the disappearance. They finally discover from a note dropped from the sky by Uncle Prudent that Robur the Conqueror has kidnapped them. After many investigations they get nothing. But on the most unexpected day, the president and secretary of the Weldon Institute show up.