Invasion of the Sea
Ebook
First English edition of a classic Verne novel.
Jules Verne, celebrated French author of Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea and Around the World in 80 Days, wrote over 60 novels collected in the popular series "Voyages Extraordinaires." A handful of these have never been translated into English, including Invasion of the Sea, written in 1904 when large-scale canal digging was very much a part of the political, economic, and military strategy of the world's imperial powers.
Instead of linking two seas, as existing canals (the Suez and the Panama) did, Verne proposed a canal that would create a sea in the heart of the Sahara Desert. The story raises a host of concerns — environmental, cultural, and political. The proposed sea threatens the nomadic way of life of those Islamic tribes living on the site, and they declare war. The ensuing struggle is finally resolved only by a cataclysmic natural event. This Wesleyan edition features notes, appendices and an introduction by Verne scholar Arthur B. Evans, as well as reproductions of the illustrations from the original French edition.
"This 1904 volume capped Verne's remarkable career (he died in 1905). Writing at a time when many of the world's top powers were busy building canals to link major bodies of water, Verne goes a step further and weaves a tale of a sea being created in the Sahara desert. This first English translation also includes numerous illustrations, textual notes, and other nice extras. When it comes to vintage sf, Jules Rules!" —Library Journal, Classic Returns section
"The revival for the French father of science fiction . . . continues with the first English translation of this short novel, the last Verne published during his lifetime . . . Journalistic explorations of North Africa and wide-eyed discourse about technology are paced with action scenes . . . Clear, readable translation of a minor but prescient adventure novel, with useful annotations, a brief Verne biography, and 44 b&w illustrations from the original French edition." —Kirkus Reviews
"[A] ripping good yarn." —Harper's Magazine
"Mr. Verne's latest techno-thriller boldly confronts the menace of Islamic terrorism. He has topnotch chops in technical accuracy, with endearing dashes of broad humor and a keen eye for telling detail. Let me be the first to predict this: someday this French novelist will be known worldwide" —Bruce Sterling, author of Zeitgeist
- Title: Invasion of the Sea
- Authors: Jules Verne, Arthur B Evans, Edward Baxter
- Publisher: Wesleyan University Press
- Print Publication Date: 2022
- Logos Release Date: 2024
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Ebook
- ISBNs: 9780819574602, 9780819565587, 081956558X, 0819574600
- Resource ID: LLS:9780819574602
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2024-04-10T12:19:46Z
Jules Verne (1828 - 1905) was the first author to popularize the literary genre of science fiction. Laying a careful scientific foundation for his fantastic adventure stories, he forecast with remarkable accuracy many scientific achievements of the 20th century. He anticipated flights into outer space, submarines, helicopters, air conditioning, guided missiles, and motion pictures long before they were developed.
Edward Baxter is a contributor to The Jules Verne Encyclopedia (1996), and his previous translations include Verne's The Fur Country (1987).
Arthur B. Evans is Professor of French in the Modern Languages Department at DePauw University and Managing Editor of the scholarly journal Science Fiction Studies. He is the author of Jules Verne Rediscovered: Didacticism and the Scientific Novel (1988).