20,000 Leagues Under The Sea

Professor Aronnax joins a hunt for a sea monster and ends up a guest, then a prisoner, aboard the Nautilus, the submarine commanded by the unexplained Captain Nemo. Jules Verne mixes adventure with the science of his day, pausing the voyage to catalogue marine life, describe the workings of the vessel and chart the routes it takes beneath the oceans. The tension comes less from pursuit than from Nemo himself, a man who has turned his back on the surface world for reasons the narrator can only guess at. Written in the 1860s, the novel anticipated much of what later submarine travel made ordinary. Reasons readers return to it: • One of the founding works of science fiction, built on the engineering ideas of its century • Captain Nemo, whose motives stay ambiguous almost to the last page • Detailed descriptions of undersea landscapes, species and salvage • An adventure plot that carries younger and adult readers equally well A solid pick for fans of classic adventure, science fiction readers and school libraries, available at Boipoka.