Contrary to what the title suggests, this is not a collection of hitherto unknown stories recently unearthed in the rubble of an Amienois urban renewal. No, these are new stories written by contemporary authors with a great respect and admiration for the God of science fiction. A good many of Jules Verne's novels and stories were constructed in a way that lent themselves to sequels, prequels, and continuations, and that is exactly what this collection entails, modern authors from Kevin J. Anderson to Liz Williams revisiting some of the better-known tales with sometimes chilling, sometimes side-splitting results.
         Though based on novels, these are short stories, and short stories being what they are, it is difficult to say anything at all about them without spoiling the plot. Nonetheless, when attempting a book review, one is rather obligated to say something about the material being reviewed, so let me try coming in through the back door.
         In a writing life spanning over forty years, Verne penned more than sixty novels of adventure and exploration that captivated the imagination of the Victorian world at the dawn of the Age of Science. Works such as Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea and Master of the World are revered by today's afficianados as icons of the steampunk genre, and without my current interest in steampunk, but Verne wasn't writing steampunk, nor even science fiction, really. He was writing speculative fiction based on what he saw being done in the world around him. He was maybe the first futurist.
         We know things today that Verne didn't know in the mid-1800s, and these authors use that hind-foresight (for want of a better term) to spectacular advantage. Over the course of twenty-three stories, Verne's heroes, and sometimes Verne himself, meet time-travelers, interdimensional mischief-makers, cross pens with Arthur Conon Doyle's, H. Rider Haggard's, and H. G. Wells' creations, and even engage with inter-war Nazis Journeying Through the Center of the Earth to attack England from below. You'll read of French Secret Agent Passepartout, keeping an eye on that nefarious Englishman, Phileas Fogg, and peruse the letters of Detective Fix, as he ineptly attempts to assuage the misgivings of his most put-upon fiance while he chases another incarnation of Fogg Around the World for Eighty Days. And if you ever wanted an alternative explanation for the origins of Watson, Moriarty, and the Holmes Brothers, this one outdoes anything the great knight Sir Doyle ever came up with.
         I fear I may have said too much already, but the mission is to pique your interest. If you have an interest in steampunk, sci-fi in general, or Verne in particular, this volume belongs in your collection. Certainly, in its 490 pages of text, there are spots where it drags, but they are few and far between, so if you still get a chill when you think of Nemo and the Nautilus, or Robur and the Albatross, this is the book for you. Just make sure you have a big block of reading time set aside before you start, because you aren't going to want to put it down!

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Created Jan 29, 2013 at 2:50pm • Submit your own review...