Invasion of the Sea [Hardcover]

Leading off Wesleyan's Early Classics of Science Fiction series, Verne's 1905 techno-thriller debuts in English, rendered by Baxter with supple decorum and reinforced by editor Arthur B. Evans's thorough scholarly notes, bibliography and Verne mini-biography. Inspired by the rage for canal-building obsessing the world's imperial powers around 1904, this novel draws on an aborted 1874 French proposal for an inland "Sahara Sea," which would have involved digging a 200-kilometer Suez-type canal through Tunisia into eastern Algeria. Verne's self-confessed passion for travel writings and geographical detail illuminate the then-current events that Verne shaped into his fiction, but his deluge of scientific facts engulfs the story's slim teen-oriented literary content. Verne also radically shifts point of view, from the Tuareg tribespeople, who vow holy war against the foreigners because they will lose their lands to the inundation, to a European engineering expedition and its French military escort. Verne sympathetically focuses on the soldiers' heroic canine companion, Ace-of-Hearts, before plunging into an unlikely deus ex machina, producing a disjointed yet predictable narrative with negligible development of character and motivation except for the delightful dog. Students of early SF will appreciate Evans's and Baxter's efforts in bringing Verne's late work to light, but general audiences may find themselves swamped by Verne's quicksand of geographic minutiae. (Jan.)Forecast: Evans speculates that this last Verne novel wasn't translated earlier for political reasons as well as on account of tough competition from H.G. Wells's more sensational "scientific romances." While the appeal here is primarily scholarly, this reader-friendly edition, which reproduces the original illustrations, may well have enough curiosity value to garner some trade sales.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Wesleyan launches its "Early Classics of Science Fiction" line in style with this first English translation of Verne's 1904 novel Invasion of the Sea. The series will feature scholarly editions of popular sf works, with illustrations, bibliographies, textual notes, etc. Though long available in English, The Mysterious Island here receives a new and much more spry and exciting translation to replace the drab version that has been boring readers for years. This also features illustrations and an introduction by Caleb Carr.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

"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

"[A ripping good yarn."--Harper's Magazine

"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 --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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 text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

5 1/2 x 8 1/2 trim. 44 illus.

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).