Synopses & Reviews
The Self-Propelled Island is the first unabridged English translation of Jules Vernes original story featuring a famous French string quartet that is abducted by an American businessman and taken to Standard Island to perform for its millionaire inhabitants. The quartet soon discovers that Standard Island is not an island at all, but an immense, futuristic ship possessing all the features of an idyllic haven. Equipped with the most opulent amenities, Standard Island travels the Pacific Ocean, traversing the south archipelagos and stopping at many “sister” islands for the pleasure of its well-heeled inhabitants. These inhabitants soon meet with the danger, in its various forms, that is inherent in ocean travel. Meanwhile, the French quartet is witness to the rivalry that exists between the two most powerful families onboard, a rivalry that keeps the future of the island balancing on the edge of a knife.
First published in English in 1896, the novel was originally censored in translation. Dozens of pages were cut from the story because English translators felt they were too critical of Americans as well as the British. Here, for the first time, readers have the pleasure of reading The Self-Propelled Island as Verne intended it.
Review
and#8220;The Circus of Dr. Lao is a fascinating work: a labyrinth of meanings and images that sucks in the imagination, teases it and impishly plays with it. It gives nothing away, but offers much sustenance to those willing to take the risk of stepping into the tents housing its bizarre attractions.and#8221;and#8212;Locus Online
Review
"Dazzling and macabre, literary and philosophical, The Circus of Dr. Lao has been acclaimed as a masterpiece of speculative fiction and influenced such writers as Ray Bradbury."and#8212;Good Reads
Review
"[The Circus of Dr. Lao, Second Edition is] a splendid fable of a miserable-looking little circus that visits a dusty Arizona town and leaves an unforgettable impression."and#8212;Nick Owchar, Los Angeles Times Books Blog
Review
“The best novel of one of the most important SF writers in France at the dawn of the twentieth century. Gustave Le Rouge was one of the first to portray the overlap between scientific technology and psychic phenomena to explore a host of new cognitive, aesthetic, and speculative frontiers. In so doing, he helped to launch a new literary genre.”—Arthur Evans, author of Jules Verne Rediscovered and managing editor of Science Fiction Studies
Review
“Were in the midst of a marvelous Verne renaissance. . . . The Self-Propelled Island is a novel of great appeal, especially to Americans: by sending northern and southern aristocrats to sea in literally the same boat, it not only features one of Vernes fabulous futuristic vehicles but also unfolds one of his shrewdest, wittiest political satires.”—Frederick Paul Walter, Verne translator and former vice president of the North American Jules Verne Society
Synopsis
Abalone, Arizona, is a sleepy southwestern town whose chief concerns are boredom and surviving the Great Depressionand#8212;that is, until the circus of Dr. Lao arrives and immensely and irrevocably changes the lives of everyone drawn to its tents.
Expecting a sideshow spectacle, the citizens of Abalone instead confront and learn profound lessons from the mythical made realand#8212;a chimera, a Medusa, a talking sphinx, a sea serpent, witches, the Hound of the Hedges, a werewolf, a mermaid, an ancient god, and the elusive, ever-changing Dr. Lao himself. The circus unfolds, spinning magical, dark strands that ensnare the townand#8217;s populace: the sea serpentand#8217;s tale shatters loveand#8217;s illusions; the fortune-tellerand#8217;s shocking pronouncements toll the tedium and secret dread of every personand#8217;s life; sensual undercurrents pour forth for men and women alike; and the dead walk again.and#160;Dazzling and macabre, literary and philosophical, The Circus of Dr. Lao has been acclaimed as a masterpiece of speculative fiction and influenced such writers as Ray Bradbury.
Synopsis
Dazzling and macabre, literary and philosophical, The Circus of Dr. Lao has been acclaimed as a masterpiece of speculative fiction and influenced such writers as Ray Bradbury.
Abalone, Arizona, is a sleepy southwestern town whose chief concerns are boredom and surviving the Great Depression--that is, until the circus of Dr. Lao arrives and immensely and irrevocably changes the lives of everyone drawn to its tents.
Expecting a sideshow spectacle, the citizens of Abalone instead confront and learn profound lessons from the mythical made real--a chimera, a Medusa, a talking sphinx, a sea serpent, witches, the Hound of the Hedges, a werewolf, a mermaid, an ancient god, and the elusive, ever-changing Dr. Lao himself. The circus unfolds, spinning magical, dark strands that ensnare the town's populace: the sea serpent's tale shatters love's illusions; the fortune-teller's shocking pronouncements toll the tedium and secret dread of every person's life; sensual undercurrents pour forth for men and women alike; and the dead walk again.
Synopsis
Robert Darvel, a young and penniless French engineer at the turn of the twentieth century, is an amateur astronomer obsessed with the planet Mars. Transported by a combination of science and psychic powers to Mars, Robert must navigate the dangers of the Red Planet while trying to return to his fiancée on Earth. Through his travels, we discover that Mars can not only support life but is also home to three different types of vampires. This riveting combination of science fiction and the adventure story provides a vivid depiction of an imagined Mars and its strange, unearthly creatures who might be closer to earthly humans than we would care to believe.
Originally published in French as two separate volumes, translated as The Prisoner of the Planet Mars (1908) and The War of the Vampires (1909), this vintage work is available to English-language audiences unabridged for the first time and masterfully translated by David Beus and Brian Evenson.
About the Author
Gustave Le Rouge (1867-1938) was a French writer of early science fiction. His masterpiece vampire novels charted an innovative course for early science fiction. David Beus is an assistant professor of international cultural studies at Brigham Young University-Hawai‘i. He translated, with Brian Evenson, Christian Gaillys novel
Red Haze (Nebraska, 2005). Brian Evenson is the Royce Professor of Excellence in Teaching in the Department of Literary Arts at Brown University. He is the author of more than a dozen novels and translations, including
Immobility,
Windeye, and
Altmanns Tongue (Nebraska, 2002). William Ambler lives and writes in Rhode Island. His work can be found at the
Huffington Post and
Word and Film.