Status
Available
Call number
Collection
Publication
Magnum Easy Eye Books (1968), Edition: Magnum Editions, Mass Market Paperback, 191 pages
Description
Fiction. Science Fiction. HTML: Jules Verne, author of such works as Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea and Around the World in Eighty Days, is recognized as one of the masters of the golden age of science fiction. In The Master of the World, a series of catastrophes strike the Atlantic Seaboard of the United States, and an intrepid investigator postulates that they might all be connected to a mysterious mad scientist who is sequestered in a compound in the Blue Ridge Mountains..
User reviews
LibraryThing member andyray
This was Verne's last literary effort, and it is a weak replay of Captain Nemo. Published in 1904, Verne died in 1905.
LibraryThing member sf_addict
Another good read from Verne! This one was his final novel written in 1904 and is actually a sequel to an earlier novel called The Clipper of the Clouds (aka Robur the Conqueror). I only discovered this when part way through I found out the name of the antagonist-Robur! The great inventor Robur
In the previous story, Robur determined to show to the world that heavier-than-air craft was the way forward, and during an exposition in which a great air balloon was shown to the world, Robur produced his offering, a dirigible type craft propelled not by lighter-than-air gas but by engines with propellers (air screws), and with this he overtook the balloon causing its occupants to crash to the ground. This event is alluded to in this later work as a kind of re-cap. Not having read the earlier book it was a bit of a surprise but having said that I didnt feel that I should need to have read that earlier work-the work stands alone!
Anyway I found the book quite entertaining and fast paced and is my third Verne novel so far.
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zooms across the Americas in first a car that can travel at least 150 miles per hour, putting the current speed of about 80 m.p.h to shame in a car race! Then an equally fast boat is seen; later still a submarine, and then an airplane! The protagonist of this story, Strock, a police investigator, soon gets the idea that these 3 vehicles are one and the same.In the previous story, Robur determined to show to the world that heavier-than-air craft was the way forward, and during an exposition in which a great air balloon was shown to the world, Robur produced his offering, a dirigible type craft propelled not by lighter-than-air gas but by engines with propellers (air screws), and with this he overtook the balloon causing its occupants to crash to the ground. This event is alluded to in this later work as a kind of re-cap. Not having read the earlier book it was a bit of a surprise but having said that I didnt feel that I should need to have read that earlier work-the work stands alone!
Anyway I found the book quite entertaining and fast paced and is my third Verne novel so far.
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LibraryThing member Bill.Bradford
One of the lesser known Verne works and somewhat of a follow up to" Robur the Conqueror".
Unlike "Robur", the protagonist is fairly likeable. "Robur" is almost a travelogue - The antagonist, Robur, appears quickly. In "Master", the story is more of a mystery - Robur appears at the end of the story.
I enjoyed reading it as a technological mystery. It does not have the foretelling of "Robur" but I don't think that was the intent. Verne is simply recycling a character because he needs a genius antagonist. Just read and enjoy for what it is.
Unlike "Robur", the protagonist is fairly likeable. "Robur" is almost a travelogue - The antagonist, Robur, appears quickly. In "Master", the story is more of a mystery - Robur appears at the end of the story.
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In this it is somewhat like Nemo's appearance in "Mysterious Island", though "Master" is certainly not up to its story-telling and depth.I enjoyed reading it as a technological mystery. It does not have the foretelling of "Robur" but I don't think that was the intent. Verne is simply recycling a character because he needs a genius antagonist. Just read and enjoy for what it is.
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LibraryThing member DanielSTJ
This was another one of Verne's lesser works. Although the plot was somewhat interesting, the writing came across as a bit stale and old-fashioned and the plotting was not as strong as it could have been. Even for myself, who likes Verne, I don't think this is a very impressive novel.
2 stars.
2 stars.
Language
Original language
French
Original publication date
1904
Local notes
Maître du monde