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Title: Captain Nemo: The Fantastic History of a Dark Genius by K. J. Anderson ISBN: 0-7434-4409-4 Publisher: Pocket Books Pub. Date: 26 November, 2002 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.19 (21 reviews)
Rating: 3
Summary: A fun, fast, child-like adventure of the past
Comment: "Captain Nemo...we're overloadin' the dilitheum crystals!"
"I need more power now, Mr. Harding."
"I can't give it to ya, sir!"
Fun. That's the best word to describe this novel. It's just flat-out fun. I'm hoping that some younger readers will pick up this book then, when they've finished it, will seek out the many book references to Jules Verne that accompany this story. I know that'd put a lot of smiles on English teachers faces.
So what's the big deal with yet ANOTHER story about Captain Nemo? Well, Mr. Anderson has taken that tale and put a bit of a twist into it; he's made Andre' Nemo a real-life friend of Jules Verne in which Verne uses in his literary works. And it's a fast enjoyable read.
Maybe too fast.
Years fly by with abandon and it is sometimes difficult to fathom the time scale that the author bounds through.
There're also a few basic problems that I encountered:
In the beginning, when Nemo is getting ready to become cabin boy to the Captain onboard a merchant vessel, he is accepted thanks to the family ties of the lovely Caroline (an adolescent love interest of both Nemo and Verne). Verne longs to go and decides to steal away with Nemo on the vessel. But there are no arrangements made with the Captain for Verne's acceptance onto the ship. He just shows up on the boat and is miraculously admitted into the Captain's favor as a 'second' cabin boy. Too convenient there. A Captain would always know who was sailing with him long before they left port and this was never addressed. A weak point in the story.
Also, I've got problems with the rehashing of old material in books. I've heard from multiple sources that Jean Auel's new book, 'Shelters of Stone,' does this terribly, and it seems to be a continuing trend. Is it the authors, I wonder? Or the editors requiring this? But telling us again and again and again about the Crimean War and how it affected Nemo got a bit tiresome. As did recapping all of Nemo's experiences in the last 30 pages of the book. I know this already. Don't preach it to me.
But all in all this was a breezy read. I whipped through the book in a few days and got caught up a few times in the story, remembering how much I'd loved Verne's '20,000 Leagues Under The Sea,' and all its nuances.
As I said earlier, I'm hoping this book will make a few younger readers seek out original Verne books and get a taste of some old literary works. I wouldn't be surprised if that happens. Mr. Anderson can smile about that, I'm sure.
Rating: 2
Summary: Skip this book
Comment: This book stitches together reinterpreted samplings of Verne's classics via a Nemo character along with an alternative bio of Verne. There is no question that the author researched a bit before writing the book.
I see a couple problems here. The first is that the book does not stand on it's own without the material it has 'borrowed' from all of Verne's writings. The second is that Anderson doesn't seem to understand Nemo or Verne. The way he presents Nemo is rediculous compared to how Verne characterized him. Other reviews here have presented how this is more admirally than I can. In addition, The way he presents Verne is silly. He has taken a few isolated facts about Verne's life (for ex, Verne's lack of travelling) and developed an entire false persona around these.
If you want to know about Verne and his characters, read his own books instead of this.
Rating: 1
Summary: It came from the bottom of the sea....
Comment: I'm not going to mince words, this book is horrible...
It's a pastiche of Verne's life, intercut with the adventures of "Andre Nemo" who wanders around the world, involving himself with incident after incident drawn from the pages of Verne's novels, and minor character, after minor character named after Verne's characters
My biggest gripe however is the vision of Nemo presented, this is not the mysterious stranger of the 20,000 leagues under the sea, or the technocratic Indian Prince, driven from his home after a failed rebellion against colonial masters as presented in Mysterious Island. Having all the works of Verne to draw from, and KJ Anderson, instead chose to draw his Nemo from the wide screen, he has drawn his "Dark Genius" from the vision of Walt Disney, and Harper Goff
The result is what you expect, a poor adaptation of an adaptation, true neither to the original, or the film.
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Title: 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne ISBN: 0812550927 Publisher: Tor Books Pub. Date: 01 October, 1995 List Price(USD): $3.99 |
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Title: The Invisible Man (Dover Thrift Editions) by H. G. Wells ISBN: 0486270718 Publisher: Dover Publications Pub. Date: 01 February, 1992 List Price(USD): $2.00 |
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Title: The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (Movie Novelization) by Kevin J. Anderson ISBN: 074347676X Publisher: Pocket Star Books Pub. Date: 01 July, 2003 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: Dracula (Signet Classics (Paperback)) by Bram Stoker ISBN: 0451523377 Publisher: Signet Classics Pub. Date: 01 October, 1997 List Price(USD): $4.95 |
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Title: The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown ISBN: 0385504209 Publisher: Doubleday Pub. Date: 18 March, 2003 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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