The Master of the World

Robur #2

by Jules Verne, Mark F. Smith (Narrator)

If I speak of myself in this story, it is because I have been deeply involved in its startling events, events doubtless among the most extraordinary which this twentieth century will witness. Sometimes I even ask myself if all this has really happened, if its pictures dwell in truth in my memory, and not merely in my imagination. In my position as head inspector in the federal police department at Washington, urged on moreover by the desire, which has always been very strong in me, to investigate and understand everything which is mysterious, I naturally became much interested in these remarkable occurrences. And as I have been employed by the government in various important affairs and secret missions since I was a mere lad, it also happened very naturally that the head of my department placed In my charge this astonishing investigation, wherein I found myself wrestling with so many impenetrable mysteries.

Genres: Science Fiction, Classics, Fiction, Adventure, Literature, Mystery, Fantasy

18 pages, Audiobook

First published January 1, 1904

About the author

Novels of French writer Jules Gabriel Verne, considered the founder of modern science fiction, include Journey to the Center of the Earth (1864) and Around the World in Eighty Days (1873).

This author who pioneered the genre. People best know him for Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea (1870).

Verne wrote about space, air, and underwater travel before people invented navigable aircraft and practical submarines and devised any means of spacecraft. He ranks behind Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie as the second most translated author of all time. People made his prominent films. People often refer to Verne alongside Herbert George Wells as the "father of science fiction."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jules_V...

Reviews

[Henry Avila · Rating 4 out of 5]

A machine... no a miracle is seen in various parts of America, a ship , submarine, automobile , make it an airplane too they travel before vanishing ...at incredible speeds nothing can catch the phantom, the few who bravely or foolishly try don't come close ...of succeeding; which one is it though, all of them unbelievably. The "Master of the World" as he arrogantly calls himself the ingenious, mad inventor of this complex contraption not encouragingly named by the creator the "Terror," besides two the plane and sub haven't appeared under the sun or the sea yet, the book was written in the very early 1900's, 1904 to be exact. A sequel to Robur the Conqueror, from 1886. Never explained how this machine can be transformed into four different mechanisms, nonetheless the authorities are puzzled and helpless the public shaken, nobody is doing anything about it they grumble . But in Washington the federal police no FBI then, begin to investigate led by able John Strock, assigned by his boss and friend Mr. Ward to find the elusive, unknown fugitive whoever or whatever may he be . A strange situation in North Carolina occurs too, fire, weird perplexing noises, smoke coming from an inaccessible Blue Ridge mountain called the Great Eyrie, a lethal volcanic eruption ? The superstitious, uneducated, but good citizens around the district are no surprise, quite petrified and flee, they believe the devil is responsible a silly notion. Mr. Strock arrives, organizes an expedition to climb the mountain and view what is the reason for the tempest in the crater like terrain, could be a connection some ways to his other mysterious case...The highlight of the adventurous story is the struggle on the cold, rough, Niagara River that divides Canada and the U.S. as two tenacious menacing vessels, torpedo boats approach...fast...
Enemy gunships following them, guess who and soon begin
firing their deadly cannons; trying to destroy the crazed Robur, with the anxious unwilling John Strock the only one on board concerned, captured by the notorious if I could reluctantly term the rather calm, bold eccentric
inventor.. The problem the towering Niagara Falls is getting uncomfortably near so are the cannonballs, spraying water far and wide. Does the policeman jump into the churning stream in a desperate effort to escape or drop to certain death, what would you do? Another fun read out of many by the great Jules Verne, the genuine master of the world...and the real father of science -fiction books, a joy for his numerous fans....I'm one of them...

[Pramod Nair · Rating 2 out of 5]

‘The Master of the World’, originally published in French as ‘Maître du monde’, by Jules Verne is a sequel to his science fiction novel ‘Robur the Conqueror’. This is the 53rd book in the ‘Extraordinary Voyages’ series and as a reader I have mixed feelings about this book.

The story is narrated by ‘John Strock’, a head Inspector in the federal police department at Washington, who is investigating some strange occurrences and sightings – like some seismic activities and a threat of imminent volcanic eruption happening in North Carolina; sightings of some kind of super fast vehicle on the major highways; some underwater object terrifying vessels on major waterways – happening all around United States. Through ‘John Strock’ and his pursuit in unraveling the mystery surrounding these strange sightings, Verne drafts a mystery science fiction, featuring the main protagonist of his 1886 novel ‘Robur the Conqueror’.

One of the first thoughts of relief that came to my mind after finishing the book, as an ardent fan of these ‘tales of imaginations’ by Verne, was the absence of any racial slurs in ‘The Master of the World’; in the prequel to this novel Verne went an extra mile in being extremely racial to the point of being unpleasant at times.

Written in 1904, just an year before Verne’s death, we can detect traces of his anxieties about the societies and human life being dominated by the state and the dangers of technology being used as weapon systems in ‘The Master of the World’; we can also detect a tired master story teller trying his best to hold the imagination of the reader, but by getting vague, repetitive and at times by being dull in his narrative, failing to connect with the reader. This could have been a thrilling story if it was written at the peak of his physical health, but ‘The Master of the World’ in my humble opinion is not a story that will make any impact with a non-Verne fan. Even for a Verne devotee like me it was not an entirely satisfying experience as the story was not at all going any where for the major part of the book.

We can find Verne as a scientific visionary even in this novel with his depictions of vehicles that are amphibious; groundbreaking innovations in locomotion; vehicles that transform in to multi-terrain transportation mediums; submarines capable of eluding their enemies; an infinite source of energy for the purpose of locomotion etc, but unlike his other stories Verne is too vague here. He is usually very clear in giving his own ideas and solutions of scientific problems through the descriptions of his hypothetical machines and scientific ideas – which can be detected throughout his other books -, but in ‘The Master of the World’, Verne just presents the reader scenarios like ‘this machine will fly’, ‘this machine will transform into a submarine’, ‘this machine can traverse at land speeds in excess of 150 mph’ etc without getting into the science and rationality behind these inventions; which makes the story un-Verne like and leaving the reader not satisfied at all.

While reading ‘The Master of the world’, a reference made by Verne within the book about the 1902 Mt. Pelee volcanic disaster, which happened on the Caribbean island of Martinique, came as a startling coincidence as at that moment I was also going through a volume by ‘Gordon Thomas’ which chronicles the horrors of this ‘worst volcanic disaster of twentieth century’ in epic detail. Apart from this coincidence there was not much of that intriguing factor that is usually associated with Verne’s other volumes.

Actual rating: 2.5 /5

[Manny · Rating 1 out of 5]

- Excuse me sir, you're Jules Verne, aren't you?

- And if I am?

- Well, I'd just like to say I'm a fan.

- Ah, thank you! And did you enjoy my latest book?

- Maître du monde?

- Indeed.

- Well, to be honest, I didn't think it was one of your best. No offence, sir, but I'd have done some things differently.

- And what exactly would you have done differently, young man?

- Ah, to start with I wouldn't have had just one machine that could be an airplane or a submarine or a supercar. I'd have had four or five different machines. I think that would work better.

- I suppose...

- And I didn't like you putting his secret lair on the top of a mountain. I thought you got it right in the first book where it was on an island in the Pacific.

- Yes, maybe I should have stayed with that choice...

- And another thing I thought was wrong was that he never did anything with his amazing machine. I loved the ending of Robur-le-conquérant, where he rescues the guys from the airship that's about to crash. I hoped you were going to develop that further. You know, go around rescuing people. That would have made a better story.

- But, that would go against my central message...

- Yes, I know, Man can't challenge the Divine. But I still think it would have been more dramatic to go around performing daring rescues. And you know, maybe this will sound weird...

- Go on.

- I don't think it should really have been a novel. I'm somehow sure it would be better as puppet theatre.

- Puppet theatre?!!

- Uh, yes sir.

- Young man, if you think you can make that work then you're welcome to try.

- Maybe I will.

- Then good luck to you, Mr... I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name?

- Anderson. Gerry Anderson.

[Gary Inbinder · Rating 4 out of 5]

Did Ian Fleming read Jules Verne’s “Master of the World”? I don’t know the answer to that question, but I do believe Verne’s 1904 novel, one of his last, could have been used as a template for the Bond series. John Strock, chief inspector of the fictional United States Federal Police* tracks down and tangles with Robur the Conqueror aka Master of the World, a prototypical Bond villain, diabolical genius inventor of “The Terror,” a super-fast, electrically powered, multi-purpose vehicle described as follows:

“…this machine actually fulfilled a four-fold use! It was at the same time automobile, boat, submarine, and airship. Earth, sea and air,—it could move through all three elements! And with what power! With what speed!”

Strock’s investigation of, pursuit and encounters with the villain and his henchmen are similar to the generic Bond storyline, with one major difference: Strock is no James Bond. The only woman in Strock’s life—or the entire novel, for that matter—is his elderly housekeeper. He doesn’t gamble for high-stakes or low; he doesn’t drink martinis shaken or stirred, or any other alcoholic beverage. Further, he doesn’t display any knowledge of the martial arts and his only weapon is a revolver of unknown make that he uses once—ineffectively. However, he does occasionally smoke a pipe. In other words, Strock’s more Eagle Scout than double naught spy. Regardless, while the sequel to "Robur the Conqueror" is not one of Verne’s best stories, I found this late example of his writing an engaging and entertaining read.

*The forerunner of The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), The Bureau of Investigation (BOI) was created on July 26, 1908. At the time of Verne’s story (1903), the US Justice Department might have assigned this matter to a Secret Service agent or a private investigator.

[Yibbie · Rating 3 out of 5]

What could possibly account for the fire shooting out of the top of a North Carolina mountain? Is it a volcano? Does it pose an imminent threat to the public? Who better to decide that question than federal policeman John Strock? Ah, but that mystery must wait. Now the public is being menaced by a terrible speed demon. Who better to capture him than federal policeman John Strock? Oh dear, the speed demon has vanished and now a terrible sea monster menaces the seaways. Who better to clear the seaways than federal policeman John Strock? What will happen if they corner this monster?
If you are even vaguely familiar with Verne’s work, the answer to that last one won’t come as a great surprise. Still, it’s a fun fast-paced adventure. It’s not slowed down by too many details of the terrain, the flora and fauna, or the marvelous invention. Instead, it’s more mystery driven than anything else. I enjoyed it.

[Debbie Zapata · Rating 2 out of 5]

At first I thought this story would be solved quickly when our hero Inspector Strock arrived in North Carolina to investigate what might be an imminent volcanic eruption. But is that what happened? Or did Strock
strike out and have to return to his superiors with no solution to the mystery? And why did he ignore the not so anonymous letter he received once he arrived home? When would he satisfy his insatiable curiosity? Why am
I asking so many questions?

Because that is the way Verne wrote this story. I was entertained at first by the idea of some sort of car traveling (gasp!!) 120 miles per hour. And later by the image of a submarine zipping along the Atlantic coastline. I only had to wait for flight, but Strock never thought of that until it actually happened. And right after the flight was when all the questions began. I don't think I have ever read a story where the hero did practically nothing except ask the readers questions. I should have counted the question marks, I was certainly distracted by them for the last few chapters.

This story was actually a re-appearance for the person known here as The Master Of The World. In his own earlier book he was known as....well, someone else. I don't want to give it all away. But don't worry, you don't have to read the first story before reading this one, because in Chapter 16 Verne tells you as much about the other book as any overly thorough GR reviewer would.

I have read the usual Verne novels, and I've always enjoyed his fantastical creations. But as fantastic as the machinery in this story was, overall I was disappointed with the presentation.

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

The review from afar – No. 30

2015 forward to these overseas reviews:
Thanks to Project Gutenberg for supplying me with books for an old Kindle 3G.

The Master of The World is the follow-up novel by Jules Verne to Robur the Conqueror. The sequel was written 18 years after the original and takes up the story at the end without connecting the two very well. The tone and the style of this novel is vastly different from the other. In the first (1884) Verne presents us with an advanced heavier-than-air craft that presages the modern helicopter and planes at a time when balloons were the most common form of airship. The existence of the Albatross is secret, but it does not prevent Robur from openly flying across the globe.

In this novel, we begin with mysterious goings-on in a high mount in North Carolina. People fear that it could be erupting (despite the fact that the Appalachians are not volcanic.) Chief Inspector Strock is sent out from Washington, D.C. to investigate. He attempts to scale the mount, but his party is stymied by the inaccessibility of the final wall surrounding the peak. Defeated he returns home.

For most of the rest of the novel, the mystery only deepens. A supercar is seen on the roads of the Eastern US. Going 3-4x faster than a speeding locomotive, it races by leaving nothing but a cloud of dust. It “wins” a road race after which it disappears in thin air – or a lake. Next, a shadowy speedboat is seen in the waters off New England. Where do they come from? Are they related? What powers such machines?

Here we are at the infancy of high-output, lightweight gasoline-powered engines and the machines they propel. It has only been a year since the Wright Brothers made their successful flight at Kitty Hawk, real-world automobiles can barely do 20-25 mph, and speedboats are generally coal-powered. But Verne gives us another glimpse into a world of seemingly limitless electric power and motive force. Instead of The Albatross, Robur has a new vessel, The Terror that is automobile, cigarette boat, submarine, and airship (ornithopter). The rest of the novel brings Strock into direct contact with Robur and his small crew.

While Verne may have been making things up to suit his story-telling, his long and detailed observations (in the mouths of his characters) of the geography of the United States remind me of Michael Strogoff - Or, the Courier of the Czar. But I can’t give this novel as high a recommendation as “Robur the Conqueror”. It drags a bit (as did the other), but it was simply a less satisfying book.

Three (4.0) Electric Stars that zip, swim, and fly away.

You can get this book for free from the Gutenberg Project site.

[Joy D · Rating 3 out of 5]

In the summer of 1903, mysterious events start occurring in the Eastern US. There is unexplained volcanic activity in North Carolina. Fast-moving objects appear along rivers and roads. Head Inspector John Strock investigates these incidents. He travels around to the places where strange events have occurred to try to make sense of what is happening. The storyline follows his investigation until he is captured and can witness it for himself.

This is one of Verne’s lesser-known works (at least to me). It is the penultimate book published during his lifetime. It is a sequel to Robur the Conqueror but can easily stand alone, since Verne provides the relevant information at the appropriate time in the story. The primary theme relates to technology, and how it can be used for both good and evil, which has certainly come to pass in the years since this book was published (1904).

[James Hold · Rating 1 out of 5]

If nothing else, this book taught me not to rely on AIP pictures for my literary education. I was 10 years old when I saw MOTW, the movie, in 1961. Back then 10-year-olds did not read Jules Verne. Or if we did it was the immensely boring 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA, which was also made into a not-so-great film starring ham actor Kurt Douglas. Anyhow MOTW, the movie, was not based on MOTW, the book, but on an earlier work ROBUR THE CONQUERER. But just to confuse things, it featured MOTW, the book's, nominal hero John Strock.

Robur was excellently portrayed by Vincent Price. The movie also 'starred' Henry Hull as an asshole. Hull excelled at playing assholes since that is what he was in real life. He always felt his roles were beneath him and made no attempt to hide it. I guess it never occurred to him Hollywood was offering him what they thot he was worth. They should have considered casting Francis the Talking Mule or Mister Ed instead. And Charles Bronson, fresh from his job as a cigar store Indian, played John Strock. Bronson essayed the role with his usual piece-of-wood skills. They would have done better using him for a deck chair. But this isn't a movie review. It's a book one, so...

Verne's stories make for good movies because they're written in a pulp magazine style reminiscent of the 1930s. There are a few clunkers, and you have to be careful as to the translator. Some tried to gloss over the pulp aspects and make them 'literary' works. Those are the ones that come across bad.

That said, MOTW is not a good work. For one thing there doesn't seem to be any point to it. Robur shows up in his Flying Sub, ala VOYAGE BENEATH THE SEA, buzzes around, and otherwise does nothing. Robur himself doesn't even appear until the last few chapters, and even then, says and does nothing. This leaves the bulk of the work to John Strock, and Strock, sorry to say, is one of the dumbest police agents you'd want to meet. You want a hero to do something... anything... and Strock does... NOTHING. Absolutely nothing. The government heaps praises on him when its all over, but Strock did nothing but sit in a cabin or on deck waiting for something to happen. Thruout the book we get endless reiterations of 'What her captain intended to do, I could not guess.' Strock knows nothing of what's going on, yet he feels obligated to tell us every other page. On second thot, I can understand now why AIP chose Charles Bronson for the role.

MOTW was among the last books Verne wrote before passing away. If he had a point, or started out with one, it got lost along the way. I'd tell you the ending but it's so stupid and pointless you'd never believe it except to read it for yourself. Maybe Verne had bills mounting up that had to be paid. If so I can't fault him for cashing in on an earlier hit. I only wish I'd known the sequence of events so I could have read ROBUR first. As it is, with this depressing and inferior story for an introduction, there doesn't seem much point.

Oh, and BTW, I'm told the book version of MYSTERIOUS ISLAND does not contain giant crabs or a cute girl in a too-short skirt. Dammit Hollywood, you went and ruined another one for me!

[Jefi Sevilay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gayt gzel ir hikyayeye ankac bu kadap ktöü bip basm yakşırırdı. Grçekten thaki'ey hiq yakştamadım. Yaına hazrlayan Şule Cepcepoğlu Koçak ve redakson Alev Özgüner ne şi yapr bri bna açklasıe. Htta istrlerse metn bna gökdersnler bb ücrtsiz dzeltmeler ypraım.

Şaka bir yana son okuduğum Jules Verne'lere göre gizemin daha yoğunlukta olduğu, eski tadı veren güzel bir kitaptı. Hem de tüm yazım hatalarına rağmen. Yalnız 293 sayfalık bir gizemin çözüleceği 250. sayfada bu esrarengiz karakterin kim olduğunu kitabın arkasına yazmak (çok afedersiniz) hangi rahatsızın aklına geldi onu da çıkın söyleyin lütfen.

İnce, akıcı, keyifli. Tavsiye ederim.

Herkese keyifli okumalar!

[Taro · Rating 1 out of 5]

OH MY GODS.
This children, this book is a perfect example of why you must always, always plan, proofread and edit your papers. I'm thinking either Mr. Verne wrote it with this in mind, or his son wrote it for high school English and begged dad to publish it. I wanted to be generous in it and give him at least two stars (I did love Verne's other books, seriously! Maybe it's been too long since I read them and they really are this bad)
Ok, there's adventure. Some. And the geography, well is described very, creepishly accurately. But the repetition! MY GODS THE REPETITION! I wanted to throw my Kobo across the room so many times. It reads like a those essays you did in high school English, were you pad the shit out of it, so that the padding will make your essay that you did for your high school English class will mean the word length minimum that your high school English teacher set for the essays in the class. But alas, it's totally padded up to shits that anyone in your English class can tell, and it's annoying to the teacher to have to read through all these essays with so much padding. So the padding makes it annoying. Oh yea, and then things are introduced in the middle of nowhere which have little precedence, and are padded all around and then it's a very annoying read.
So I can't be generous and I can only give one star, I really want to give more because I liked 20,000 Leagues and Journey to the Centre of the Earth, among others, but seriously this book is padded to shit like a secondary paper with minimum word length requirements and it makes it very annoying.
Spoilers, and a warning that these spoilers may spoil (though may not), and thereby be annoying:
Pre-FBI Police chief investigates fast car. Eventually meets the guy with the fast car which is a boat/submarine/car/plane. The end.
I felt not a single bit of sympathy for the protagonist nor disdain for the antagonist, Verne leaves no reason to. Any character development is marred by seriously annoying padding. It's really annoying. Remember those essays you wrote in high school? Yea, that annoying.
And then there is the conclusion that comes out of the blue, like thrown in, that really makes it a strong reminder to plan, proofread and edit your books people!


---End comments:::
NOT RECOMMENDED to anyone as their first Jules Verne book. Others are much, much better.
RECOMMENDED as required literature, for schoolchildren, in parallel to say, "scared straight" jail visits, to scare them into planning and proofreading their books so that they don't look like retarded high school essays that were padded to shit just to get the word count up that just end up annoying the teacher.

[Mahmoud Masoud · Rating 2 out of 5]

مش عارف ليه في الآخر حسيت انها قلبت على فيلم هندي !!

أحلى حاجة في النسخة دي هي اللوحات اللي قبل كل فصل ..

[Kat Hooper · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars Originally posted at Fantasy Literature. http://www.fantasyliterature.com/revi...

First published in French in 1904 and in English in 1911, The Master of the World is another of Jules Verne’s adventure novels with an SFF twist. It’s a sequel to Robur the Conqueror, though it’s not necessary to have read that book first (I didn’t). The story is set in 1903 and, as so many of Verne’s novels do, features fantastical machines and gadgetry. It should be of particular interest to those who love steampunk and to Verne’s fans who want to read one of the author’s last novels.

Verne’s hero is John Strock, a brave and clever man who investigates mysteries for the government. Currently there are a few strange occurrences going on in the United States. In the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina there is a mountain that nearby residents claim has been heard to rumble and seen to smoke. It acts like a volcano, but our investigator knows that a volcano in that area is unlikely. When he tries to explore the mountain, he finds nothing peculiar, but he discovers that an unknown airplane has also been in the vicinity. Meanwhile, in other areas, an extremely fast car has been sighted — or actually, not very well sighted since it’s going almost too fast to be seen. Citizens are worried about such a hazard on the roads. And in various bodies of water around the country, a mysterious submarine-type vessel has also been spotted. Are all these strange events related? Well, of course they are! And it’s up to our daring hero to figure it all out….

Except he doesn’t really figure it out. While snooping around, he gets captured by Robur, the famous inventor who is at the heart of the mystery. Robur is obviously mad so, like the scientists who encountered the inventor in Robur the Conqueror, Strock feels the need to escape. Which he doesn’t really do, either.

The Master of the World isn’t one of Verne’s best novels. It’s got a couple of great scenes (including an exciting chase at Niagara Falls), but it’s slow to wind up and then the end is quick and anticlimactic. John Strock, despite his supposed talent, has little agency in the story, which I found disappointing. He doesn’t really accomplish anything he sets out to do. Instead he just stumbles upon the answers. The “science” is particularly bad, but that’s partly explained by the age of the novel. Mainly, the story just isn’t as much fun and adventurous as we’d expect from Verne.

Written shortly before Verne’s death, The Master of the World has a dark and pessimistic tone. After creating so many fantastical inventions in his previous novels, perhaps this short novel serves as Jules Verne’s warning to us about the danger of technology in the wrong hands. If I think of it that way, I like The Master of the World a little better.

I listened to Brilliance Audio’s recent version of The Master of the World which was nicely, but not brilliantly, narrated by Jim Killavey.

[Bennett · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not one of my favorite Verne novels. The author apparently did plenty of research about the United States (particularly the geography) before writing the book, but unfortunately he seemed to feel obligated to share everything he learned, such that the novel (which really ought to have been an average length short story) often feels more like a travelogue than a thriller. The dialogue is spectacularly stilted and, despite Verne's best effort, very definitely not American. Finally, the ending is simultaneously ludicrous and anti-climactic. If you want to familiarize yourself with Verne's oeuvre (which you should), don't start here.

[for-much-deliberation ... · Rating 5 out of 5]

Narrated by John Strock, the head inspector in the federal police department in Washington, DC, 'The Master of the World" tells the tales surrounding Robur the Conqueror an inventor who creates this large ten-meter long vehicle called the Terror that could be a speedboat, submarine, automobile, or aircraft. Well a whole lot of strange happenings occur in the eastern US and Mr Strock goes to investigate getting himself all caught up in these occurances and Robur, the Master of the World.

[Sharjamin Hasan]

শুরুটা যতই সুন্দর শেষটা অতটাই বিচ্ছিরি। জুর্ল ভার্নের মাস্টার পিস গুলো দিয়ে এটা তুলনা করলে প্রচুর হতাস হতে হবে।
অনুবাদ এভারেজ।

[ياسر · Rating 3 out of 5]

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عندما انبعث الدخّان والضوء الغريب من قمة «جريت أيري»، في الولايات المتحدة الأمريكية، أصيب السكان بالذعر، بل وهرب منهم من البلدة المجاورة للقمة بسبب الهلع. لم يكن هذا نشاطًا بركانيًا ولم يعرف أحد ما سببه، لذلك تولّى مفتش شرطة مغامر مهمّة الكشف عن سبب هذه الظواهر.
بعدها انتشرت أخبار عن جهاز يسير على الطرقات بسرعات لا تستطيع التكنولوجيا المتاحة حينها أن توفّرها. وعدة حوادث في البحار كذلك. ما الرابط بين كل هذه الأحداث؟ وما مصير المفتش الذي حاول جمع الخيوط للكشف عنها؟
رواية «سيد العالم» لكاتب الخيال العلمي الفرنسي الأشهر جول فيرن، هي الرواية الأخيرة في مسيرة أحد أعظم كتّاب الخيال العلمي والمغامرات في التاريخ، كتبها فيرن عام 1904 وهو يعاني صحّيًا بوصفها تتمّة لرواية روبيير الفاتح المنشورة عام 1886.

اقتباس:
ولعلك تدرك بأي سرعة، وبأي سهولة أيضًا انقلب ذلك "الرعب" من سفينة إلى غوّاصة! إنّه لو أراد أن يسير في الطريق لتحول دون شك بمثل تلك السرعة وتلك السهولة.

الحق أن روايات جول فيرن تحمل طابعًا مغامراتيًا فريدًا، يعمّقه بالغرائبية التي يطعمها في الرواية عن طريق خلطها بعنصر الخيال العلمي، قرأت له من قبل: «عشرون ألف فرسخ تحت الماء»، «رحلة إلى مركز الأرض»، و«من الأرض للقمر»، و«الجزيرة الغامضة»، وأخيرًا «سيد العالم»، وكلها تشترك في خطوط عريضة من حيث الأسلوب: مغامرة، وتركيز على الجانب العلمي.
لكن هذه الرواية ذكرتني بالتحديد برواية «عشرون ألف فرسخ تحت الماء» والغواصة التي يقودها الكابتن نيمو: فكلاهما ذواتا بطل يجوب العالم في جهازه الغريب، ومغامر يحاول استكشاف سر هذا الجهاز. من الأشياء المشتركة الطريفة في الروايتين كذلك، أن الرحلتين مرتا بمصر.

اقتباس:
ولكن كيف ومن أين يحصل على تلك الكهرباء التي يشحن بها أعمدته وبطارياته؟ هذا ما لم يعرفه أحد مطلقًا، ولكن من المحتمل تمامًا أنّه كان يستمدها من الهواء المحيط به، المشحون دائمًا إلى حد ما بالتيار الكهربي؛ على نحو ما كان يستمدّها ذلك الربان المشهور نيمو من الماء الذي يحيط به حين انطلق بغواصته نوتيليس في أعماق المحيط.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jules Verne's "Master of the World" was first published in 1904. Long recognized as a truly prophetic science-fiction classic Verne certainly show us his imagination and adventure in this novel. "Master of the World" is actually one of his less fantastic stories: there are no strange creatures, no journeys to secret islands or hollow worlds, and certainly no mention of evolution. Instead, what you get is a rather dark and futile tale about a genius inventor driven mad with his own arrogance. The arch-nemesis of Robur the Conqueror (sounds like super-hero from a Marvel Comic which he is not) is set to terrorize the world with his new vehicle. His vehicle can turn into a car, a boat, a submarine, or a helicopter was quite fantastic in 1904, as was its amazing speed of 150 miles per hour. But that's basically all the Master of the World does with his machine as he drives or flies around really fast (in the book, it's so fast it's almost invisible, for which we can't really blame Verne because it's not like he could see what a vehicle traveling at 150 mph actually looked like) and writes threatening letters. Now, the fact that this technology obviously could be turned into a superweapon for whichever nation got hold of it made the potential threat obvious, but the "Terror," Robur's craft, isn't even armed and he never actually carries out any of his threats. The protagonist of the story, John Strock, the chief of the federal police in Washington is assigned to hunt down the Master of the World and capture him and/or destroy his vehicle. He is the one who gets captured and proves to be a completely passive protagonist. He never does anything to escape, the Master of the World and his henchmen all but ignore him, and basically, he's just along for the ride for the rest of the book. Despite these narrative failings and the stiff, melodramatic writing I enjoyed it, but I don't think it's Verne's finest work. The ending, in particular, was both abrupt and implausible but it was an interesting adventure and visionary statement on technology and war.

[Manuel Alfonseca · Rating 2 out of 5]

FRANÇAIS: Suite de "Robur le Conquérant", que Verne tente de transformer en roman d'intrigue et de mystère, dans lequel on ne sait pas ce qui se passe. Mais tout le monde sait que le personnage mystérieux est Robur, et Verne lui-même le rend public dans l’index, car son nom donne le titre à l’avant-avant-dernier chapitre, qui résume le livre précédent. La fin, qui se déroule dans l'avant-dernier chapitre, est peut-être un peu précipitée.

ESPAÑOL: Continuación de "Robur el Conquistador", que Verne intenta convertir en una novela de intriga y misterio, en la que no se sabe lo que está pasando. Pero todo el mundo sabe que el misterioso personaje es Robur, y Verne mismo lo hace público en el índice, pues su nombre da título al antepenúltimo capítulo, que resume el libro anterior. El final, que se desarrolla en el penúltimo capítulo, es quizá un poco precipitado.

ENGLISH: Continuation of "Robur the Conqueror", which Verne tries to turn into a novel of intrigue and mystery, where the reader does not know what is happening. But everyone knows that the mysterious character is Robur, and Verne himself makes it public in the table of contents, as his name gives title to the third last chapter, which summarizes the previous book. The ending, which takes place in the penultimate chapter, is perhaps a bit hasty.

[A.M. Steiner · Rating 2 out of 5]

Science fiction deals with questions about technology. Usually, it attempts to describe how it might change the world. When it's being profound, in doing so it can answers questions about ourselves as human beings.

Master of the World asks a question nobody was asking: "what would happen if a man invented a boat-car-plane-submarine." It suggests that such a man would hide it in a giant volcano, occasionally taking it out for a reckless spin, antagonising local residents by declaring himself master of the world, until he crashed it. In other words, in this book, Jules Verne predicts Audi drivers.

I've read that Verne and HG Wells were great rivals, and that Verne in particular took a dim view of Well's writing. On the basis of this effort it's hard to see them as being in the same league. While Wells was writing prophetic novels which touched on strong moral themes like imperialism, the impact of total war on ordinary people, and the thin veil of morality, Verne was writing daft adventure stories. This is probably one of his daftest.

[Lieblingsbuch · Rating 2 out of 5]

If I rate this novel poorly will Goodreads assume that I dislike science fiction novels and never recommend any new books in the genre to me? Or, conversely, if I rate it well, will it suggest only terrible science fiction novels similar to this, that I will dislike also? Will people be mad that I rated a Jules Verne novel so poorly? Or is the novel one of his lesser-loved creations and I am correct in my judgement? Should I write all of my reviews with a barrage of question after question? Should I do so multiple times throughout my review? If a main character did this constantly through the novel would you want to punch something? You would not be alone because I did.

I do feel bad giving Verne such a poor grade since his health was failing while he wrote this novel, however I cannot in good conscience give him a good score out of pity.

The novel was very repetitive, the main character is constantly wondering and repeating the same things over and over. He constantly stops the story and tells us he is only telling us things that are essential to the story, however it is extremely geographical information about specific distances, depths of lakes and etc. that aren't actually that important.

The foreshadowing was painfully obvious. It is likely that any reader would guess what is going to happen before Verne drops any foreshadowing. Then when he does, it is one character suggesting something to another. The latter character then takes forever talking to finally figure out what the former character was hinting at. And quite often someone will suggest something to the main character and he will later forget it and then be shocked when he rethinks of it.

90% of the book is in the main characters head, constantly asking questions in repetition, as I mentioned earlier, and pointlessly speculating about every possible outcome. This speculation is often explained on the next page or even as soon as the next paragraph. This just really bogs down the story and near the end is rather frustrating.

Overall, though, I did think that he had some really creative science fiction ideas for the book (which is why I gave it two stars instead of one); I just didn't care for the delivery method chosen through the main character. There was a lot of unnecessary fear-mongering from the main character. Though maybe it was supposed to be a theme, I could have done without most of it (along with the repetition) even if the novel was significantly shorter. As a matter of fact this novel reads like a much shorter novel that has been fluffed up with unnecessary details to reach a particular page count. The ending unfortunately couldn't save it enough for me to give it 3 stars because...

***************SPOILERS BELOW*******************






...the cover on the version of the book I read implied they go into space. But they failed to do so.

Normally it's stupid when villain does an exposition, but this novel could benefit from this since it's hard to know the villains true intentions. Especially since he dies from lightning having only said one whole sentence in the entire novel. I got more of a feeling he was that scientist who had gone too far in the name of science, but I think that Verne was trying to make him a man trying to become dictator of the whole world (though it wasn't very evident throughout the story).

Finally, how did NO ONE in the entire world think that this mystery inventor couldn't be the dude who created that amazing flying machine, and why did the main character think it would be impossible to get inside the mountain if the whole world new about (and he directly saw) flying machines better than the balloon that couldn't guide itself at the beginning? I understand Verne might have wanted to save this reveal for the end (and I'm sure not allude to the idea of it being a sequel until the end) but it just seemed ridiculous.

[Pinko Palest]

one of the best things about Verne is his gentle irony, and there is a great deal of it here. Plus an interesting adventure story too

[Steve Wiggins · Rating 3 out of 5]

Far be it from me to criticism Jules Verne (although I might be accused of doing so here: Sects and Violence in the Ancient World), but this was a strange book. My choice for Modern Mrs. Darcy's 2018 reading challenge for a classic I've been meaning to read, I really had no idea what it was about. Like most of Verne's other work, it's the tale of an incredible adventure. Verne's ideas of where the future was going—and I think it's old enough not to worry about too many spoilers, although, if you plan to read it you might want to skip this next bit—often proved in advance of where we are. For a modern reader, however, it's somewhat predictable that the super-fast car and boat are the same vehicle. When he adds a submarine we think, "why not?" I had to keep reminding myself that prior to the Wright brothers the idea of traveling by plane was a fantasy that those of us living under flight paths find it difficult to imagine.

The ideas here are interesting, and are Verne's strong point. Characterization is where the book falls down. Robur the Conquerer has one or maybe two lines in the entire book. We don't get enough backstory to explain his extreme anger issues. Yes, there was one event where nobody accepted his genius—and that's something that only increases as the world get smaller—but it doesn't often drive people to the edge. Perhaps that's something that modern novel readers want.

While Verne's work is considered classic, and rightfully so, he does tend to get bogged down in details, most of which don't involve the elements of human interaction. I've read that he was considered more of an avant-garde writer than a "science fiction" writer in his day, and this little novel, nearly his last, would prove that. A fun, uncomplicated, if somewhat predictable read.

[Jim Dooley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book made a huge impact on me when I read it at a much younger age. I recall having seen the movie version on television, and I wanted to read the original. Imagine my surprise when I learned that the movie had switched titles with the second of the two books in this story. The first book, ROBUR THE CONQUERER, was the basis for the movie. MASTER OF THE WORLD was the sequel and very, very different from the movie.

When we last left Robur and his magnificent flying ship, the Albatross, they were disappearing from the world, going into seclusion until humankind was ready for Robur's wondrous secrets. It is a much darker Robur who returns in MASTER OF THE WORLD, and more than a little deranged from some accident. He brings with him a new and improved Albatross which could dwarf Nemo's Nautilus.

My most vivid memory of this book was the scene when Robur decides to challenge God. That sent a chill through this young adventure reader. This may have been when the budding writer in me realized that the best villains were multi-dimensional (unlike those in the Saturday morning cartoon shows that I favored).

The book was written very late in the author's writing career, so this is the last we were to read of Robur. I've often thought it would be a great deal of fun to have him return from his final appearance, and bring his new version of the Albatross with him. Perhaps that will be a future writing project for me.

[Scott · Rating 1 out of 5]

So, this summer I was all like "oh, it's summertime; I should read a book for fun" and then decided to start off slow because I haven't read a non-comic book in a long time, so I bought this short book by jules verne from the thrift store. Mostly I judged it by the fact it was written by someone famous, it had a cool title, and it had a cool cover. [http://web.mit.edu/~hertel/www/random...] Turns out, though, that the book sucked really badly, and has been forgotten for good reason. Jules held you by the hand and pointed at things over and over again, and explained them very slowly and carefully as if you were a moron. The worst part was that about ninety percent through the book, jules unveils the book for what it is: a sequel to some other equally forgotten book. He did this all the time, apparently. Spoiler warning: at the end of a different 'mysterious island'; it is revealed that all the mysteries of the island are caused by a retired captain nemo. So lame. Jules verne even wrote a sequel to a book by edgar allen poe. Well, jules verne might have liked sequels, but I thing they're usually pretty lame. I will never read another jules verne book as long as I live. The end.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a surprisingly good page-turner. A science fiction novel written in 1904, it was one of Jules Verne's last works. It shows its age, of course, but considering it is about a combination automobile/surface ship/submarine/VTOL airplane back when the latter two were very much confined to the realm of science fiction, Verne's descriptions are almost believable. The plot is a bit weak -- so, the "Master of the World" has this wonderful transforming vehicle that can achieve the awesome speed of 200 mph (yes, that was really, really fast back in 1904, but still...) and this causes all the nations of the world to go mad with terror and declare war on him. And all he really does is drive/fly/sail around thumbing his nose at everyone. You can tell by the ending that Verne was in a very pessimistic state of mind when he wrote this, but it's still a great adventure to pass the time with and get a taste of early 20th-century sci-fi.

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

A disappointing lack of protagonism lets this one down.

The main character and narrator is a police inspector who's trying to find and foil the supervillain after whom the book is named. He tries several things and fails conspicuously. Nothing wrong with a try-fail cycle, but he then acts as what I call a "camera character," a mobile point-of-view that observes events without really affecting them. He's finally saved by one of several deus ex machina moments, brought on by the villain's pride in what is very close to a Disney villain fall.

The eponymous supervillain doesn't monologue; in fact, he hardly says anything, leaving his motives and his thought process largely unexplained.

[Neil · Rating 1 out of 5]

Hate to rip a literary great, but this book was awful. Verne was years beyond his time, and that's the case in this one also, but as far as plot and prose style (which may have been the fault of the translator also) go, this book was really lacking. The ending was as if Verne said to himself one day, "I'm growing tired of writing this book. I will end it... now." And then it was finished.

[John Peel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This has long been one of my favorite Verne novels - a tale of mysterious devices piloted by an unhinged mad scientist - so it was a pleasure to read it again. Mind you, this time around I felt that the ending was very rushed, as if Verne had not really worked out what he was going to do with his story. Still, it's a book with lots of fun to recommend it, and quite a few memorable sequences.

[Juho Pohjalainen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Poor Verne. His extraordinary voyages began exciting and thrilling and ultimately positive, and yet it comes to this, where in the end nothing matters and everyone dies. There wasn't a whole lot of the adventure in between either. Alas.