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Luke Challenger Adventures #2

Return to 20, 000 Leagues Under the Sea

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Pirates, sea monsters and atomic weapons, Luke Challenger is back and heading deeper into danger in a race against time to save the world. Luke Challenger and his trusted cousin Nick have learnt that Captain Nemo's ginormous submarine, the Nautilus, has been found wrecked in a deep trench at the bottom of the Indian Ocean.

352 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2011

10 people are currently reading
97 people want to read

About the author

Steve Barlow

273 books15 followers
Steve Barlow (real name Steven Lowe) was born in Britain. He studied at Warwick University and Nottingham University, and worked at various times as a teacher, actor, stage manager and puppeteer. Then he went to teach in Botswana. On his return to the UK he met Steve Skidmore, collectively known as The Two Steves—are British collaborative writers who mostly work in the field of children's literature. They have written over 70 books together.

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5 stars
49 (37%)
4 stars
42 (32%)
3 stars
28 (21%)
2 stars
7 (5%)
1 star
3 (2%)
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
Profile Image for Michael Fierce.
334 reviews23 followers
December 9, 2015

After having just read the first in this series, Return To The Lost World, I immediately jumped into this one to keep the vibe going. Both are YA books and a great way to introduce yourself to older classics on the fringe of Steampunk.

The characters are fun, the world a movie-version of our own, and both the stories and the villains cut from the same cloth as the Indiana Jones movies.

This book, like it's predecessor, is a fast-paced adventure that never lets up. While it is fun there is nothing new here, and several ideas, bits of dialogue and settings will all feel familiar to any reader.

The connections I made were to the characters and the world, not really to the plot. I didn't feel The Steve's expanded on the idea of revisiting the world of 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea at the level I wanted them to. Sure there was some excitement beneath the waves and the attack of a giant squid, as the really cool cover shows, but most of the adventure was on top of the water.

I probably rated both books 1 star too high, but the first one re-explored Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Lost World and this one, revisited Jules Verne's famous submarine the Nautilus, and so I gave each 1 star extra.

I look forward to reading the next book in the series, Return To King Solomon's Mines, when I can add it to my collection.
Profile Image for Deena Abutaha.
210 reviews9 followers
November 10, 2018
An entertaining read, very action packed. Maybe a little too action packed. Luke Challenger is definitely a Mary Sue, but it was still fun.
13 reviews2 followers
January 6, 2012
A Book Review of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
By Roger, Grade 7, Yangon International School
Imagine traveling underwater to explore the sea for an entire life without even coming back to land! Who would live in an underwater world? What might be the hidden dangers? Are there hidden mysteries? The novel, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne, one of the most translated authors in the world, also known as “Father of Science Fiction”, is a science fiction book that contains adventures, undiscovered mysteries, and secrets to discover, from the underwater world!
The story begins with a transoceanic cruise, Abraham Lincoln, tries to hunt the mysterious monster threatening many people in the sea. However, the crew is unable to discover any clue about the monster. That is until the monster bumps into the ship, causes two people to go overboard. After the monster disappeared once again, the two survivors, Professor Aronnax and Counseil, wander around the surrounding area, and discover one more survivor, Ned. Unfortunately, with minimal hope, the three survivors consider themselves dead until: they are stepping on the monster, Nautilus, the futuristic submarine. Nautilus immediately rises above the surface of the water, subjugates the survivors under the control of Captain Nemo, the person that wishes to own his own mini world. His main goal is to explore the sea, the motherland of many dangerous and harmful creatures, along with the three survivors, with the new adventure waiting for them.
Verne’s development of the plot was amusing and creative. Even though the story didn’t have any critical theme, graphic and invigorating structure of the story line and the cordial usage of the sentences caused the story to became full of amazing entertainments. Verne also did a terrific job in creating a rare and unusual plot in an underwater. For the characters, Verne decided to add completely different attitudes and behaviors to each of the characters that made them unique and astonishing. As for Captain Nemo, a unique character with a strange attitude, can be both friendly and mean. Even though he wasn’t pleased being hunted at the first place, he still treated the three survivors as if they were friends. On the other side, he feared that his secret would be spread, and decided to subjugate them and never let them leave the crew. His reaction forced the survivors to make an indeterminable decision, and also left them to be bewildered.
Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea was mainly designed for the teenage readers and some adults that love science fiction. From scale 1 (low) to 5 (high), I rate this a four because the entire story was filled with excitements described by detailed and cordial passages. Besides, the vocabulary usages of the words were not very difficult, so it is easier for young readers to enjoy.
Profile Image for Jacob speight.
2 reviews
March 19, 2015
I decided to read this book because I liked the idea of the story being carried on from the ending of the classic novel by Jules Verne.

This book is the continuation 20,000 Leagues under the sea, set 66 years later. Two boys find a journal which will lead them to the Captain Nemo’s submarine. There is a dangerous enemy who wants to find it too. They find the truth behind what powdered the Nautilus and they needed to get to it before the Sons of Destiny cult does.

An interesting character in the story was Nick because he never gave up when he sets his mind to it. In the story he was there to balance Luke who is the main character. He was the strength where Luke was more the brains. This helped with the adventure pieces.

My favourite quote from the book is “the aft torpedo room, was also the emergency escape compartment. The racks held underwater breathing apparatus. The gas cylinder is supposed to inflate the bladder to bring you to the surface as well as give you air to breathe.”
I like this part as it gave me an idea of how they will escape. I imagined them leaving in big Zorp balls filled with air. This would be something I would like to see but probably never do it myself.

Something I learned by reading the “Return to 20,000 Leagues under the sea” was even though this was a fictional made up story there were bits that could be true. It makes you think about it even after finished reading the book.
Profile Image for C.O. Bonham.
Author 15 books37 followers
February 25, 2016
Like the first book in the Luke Challenger series,Return To The Lost World, this novel takes another classic sci-fi novel and plays around with the idea of it being based on fact.

Return to 20,000 leagues under the sea, re-imagines Jules Verne's Classic submarine adventure as a literary cover-up. Verne and Nemo agreed that the world was not ready for nuclear energy. So the names were changed, the sub scuttled and the plans hidden.

Seventy years later, the secret has surfaced. Now the World sits on the brink of war, and the country that finds the sub first -- wins.

Unless Luke Challenger gets in the way.

Another exciting adventure that does for classic sci-fi, what Indiana Jones did for archaeology.
56 reviews2 followers
September 8, 2011
A mysterious sea creature has appeared and the government is decided to hunt it down. Arronnax, Ned, and Conseil were invited to join an expedition to hunt down the monster. The creature itself is actually a submarine at the time when submarines were not invented yet. The three protagonists went aboard the submarine after they lost the fight and little did they know that they would travel 20,000 leagues under the sea.
This book is very interesting and full of adventures. I recommend this book to anyone who likes to read about adventures and classic novels.
Profile Image for Pam.
1,728 reviews54 followers
January 17, 2016
My son asked me to read this. 5 stars for him. 3-4 for me. I did enjoy this one more than the first one.
Profile Image for Mackenzie.
14 reviews
November 15, 2011
Finished in Study Hall. I still wonder if there was a real captain Nemo.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews

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