Nautilus: A sequel to Jules Verne's Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas and The Mysterious Island

by Craig Weatherhill

1883: - On a doomed volcanic island in the southern Pacific, a group of American castaways commit the body of an enigmatic genius to the deep, along with the secrets of an extraordinary life... 2014: - The Deep Watch environmental ship Aurora mysteriously sinks with all hands in remote Antarctic waters and a subsequent oceanic sequence of strange sightings, antique gold bars and damaged ships blazes a trail around the world. Separate investigations by journalist Barrington Hobbes and Naval Intelligence officer Donall Lindsay lead both towards extreme danger on land and sea, a worldwide ecological conspiracy... and an avenging legend!

Genres: Adventure

360 pages, Hardcover

First published December 21, 2009

About the author

Craig Weatherhill (1950 or 1951–2020) was a Cornish antiquarian, novelist and writer on the history, archaeology, place names and mythology of Cornwall.

Reviews

[Dennis · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun book to read, it uses the approach that something that was believed by many to be a fictional creation was really real, in this case Captain Nemo and his submarine the Nautilus. That said, the author attempted to reconcile things that Jules Verne scholars have stuggled with for some time. The first of one of these I could buy, his explanation for the name change of a central character from Mysterious Island that done by English translators over the years (use of the name Cyrus Harding, instead of Verne's original name of Cyrus Smith). I'll give him that one, I've personally have always like Harding better anyway. The big one though is Captain Nemo's timeline. This can't just be rectified by saying that there was a massive cover-up and that Mysterious Island was actually written in the mid-1880s; that story was published in 1874, there would have been ample physical evidence.

[AMD · Rating 5 out of 5]

A along time fan of Jules Verne, I must admit my opinion of any story is probably a tad biased. That said, I am grateful for this continuing adventure of the Nautilus.

Craig Weatherhill picks up where Verne leaves off, catapulting the story through to present day. The Nautilus successfully integrates the best of Nemo with modern dilemmas and villains to create a new adventure I believe Jules would have enjoyed himself. Trying to follow behind any great author, especially the likes of Jules Verne, is an arduous task; one which Weatherhill achieves.

If you love Jules Verne, or any good adventure, you will enjoy this book. I am delighted to place it among my other Verne novels and look forward to a reread in the future.

I wish Weatherhill would consider tackling another Verne by further following Cyrus Harding. I think that would make for another great and mysterious adventure. ;)