The Steampunk, Cyberpunk, and Other Fictitious and Non-Fictitious Works Group discussion

Post your reviews for "Around the World in Eighty Days" by Jules Verne here.

Absolutely loved the setup of Phileas Fogg's clockwork lifestyle, the description of the Victorian Reform Club, and the suddenness when they depart. It has such a thick air of adventure about the whole thing. I love that Victorian solemnity and determination to keep a wager for the sake of honor, or duel with pistols over the slightest insult, and generally the grand sense of adventure that a long journey around the world entails. The train journey across America was a big highlight, as was the problems in India with the railway. I love learning about the world in this time period, and Vern helps you learn by giving little descriptions of elephant training, how steamers were coaled up in such places, etc.

The ending is superbly satisfactory, but there are some parts that drag in the middle, and I would have preferred a few more subplots of action in the middle of the journey. Fogg should get off the boat a little more.

In my opinion the best "steampunk" is this kind of "steampunk." Real Victorian technology, rather than sci-fi in the past. I guess I just love this period as an adventure/fantasy setting. I write my own books in this 100% realistic style, using only possible Victorian tech. This is one of Vern's most celebrated books, and there is no piece of technology or sci-fi at its center, which is important. The technology itself is just part of the setting and not the main point, as it should be.