Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas

Jules Verne

Aug 1994 · Google Play Public Domain · AI-narrated by Alistair (from Google)

About this audiobook

A seminal tale of science fiction, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas is one of Jules Verne’s most famous novels. It’s more than just a stirring adventure tale—it’s also one of Verne’s most scientifically-accurate and prescient works, predicting amazing advances in electricity, undersea travel, and technology.

In it we follow Professor Aronnax, a French marine biologist, as he and his companions, Conseil and Ned Land, become prisoners (guests?) aboard the Nautilus, captained by the mysterious and tortured Captain Nemo. Their adventures, including encounters with island-locked natives, battles with giant sea squids, and undersea shark hunting, have become iconic parts of modern culture.

This translation was produced and dedicated to the public domain in 1991 by F. P. Walter, making it an extremely rare treasure: a high-quality modern translation free from any intellectual monopoly restrictions.

This book is part of the Standard Ebooks project, which produces free public domain ebooks.

Ratings and reviews

Obviously a great story but person reading it was speaking way too fast. It's like he was in a competition to get it over with as fast as possible. Made it impossible to enjoy. I had to give up soon into chapter one. If this is representative of other audiobooks they are definitely not worth buying. I was excited in the idea of audiobooks and Jules Verne seemed like a great first choice but I found the performance to be very disappointing.

Several reviewers complain about the voice. It's an artificial voice, or AI. It needs more emotion in the voice but at least it pauses at commas and periods. It is possible to tweak the voice speed - which is absolutely necessary. I started at 85% and moved to 90%. I may go back to 85%. I think the problem with the speed - is more from the lack of emotion in the voice. The audio book reader has tweaks to slow the voice. It also has a choice to use a more human voice but I haven't figured out if I am using it.

The autoreader had trouble reconciling the phrase, "Bah!" It spells out the letters B-A-H every time it's used. The autoreader also switches between two different pronunciations for Conseil's name. Given the text, I'd still say this was a valiant effort for text-to-speech.

About the author

Jules Verne was born on February 8, 1828 in Nantes, France. He wrote for the theater and worked briefly as a stockbroker. He is considered by many to be the father of science fiction. His most popular novels included Journey to the Center of the Earth, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, and Around the World in Eighty Days. Several of his works have been adapted into movies and TV mini-series. In 1892, he was made a Chevalier of the Legion of Honor in France. He died on March 24, 1905 at the age of 77.