The Mighty Orinoco

Jules Verne

Dec 2005 · Wesleyan University Press

About this ebook

First English edition of a classic Verne adventure, with a unique feminist twist.

Jules Verne (1828-1905) was the first author to popularize the literary genre of science fiction. Written in 1898 and part of the author's famous series Voyages Extraordinaires, The Mighty Orinoco tells the story of a young man's search for his father along the then-uncharted Orinoco River of Venezuela. The text contains all the ingredients of a classic Verne scientific-adventure tale: exploration and discovery, humor and drama, dastardly villains and intrepid heroes, and a host of near-fatal encounters with crocodiles, jungle fever, Indians and outlaws — all set in a wonderfully exotic locale. The Mighty Orinoco also includes a unique twist that will appeal to feminists — readers will need to discover it for themselves. This Wesleyan edition features notes, and a critical introduction by renowned Verne scholar Walter James Miller, as well as reproductions of the illustrations from the original French edition.

CONTRIBUTORS: Walter James Miller, Stanford Luce, Arthur B. Evans.

About the author

ARTHUR B. EVANS is Professor of French at DePauw University and Managing Editor of the scholarly journal Science Fiction Studies. He is series editor for Wesleyan's Early Classics of Science Fiction series.

STANFORD LUCE is Professor Emeritus of French at Miami University in Ohio.

WALTER JAMES MILLER is Professor of English at The School of Professional and Continuing Studies at New York University.