Do you like novels where character development, subjective perspectives, and multi-layered narratives are replaced by detailed explanations about how metallurgy and explosives work?
Do you want a main protagonist who doubles as a pontificator on the meaning of life, liberty, and everything else?
Do
you enjoy big reveals featuring inexplicable interventions by characters from
other novels that shut down storylines just as they begin to get exciting?
Jules Verne was a celebrated literary pioneer whose fantastic visions still enchant readers, but what grabs you about this legendary example of his prodigious output is a total stiffness in characters and plot.
