Audiobooks by Jules Verne

James Wood breathes new life into this wonderful classic filled with mystery and adventure. After hijacking a balloon from a Confederate camp, a band of five northern prisoners escapes the American Civil War. Seven thousand miles later, they drop from the clouds onto an uncharted volcanic island in the Pacific. Through teamwork, scientific knowledge, engineering, and perseverance, they endeavour to build a colony from scratch. But this island of abundant resources has its secrets. The castaways discover they are not alone. A shadowy, yet familiar, agent of their unfathomable fate is watching.

Jules Verne (Author), James Wood (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Purchase of the North Pole

The men who fired a projectile From the Earth to the Moon are back, this time with an even more outrageous idea. Convinced that there are massive coal deposits at the North Pole, they want to tilt the axis of the earth enough to melt the ice cap. They see fortunes to be made; the rest of the world sees devastation and destruction. It’s one of Verne’s strongest satires about corporate greed and the evils of unregulated industrialization. There are few complete and accurate translations of the novel available in English. Ron Miller, illustrator, space artist, and Verne expert, has taken an anonymous 19th century translation and updated and expanded it to restore the omitted passages. Verne’s sardonic sense of humor has never been more in evidence. The novel is narrated by Tad Davis, who has previously narrated three other Verne novels, including the Moon novel that precedes this one.

Jules Verne (Author), Tad Davis (Narrator)

Audiobook

From the Earth to the Moon and Around the Moon

From the Earth to the Moon and its sequel, Around the Moon, present Jules Verne’s 19th century vision of space travel. Because rockets at the time were seriously limited in range and payload, he launches his three travellers from a gigantic cannon instead. In a voyage with striking parallels to the Apollo space program, they leave in a conical projectile from South Florida, experience weightlessness, orbit the Moon, conduct experiments, and end up splashing down in the Pacific Ocean. There are certainly fanciful aspects to the novel, but Verne worked out the math and science in meticulous detail, and his work inspired many people involved in the American and European space programs in the 20th century. And he managed to do all this while combining the story with an often hilarious satire on the American obsession with guns, firepower, and commercialization. This audio version is the first one in English to make use of a new, complete, and accurate translation. Many of the mistakes Verne has been accused of making over the years were in fact made by his translators, and every effort has been made here to scrupulously follow his original text. Verne’s passion, his astonishing research, and his surprising humor are all on display. The translation is by Verne expert and space illustrator Ron Miller; the narration is by Tad Davis, who has previously narrated the Verne novels Journey to the Center of the Earth and The Mysterious Island. The audiobook includes two essays by Ron Miller. One analyzes the science Verne used in the novel; the other describes Miller’s series of books The Conquest of Space — new editions, both reprints and new translations, of many long out-of-print books and stories on the subject of space exploration. This translation originally appeared as part of that series.

Jules Verne (Author), Tad Davis (Narrator)

Audiobook

Journey to the Center of the Earth

‘Looking back to all that has occurred to me since that eventful day, I am scarcely able to believe in the reality of my adventures. They were truly so wonderful that even now I am bewildered when I think of them.’ When the renowned and eccentric professor Otto Lidenbrock discovers a mysterious runic script in an Icelandic manuscript, he knows it’s important. But it’s only after his nephew, Axel, cracks the code that the two of them, along with their guide Hans, start on a treacherous, wonderful adventure that none of them will ever forget.

Jules Verne (Author), Joel Froomkin (Narrator)

Audiobook

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

This story is by the second most translated author in the world, ranking below Agatha Christie and above William Shakespeare. The name is Jules Verne, often called “The father of science fiction,” and he was a tremendous inspiration for many writers that followed. His methods were definitely not scientifically accurate but were made into overwhelming literature by vivid imagination. A myth-like feeling is engendered by dining in Le Jules Verne restaurant in the Eiffel Tower in Paris. It helps stir an appetite for sensational adventures. In this book, Verne used first person narration by top-notch fictional scholar, Professor Aronnax, who is aided by his servant Conseil. They voyage on the Nautilus submarine of Captain Nemo, a man with feelings of omnipotence and obsession for power. We get a feeling of being along as we listen.

Jules Verne (Author), John Rayburn (Narrator)

Audiobook

A Journey into the Interior of the Earth (Unabridged)

A Journey into the Interior of the Earth by Jules Verne - is a classic science fiction novel by Jules Verne. It was first published in French in 1864, then reissued in 1867 in a revised and expanded edition. Professor Otto Lidenbrock is the tale's central figure, an eccentric German scientist who believes there are volcanic tubes that reach to the very center of the earth. He, his nephew Axel, and their Icelandic guide Hans rappel into Iceland's celebrated inactive volcano Snæfellsjökull, then contend with many dangers, including cave-ins, subpolar tornadoes, an underground ocean, and living prehistoric creatures from the Mesozoic and Cenozoic eras (the 1867 revised edition inserted additional prehistoric material in Chaps. 37-39). Plot: The story begins in May 1863, at the home of Professor Otto Lidenbrock in Hamburg, Germany. While leafing through an original runic manuscript of an Icelandic saga, Lidenbrock and his nephew Axel find a coded note written in runic script along with the name of a 16th-century Icelandic alchemist, Arne Saknussemm. When translated into English, the note reads: Go down into the crater of Snaefells Jökull, which Scartaris's shadow caresses just before the calends of July, O daring traveler, and you'll make it to the center of the earth. I've done so. Arne Saknussemm Lidenbrock departs for Iceland immediately, taking the reluctant Axel with him. After a swift trip via Kiel and Copenhagen, they arrive in Reykjavík. There they hire as their guide Icelander Hans Bjelke, a Danish-speaking eiderduck hunter, then travel overland to the base of Snæfellsjökull. In late June they reach the volcano and set off into the bowels of the earth, encountering many dangers and strange phenomena. After taking a wrong turn, they run short of water and Axel nearly perishes, but Hans saves them all by tapping into a subterranean river, which shoots out a stream of water that Lidenbrock and Axel name the 'Hansbach' in the guide's honor. Following the course of the Hansbach, the explorers descend many miles and reach an underground world, with an ocean and a vast ceiling with clouds, as well as a permanent Aurora giving light. The travelers build a raft out of semipetrified wood and set sail. While at sea, they encounter prehistoric fish such as Pterichthyodes (here called 'Pterichthys') Dipterus (referred to as 'Dipterides') and giant marine reptiles from the Age of the Dinosaurs, namely an Ichthyosaurus and a Plesiosaurus. A lightning storm threatens to destroy the raft and its passengers, but instead throws them onto the site of an enormous fossil graveyard, including bones from the Pterodactylus, Megatherium, Deinotherium, Glyptodon, a mastodon and the preserved body of a prehistoric man. Lidenbrock and Axel venture into a forest featuring primitive vegetation from the Tertiary Period; in its depths they are stunned to find a prehistoric humanoid more than twelve feet in height and watching over a herd of mastodons. Fearing they may be hostile, they leave the forest.

Jules Verne (Author), Mark Nelson (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Mysterious Island (Unabridged)

The Mysterious Island by Jules Verne - is a novel by Jules Verne, published in 1875. The original edition, published by Hetzel, contains a number of illustrations by Jules Férat. The novel is a crossover sequel to Verne's famous Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas (1870) and In Search of the Castaways (1867-68), though its themes are vastly different from those books. An early draft of the novel, initially rejected by Verne's publisher and wholly reconceived before publication, was titled Shipwrecked Family: Marooned with Uncle Robinson, seen as indicating the influence of the novels Robinson Crusoe and The Swiss Family Robinson. Verne developed a similar theme in his later novel, Godfrey Morgan (French: L'École des Robinsons, 1882). Plot summary During the American Civil War, five Northern prisoners of war escape during the Siege of Richmond, Virginia, by hijacking a hydrogen-filled observation balloon. The escapees are Cyrus Smith, a railroad engineer in the Union army (named Cyrus Harding in Kingston's version); his ex-slave and loyal follower Neb (short for Nebuchadnezzar); Bonadventure Pencroff, a sailor (who is addressed only by his surname; in Kingston's translation, he is named Pencroft); his protégé and adopted son Harbert Brown (called Herbert in some translations); and the journalist Gedéon Spilett (Gideon Spilett in English versions). The company is completed by Cyrus's dog 'Top'. After flying in a great storm for several days, the group crash-lands on a cliff-bound, volcanic, unknown island, described as being located at 34°57_S 150°30_W (Southern Pacific Ocean/Asian:Oceanian side), about 2,500 kilometres (1,600 mi) east of New Zealand. They name it 'Lincoln Island' in honor of Abraham Lincoln. With the knowledge of the brilliant engineer Smith, the five are able to sustain themselves on the island, producing fire, pottery, bricks, nitroglycerin, iron, an electric telegraph, a cave home inside a stony cliff called 'Granite House', and even a seaworthy ship, which they name the 'Bonadventure'. During their stay on the island, the group endures bad weather and domesticates an orangutan, Jupiter, abbreviated to Jup (or Joop, in Jordan Stump's translation). There is a mystery on the island in the form of an unseen deus ex machina, responsible for Cyrus' survival after falling from the balloon, the mysterious rescue of Top from a dugong, the appearance of a box of equipment (guns and ammunition, tools, etc.), and other seemingly inexplicable occurrences. The group finds a message in a bottle directing them to rescue a castaway on nearby Tabor Island, who is none other than Tom Ayrton (from In Search of the Castaways). On the return voyage to Lincoln Island, they lose their way in a tempest but are guided back to their course by a mysterious fire beacon.

Jules Verne (Author), Mark Nelson (Narrator)

Audiobook

Around the World in Eighty Days (Unabridged)

Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne - is an adventure novel by the French writer Jules Verne, first published in French in 1872. In the story, Phileas Fogg of London and his newly employed French valet Passepartout attempt to circumnavigate the world in 80 days on a wager of £20,000 (equivalent to £1.9 million in 2019) set by his friends at the Reform Club. It is one of Verne's most acclaimed works. Plot Phileas Fogg is a wealthy English gentleman living a solitary life in London. Despite his wealth, Fogg lives modestly and carries out his habits with mathematical precision. Very little can be said about his social life other than that he is a member of the Reform Club, where he spends the best part of his days. Having dismissed his valet for bringing him shaving water at a temperature slightly lower than expected, Fogg hires Frenchman Jean Passepartout as a replacement. On the evening of 2 October 1872, while at the Reform Club, Fogg gets involved in an argument over an article in The Daily Telegraph stating that with the opening of a new railway section in India, it is now possible to travel around the world in 80 days. He accepts a wager for £20,000, half of his fortune, from his fellow club members to complete such a journey within this period. With Passepartout accompanying him, Fogg departs from London by train at 8:45 p.m. that evening; to win the wager, he must return to the club by this same time on 21 December, 80 days later. They take the remaining £20,000 of Fogg's fortune with them to cover expenses during the journey. Fogg and Passepartout reach Suez on time. While disembarking in Egypt, they are watched by a Scotland Yard policeman, Detective Fix, dispatched from London in search of a bank robber. Since Fogg fits the vague description Scotland Yard was given of the robber, Detective Fix mistakes Fogg for the criminal. Since he cannot secure a warrant in time, Fix boards the steamer (the Mongolia) conveying the travellers to Bombay. Fix becomes acquainted with Passepartout without revealing his purpose. Fogg promises the steamer engineer a large reward if he gets them to Bombay early. They dock two days ahead of schedule. After reaching India, they take a train from Bombay to Calcutta. Fogg learns that the Daily Telegraph article was wrong; an 80 km (50 mi) stretch of track from Kholby to Allahabad has not yet been built. Fogg purchases an elephant, hires a guide and starts toward Allahabad.

Jules Verne (Author), Ralph Snelson (Narrator)

Audiobook

Journey to the Center of the Earth

Journey to the Center of the Earth is one of Jules Verne's first novels and remains one of his most audacious and imaginative. This audiobook uses the translation published anonymously by Routledge in 1876, recently identified as the work of the translator Jessie Campbell. While the translation has long been highly regarded among Vernians for its style and accuracy, some aspects of the language have not aged well, and updates and corrections have been made. A short essay at the end of the audiobook describes the kinds of changes that were made and the reasons for making them. The goal has been to preserve the unique characteristics of Jessie Campbell's work while removing the more jarring obstacles to its immediate enjoyment. Tad Davis, a longtime member of the North American Jules Verne Society, has previously recorded the Sidney Kravitz translation of The Mysterious Island. He is currently working on new versions of Verne's Baltimore Gun Club novels.

Jules Verne (Author), Tad Davis (Narrator)

Audiobook

La Chasse Au Météore - Jules Verne

Deux astronomes américains se disputent la paternité d'un météore qu'ils ont tous deux aperçu. Cette rivalité met à mal le projet de mariage que le fils de l'un et la fille de l'autre ont formé, surtout quand des observations plus approfondies révèlent que le bolide est composé d'or pur. Pendant ce temps, un scientifique français fantasque met au point un appareil capable de changer la trajectoire du météore, au point de le faire chuter à l'endroit où il le souhaite. Toutefois, totalement désintéressé sur le plan financier et ne voyant que l'intérêt scientifique de son invention, il peine à comprendre le déchaînement des foules au sujet de la chute de l'objet.

Jules Verne (Author), Julien Brunel (Narrator)

Audiobook

Deux Ans De Vacances - Jules Verne

Quatorze garçons âgés de huit à quatorze ans, tous pensionnaires d'un collège de Nouvelle-Zélande nommé « Chairman », se retrouvent sur le Sloughi qui dérive et fait rapidement naufrage sur une île déserte du Pacifique. Peu à peu, en compagnie d'un jeune mousse, seul membre restant de l'équipage du navire, leur vie s'organise et s'améliore, mais des rivalités se font de plus en plus sentir dans la communauté des quinze rescapés. Une scission est sur le point d'avoir lieu quand des bandits abordent le rivage, obligeant les enfants à utiliser toute leur force de cohésion pour les affronter. Ceux-ci arrivent sur l'île le 10 mars 1860 et en repartent le 5 février 1862, d'où le titre de Deux Ans de vacances. Ils atteignent Auckland, en Nouvelle-Zélande, le 25 février 1862. Jules Verne se lance dans l'écriture de ce roman car son projet est de « parfaire le cycle » des robinsonnades : « Il restait à montrer une troupe d'enfants de huit à treize ans, abandonnés dans une île, luttant pour la vie au milieu des passions entretenues par les différences de nationalité. »

Jules Verne (Author), Léa Leclerc (Narrator)

Audiobook

20000 Lieux Sous Les Mers: Jules Verne

L'apparition d'une bête monstrueuse en 1866 dans plusieurs mers du globe défraie la chronique. L'animal, rapide, fusiforme et phosphorescent, est responsable de plusieurs naufrages, brisant le bois et l'acier des navires avec une force colossale. De retour d'une expédition dans le Nebraska, Pierre Aronnax, professeur suppléant au Muséum national d'histoire naturelle, émet l'hypothèse d'un narval géant. Les compagnies d'assurances maritimes menacent d'augmenter leurs prix et demandent que le monstre soit éliminé. Une grande chasse est alors organisée à bord de l’Abraham Lincoln, fleuron de la marine américaine, mené par le commandant Farragut. Aronnax reçoit une lettre du secrétaire de la Marine lui demandant de rejoindre l’expédition pour représenter la France. Le scientifique embarque avec son fidèle domestique flamand, Conseil. À bord, ils font la connaissance de Ned Land, harponneur originaire de Québec. Après des mois de navigation, la confrontation avec le monstre a enfin lieu, et l'Abraham Lincoln est endommagé. Un choc entre le monstre et la frégate projette Aronnax et Ned par-dessus bord. Conseil se jette alors à l'eau pour secourir son maître. Tous trois échouent finalement sur le dos du monstre, qui n'est autre qu'un sous-marin en tôle armée. Les naufragés sont faits prisonniers et se retrouvent à bord du mystérieux appareil. Ils font alors connaissance du capitaine Nemo, qui refuse de leur rendre la liberté. « Vous êtes venus surprendre un secret que nul homme au monde ne doit pénétrer, le secret de toute mon existence ! Et vous croyez que je vais vous renvoyer sur cette terre qui ne doit plus me connaître ! Jamais ! En vous retenant, ce n’est pas vous que je garde, c’est moi-même ! »

Jules Verne (Author), Louis Sendrous (Narrator)

Audiobook