Desert of Ice [Hardcover]

Jules Verne (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1976 | ISBN-10: 0884119033 | ISBN-13: 978-0884119036

In this book Verne struck again the bolder note of imagination and creation. Here the daring explorers are represented as actually attaining the pole; and the bold inventions of what they saw and did, rising to the startling climax of the volcano and the madman's climb, are led up to through such a well-managed, well-constructed and convincing story, that many critics have selected this in its turn as the most powerful of Verne's works. It is notable that, with the exception of the open sea and the volcano, the world which our author here penetrates in imagination, coincides closely with that which Peary has discovered to exist in reality. Here are the same barren lands, the same weary sledge journey, the same locations of land and sea, the "red snow," the open leads in the ice. Verne's predictions, wild as they sometimes seem, were all so carefully studied that they shoot most close to truth.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 40 pages
• Publisher: Amereon Ltd (June 1976)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0884119033
• ISBN-13: 978-0884119036
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,715,131 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars The Better Of The Two Volumes, March 1, 2005

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Dave_42 "Dave_42" (Australia) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Desert of Ice (Hardcover)

This is the second of two volumes of the "Voyages and Adventures of Captain Hatteras". It was first published in magazine form between March 20th, 1864 and December 5th of 1865, and in Book form on May 4th, 1866. Together with "At The North Pole" it forms the second adventure story by Jules Verne.

This book does not stand on its own, you need to read "At The North Pole" first. This book picks up right after the cliff-hanging ending of the first book. Where the first book was fairly repetitive, this book has a much better variety of difficulties for the characters to overcome. Obviously the cold is still a significant obstacle as is food, but to these are added predatory bears, and the mutinous crew is replaced by a rivalry between Captain Hattaras and the American Captain Altamont.

For me, this book had a much better pace than the first book. The characters are not just sitting around waiting for things to happen as much as they were in the prior volume. Despite some glaring factual errors which date the book, and a somewhat anti-climactic ending, I found this to be more entertaining than "At The North Pole", and I give it the higher rating of the two volumes.