An Antarctic Mystery by Jules Verne
Author: Jules Verne | Published: 1897
An Antarctic Mystery Synopsis
An Antarctic Mystery, also known as The Sphinx of the Ice (French: Le Sphinx des glaces), is a novel by Jules Verne, first published in 1897. It is a sequel to to The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket, written by Edgar Allan Poe in 1838. It chronicles the narrator's adventures as he sails away from the Kerguelen Islands on Halbrane.
The story begins with the narrator, a wealthy American named Jeorling, traveling to the Kerguelen Islands to study the wildlife. He meets the captain of the Halbrane, Len Guy, who is obsessed with finding his brother William Guy, who disappeared on a voyage to the Antarctic in 1828. Jeorling agrees to join Guy on his quest, and they set sail for the Antarctic.
Excerpt from An Antarctic Mystery Online Book
No doubt the following narrative will be received with entire incredulity, but I think it well that the public should be put in possession of the facts narrated in “An Antarctic Mystery.” The public is free to believe them or not, at its good pleasure.
No more appropriate scene for the wonderful and terrible adventures which I am about to relate could be imagined than the Desolation Islands, so called, in 1779, by Captain Cook. I lived there for several weeks, and I can affirm, on the evidence of my own eyes and my own experience, that the famous English explorer and navigator was happily inspired when he gave the islands that significant name.
About Jules Verne
Jules Verne (1828-1905) was a French author known as the "Father of Science Fiction." He was born on February 8, 1828, in Nantes, France. Verne was fascinated with travel and exploration from an early age, inspired by the stories of his seafaring father. However, his father wanted him to pursue a legal career, so Verne studied law in Paris.
Despite studying law, Verne developed a passion for writing, and his first published work was a play in 1850. However, it was his adventure novels that brought him fame and recognition. Verne's most famous works include "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea" (1870), "Journey to the Center of the Earth" (1864), "Around the World in Eighty Days" (1873), and "The Mysterious Island" (1874). Find out more about Jules Verne at sevenov.com.