Jules Verne Extraordinary Voyages Book Cover

Les Voyages Extraordinaires ("The Extraordinary Voyages" in English) was a publishing title affixed to the novels and non-fictional writings of French author and science fiction pioneer Jules Verne. According to Verne's publisher, Jules Hetzel, the Voyages Extraordinaires intent was "to outline all the geographical, geological, physical, and astronomical knowledge amassed by modern science and to recount, in an entertaining and picturesque format...the history of the universe." Verne's meticulous attention to detail and scientific trivia, coupled with his sense of wonder and exploration, form the backbone of the Voyages Extraordinaires. Part of the reason for the broad appeal of his work was the sense that the reader could really learn something of geology, biology, astronomy, paleontology, oceanography and the exotic locations and cultures of world through the adventures of Verne's protagonists. This great wealth of information distinguished his works as "encyclopaedic novels". The first of Verne's novels to carry the title was The Adventures of Captain Hatteras, which was the third of Verne's novels. The novels in this series included both fiction and non-fiction, with overt Science Fiction (e.g.: Journey to the Centre of the Earth) or Scientific romance (e.g.: Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea) elements and without (e.g.: Around the World in Eighty Days).