CAPTAIN NEMO
The Fantastic Adventures of a Dark Genius
By Kevin J. Anderson
Titan Books
462 pages
We loved this book written in the style of the grand adventures of old. Kevin Anderson imagines Jules Verne’s fictional character as a real person named Andre Nemo. He and Jules grew up as boys in the village of Nantes, France, and were bosom buddies. Each dreamed of exploring the wide world when they were adults and having amazing adventures. Also involved in these fantasies is a local young miss named Caroline Arronax, whom both boys love deeply.
Right from the start the boy Verne is a timid soul unlike Nemo, a reckless youth eager to plunge into whatever lies ahead. And so, fate conspires to separate them when Nemo becomes a cabin boy aboard a British ship and leaves both Verne and Caroline behind. From that point on, Nemo’s life becomes one series of fantastical adventures after another. From surviving a pirate attack, being stranded on a mysterious island and discovering a world beneath the earth’s crust. All the while back in France, Verne is failing miserably at becoming a successful author and meekly submitting to his father’s wishes to study law.
As the narrative moves along, years later Nemo returns and regales both Verne and Caroline with tales of his exploits. Still restless, he soon sets off again. Meanwhile, Verne is inspired to use Nemo’s stories as the plots for his fiction. It is these books that gain him success far beyond his own imaginations. Yet he remains unable to escape his fantasy prison. Meanwhile Nemo ends up in the middle of the Crimean War riding into battle with the famous Light Brigade and later encounters nurse Florence Nightingale.
The genius of Anderson’s book is that he purposely lays the map Andre Nemo’s life against the backdrop of Jules Verne’s popular classics. He peppers supporting characters with names any reader will instantly recognize and mixes these fictional players with historical figures. Over the years, many, many writers have given us multiple versions of Captain Nemo in books, comics, and movies. Some nearly unrecognizable from Verne’s original. Whereas in this book, Anderson has given us one of the most endearing, complex and sensitive heroes to wear that name.
“Captain Nemo – The Fantastic Adventures of a Dark Genius” is a pure delight and writing masterpiece.
