Robur the Conqueror

Robur the Conqueror is a science fiction novel by Jules Verne. The story begins with strange lights and sounds, including blaring trumpet music, reported in the skies all over the world. The events are capped by the mysterious appearance of black flags with gold suns atop tall historic landmarks such as the Statue of Liberty in New York, the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt, and the Eiffel Tower in Paris. These events are all the work of the mysterious Robur (Latin for "oak"), a brilliant inventor who intrudes on a meeting of a flight-enthusiast's club called the Weldon Institute in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Public Domain (P)2011 Audible, Inc.

Wherein We Meet Robur The Conquror

This is the first volume of the two featuring this character. I believe it to be the stronger volume with a better story. As I mentioned in my review of the other volume Master Of The World, if you have seen the Vincent Price movie, you have seen a melding of these two stories. Most of that was from this volume. The protagonists are weirdly vindictive in their beliefs and resort to kidnapping and attempted murder to make a point regarding the future of manned flight. If you can get past that, it is a decent adventure story, heavy on technical details that Verne excelled in fitting into all of his writings. Not bad and worth your time.

Note: The story is very much -Of It's Time- and thusly contains a lot of none too flattering representations of a black character throughout. Be aware if you are sensitive to such issues.

Great story

Narration was a little difficult to understand and the plot at the beginning was confusing. It seems like a repetition of 20,000 leagues under the sea but a good story though. End is disappointing.

19th century sci-fi regarding flight

Jules Verne’s Robur the Conqueror, published in 1886, concerns aviation controversy in the late 18th century. Hot air ballooning was well established by this time, but the question of the viability of ‘heavier than air’ flight was debated. A mysterious figure kidnaps several senior members of a group convinced that heavier than air flight is impossible. He then proceeds to take them on an ‘around the world’ tour in his self-made heavier than air flying machine. In the end, he concludes that mankind is not yet ready for his advanced technology.

Verne deftly interweaves all the salient issues and points regarding theoretical avionics and demonstrates a command of all the relevant aspects for flight. At the same time, he offers a world wind tour of the globe as Robur’s airship traverses the planet leading to fear and speculation as to the nature of his craft. For this time, it’s a great example of Verne’s command of possible futures.

The narration is excellent with solid character distinction. Pacing is smooth.

Entertaining yarn of flight, predicting airplanes

1886 short novel taking us 20,000 leagues into the air. Who is Robur? Will his arrogant but inept antagonists destroy him? Find out!

Great story

Nice and well told
An nice adventure of robur similar to captain nemo adventurers with the nautilus
Bud then in the air
It might be Jules Verne prehistory to is final work