Books - Robur the Conqueror

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	Books - Robur the Conqueror

Robur The Conqueror (Robur le Conquérant in original French) is a science fiction novel by Jules Verne, published in 1886. It is also known as The Clipper of the Clouds. It has a sequel of the book, Master of the World
, which was published in 1904.

Plot

The story begins with strange lights and sounds reported in the skies over Europe. The events are capped by the mysterious appearance of a black flag atop the Eiffel Tower. These events are all the work of the mysterious Robur, a brilliant inventor ho intrudes on a meeting of a flight-enthusiast's club called the Weldon Institute.

The institute members are debating whether heavier-than-air or lighter-than-air craft will be the future of human flight. Robur shows up to announce that he has a superior heavier-than-air ship. This angers the lighter-than-air faction who are building a huge dirigible called the Go Ahead. They sieze Robur and throw him bodily out of the club.

A short time later Robur kidnaps three of the Weldon Institute's members. He takes them on board his ship, a huge vehicle called the Albatross which seems to function like a helicoptor. To demonstrate the vessel's superiority he transports the three around the world in the course of three weeks. Unfortunately this only angers the men. They use a bomb to destroy the Albatross as they are nearing Robur's secret base in the Marquesas Islands.

The Weldon Institute members return home and prepare to launch the Go Ahead. Once the airship takes off a second version of the Albatross appears and rams it. It seems that Robur escaped the destruction of the first ship and hastily built a second.

Robur saves the lives of the pilots of the Go Ahead but only after he has demonstrated the superiority of his craft.

Criticism

The novel is memorable but is not generally considered in the same league as Verne's best works. The character of Robur is never developed to the same degree as the similar Captain Nemo and the long sections on the heavier-than-air vs. lighter-than-air debate seem ridiculous to a modern reader.

Film Version

The story was made into a 1961 movie with Vincent Price as Robur. The movie kept the basic concept but added elements of intrigue and a romance to the plot.

In this version, Robur is an idealist who plans to conquor the world in order to put an end to tyranny and war. Using the Albatross he plans to bomb the nations of the world until he is acknowledged its ruler.

Instead of the Weldon Institute members he kidnaps Mr. Prudent and his lovely daughter Dorothy. Charles Bronson plays Strock, the reluctant hero who comes to admire Robur.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Robur the Conqueror ]

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