''Claudius Bombarnac'' (, 1893) is an

adventure novel Adventure fiction is a type of fiction that usually presents danger, or gives the reader a sense of excitement. Some adventure fiction also satisfies the literary definition of romance fiction. History In the introduction to the ''Encycloped ...

written by

Jules Verne Jules Gabriel Verne (;''Longman Pronunciation Dictionary''. ; 8 February 1828 – 24 March 1905) was a French novelist, poet and playwright. His collaboration with the publisher Pierre-Jules Hetzel led to the creation of the ''Voyages extraor ...

Plot

Claudius Bombarnac, a reporter is assigned by the ''Twentieth Century'' to cover the travels of the Grand Transasiatic Railway which runs between ''Uzun Ada'', a harbour on the eastern coast of the

Caspian Sea The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water, described as the List of lakes by area, world's largest lake and usually referred to as a full-fledged sea. An endorheic basin, it lies between Europe and Asia: east of the Caucasus, ...

, and

Peking Beijing, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's most populous national capital city as well as China's second largest city by urban area after Shanghai. It is l ...

, China. Accompanying him on this journey is an interesting collection of characters, including one who is trying to beat the round the world record and another who is a stowaway. Claudius hopes one of them will become the hero of his piece, so his story won't be just a boring travelogue. He is not disappointed when a special car guarded by troops is added to the train, said to be carrying the remains of a great Mandarin. The great Mandarin actually turns out to be a large consignment being returned to China from Persia. Unfortunately the train must travel through a large part of China that is controlled by unscrupulous robber-chiefs. Before the journey is over, Claudius finds his hero.

English titles

In addition to ''Claudius Bombarnac'', the novel has been published under several different English titles: * ''The Special Correspondent'' * ''The Adventures of a Special Correspondent'' * ''The Adventures of a Special Correspondent in Central Asia'' * ''Claudius Bombarnac: Special Correspondent'' Léon Benett"> File:'Claudius Bombarnac' by Léon Benett 14.jpg, ''De Tiflis à Kachgar'', first map File:'Claudius Bombarnac' by Léon Benett 37.jpg, ''De Kachgar à Pékin'', second map File:'Claudius Bombarnac' by Léon Benett 50.jpg, An illustration from Jules Verne's novel

Publication history

*1894, UK, London: Sampson Low. 279 pp., First UK edition *1894, US, New York: Lovell, Coryell and Co., 279 pp., First United States edition, as ''The Special Correspondent, or The Adventures of Claudius Bombarnac''

References

External links

* *
Claudius Bombarnac
available a
Jules Verne Collection
1893 French novels 1893 science fiction novels French science fiction novels French adventure novels Novels by Jules Verne Novels about journalists Novels set in Asia Novels set in China {{1890s-adventure-novel-stub