Published in 1886, Robur the Conqueror tells of a competition between advocates of lighter-than-air aircraft (balloons) and advocates of heavier-than-air aircraft. Robur the Conquerer has developed the latter, and intends to show that it's much more practical than balloons. His aircraft first appears as an unexplained phenomena over several cities. When he finally goes public with his assertion, he's at first ridiculed, but then he abducts the two most influential advocates of lighter-than-air craft and takes them for a ride around the world in his aircraft, named the Albatross, to show them how much more practical his version is.

This sets us off on a tour of the world of 1886, with detailed descriptions of every place visited during the trip. There are some adventures, a battle and a rescue, but to modern readers, this is boredom in the extreme. To readers of the time, however, readers who rarely traveled very far and could only visit foreign places by reading books, this was no doubt entertaining in the extreme. On the other hand, Verne's style of writing never lets us really know the characters or their ambitions, except for the ambitions of Robur, and we're never privy to their thoughts, except as they lead to spur-of-the-moment decisions. The character Frycollin, a black man who had the misfortune of being the servant of one of the main characters, was treated by Verne in a demeaning and prejudicial way, to the extent that we would today call racist.

In spite of all this, Verne was amazingly prescient in his view of aircraft in the time of 1886, which was primarily, perhaps only, balloons, perhaps powered, but with little control except in extremely calm wind conditions. These he called aerostats, while Robur's heavier-than-air contraption, powered by 74 engines, was called an aeronef. The distinction, and the words, were not explained. He listed the contrivances likely to solve the problem of flight as three kinds:
"1. Helicopters or spiralifers, which are simply screws with vertical axes.
2. Ornithopters, machines which endeavour to reproduce the natural flight of birds.
3. Aeroplanes, which are merely inclined planes like kites, but towed or driven by screws."

This shows remarkable knowledge of the state of flight as it existed at that time. He also makes an accurate prediction: "He (Robur) employed electricity, that agent which one day will be the soul of the industrial world."

And Verne is also aware of the importance of speed. He writes: "Torpedo-boats do their twenty-two knots an hour; railway trains do their sixty miles an hour; the ice-boats on the frozen Hudson do their sixty-five miles an hour: a machine built by Patterson company, with a cogged wheel, has done its eighty miles; and another locomotive between Trenton and Jersey City has done its eighty-four" (not quite fast enough to push Doc's Delorean to its required 88 mph, but fast for its time). He continues: "But the 'Albatross,' at full speed, could do her hundred and twenty miles an hour, or 176 feet per second." And he knows the importance of efficiency, or packaging a big punch in a small package, while crafting a vivid image: "...engineers and electricians had been approaching more and more to that desideratum which is known as a steam horse in a watch case."

In spite of all of this, Robur the Conqueror is not an entertaining read for most modern readers. I give it a reasonably average rating, 3 out of 5 stars, only because it would have been entertaining in its time, and because of the obvious knowledge of its author. Jules Verne has written some great stories. This one doesn't measure up to those, and doesn't hold its entertainment value into the modern age.

I am still reading this but far along enough to know it is very good. If you look at the device in the story you can see he predicted the drone (the small one with the vertical propellers). Also a good story.

As is often the case with Jules Verne he has not really written a story but more of a thin narrative written around his thoughts on science and geography. In this case the book is concerned with the direction of air travel technology. Verne accurately anticipated that balloon travel was a dead end and created the character of Robur to mock those who would advance aerostat travel as a viable means of air transportation. After forcefully interrupting a meeting of the Weldon Institute where they were discussing their latest project, a massive balloon called the ‘Go-Ahead’, Robur proceeds to insult the very idea of continuing with balloon technology. So insulted are the members of the Weldon Institute that they literally try to kill Robur who is forced to flee. Later, when the Weldon Institute president (Uncle Prudent) and secretary (Phil Evens) are out searching for Robur they are themselves captured and taken on a flight around the world in Robur’s “Albatros”.

Robur the Conqueror was published in 1886, almost two decades before the flight of the Wright brothers so the true direction of air travel was still *ahem* up in the air. The similarities between this book and “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea” is unmistakable both featuring an inventor who creates a vehicle decades ahead of its time. Both kidnapped a trio of gentlemen and brought them on a long voyage and both travelled to the South Pole. Nemo fought a pack of giant Squid and Robur fought a hurricane. Nemo had his Lincoln Island and Robur has Island X. Having read them both I actually prefer this book. The underwater realm is perhaps more interesting but Robur is a much more compelling character than Captain Nemo. Robur’s vehicle isn’t quite the configuration that would become the modern aircraft and it runs on electricity rather than fuel but he got right that it would be lofted using screws (propellers). Oh, and the frame is made of lightweight but incredibly strong paper. Yeah, he kinda missed the mark on that one too.

Jules Verne’s books tend to be very stoic and sterile with a lot of facts and figures (some of them dubious) and characters that are dry and unemotional. This book is no different but every once in a while Verne manages to squeeze in a special moment. The biggest moment for me in all his books was the death of Captain Nemo at the end of ‘The Mysterious Island’ but Robur the Conqueror has my second favorite when the supposedly deceased Robur and his ‘Albatros’ faces off against the Weldon Institute’s massive ‘Go-Ahead’. It’s a spine tingling moment that is rare in a Jules Verne novel. By the end it’s clear that Robur isn’t merely a man, he is the harbinger of the future. His title of “Conqueror” was bestowed on him in jest but what he has conquered is technology. Robur’s conquest is abrupt, total and decisive. Verne doesn’t equivocate; the future “belongs to the aeronef and not the aerostat” and Verne was 100% correct.

Great story, I read it to my 2 year old every night before bed and he won't let me put it away until he's almost all the way asleep.

I personnaly love the story and I'm really appreciating the words that Verne used that are no longer used. I've had to look up quite a few, and I'm not an uneducated man.

This is a great read for a young adolescent, full of adventure. I loved this book as a young girl and still enjoy it. Verne really was ahead of his time in many ways.

Somewhat a travel guide, somewhat an adventure story wrapped in the future of heavier than air craft with a final chapter with contains an unheeded warning.

Jules Verne uses his incredible knowledge of the earth to write a fanciful and dark story about Robur the Conqueror. From his initial appearance and sightings, to his kidnapping of key players in the book, Jules leads us on a fanciful journey, capturing mile after mile accurately and considering the date of publish, more than 90% of the readers would ever see.
If you enjoyed this book, and would like to read more accurate descriptions of travel, try Mark Twain's, Life on the Mississippi.

A great book from my favorite author, I will read any book from Jules Verne. They all are good some are better.