20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (Great Illustrated Classics)

Fairly interesting when one dispenses with the ridiculous lists of fish species. The episode in which they are trapped under ice was particularly well written.

This is an excellent volume of this story - it's the one I fell in love with as a child and checked out of the library more times than I could count. It was this specific book that piqued my interest in Jules Verne and authors like him (H.G. Wells, namely). The illustrations well replace the tedious descriptions of fish in the unabridged versions of the book, and I would absolutely recommend this edition to advanced elementary and middle school readers who are curious about some of the older classics that may be out of their comfort zone. It is an incredible introduction.

For its age, a surprisingly lucid piece of sci-fi about an underwater voyage in a deep submersion vehicle - submarine, powered by the promising new technology - electricity. Good stuff even today.

The fourth star is because the author was a genius. When you think of where the technology of the world was when he wrote this, it is incredible. Perhaps all of the ideas weren't all his, but it's still amazing. The other pleasant surprise for me was that it is a truly enjoyable read.