Review: Very good, but not best, Verne collection.
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 02 14, 2012
Of all the Jules Verne ebook compilations containing 30+ titles currently available in the Kindle store, this Halcyon Press edition is pretty good. An active TOC pinpoints specific content. I am particularly happy to see a full and modern translation of "20,000 Leagues" by F.P.Walter (though he is not credited and his informative, introductory essay is not included). I'm also glad to see a true ("Professor Lidenbrock") translation of "Journey to the Interior of the Earth" rather than the sadly all-too-common bogus ("Professor Hardwigg") version often passed off as being by Verne. The other major works are translated reasonably well keeping in mind that these are older, public domain versions. I do, however, prefer a slightly different public domain version of "From the Earth to the Moon" and "Dick Sand," but that's a mere quibble.I have two more quibbles. FIRST is that several times a graphic will not be included but the words "graphic appears here" will appear instead. SECOND is that italics are often represented by an underline before and after the emphasized word(s), __like this___, a confusing annoyance when the names of several ships (normally italicized) are being referred to. These are not deal-breakers but something you may wish to consider (and because of them I have subtracted one star). The formatting is otherwise okay.As to containing 36 works, the count is inflated a tad by counting the two parts of "Captain Hatteras" as separate entities and unnecessarily including (and counting) a duplicate portion of "Mysterious Island."  You really get 34 distinct tales (not 36)--but that is still a lot of Verne, though it is by no means complete. That honor goes to Delphi.Delphi has a truly complete set, though a dozen works (not yet cheaply available in public domain translations) appear in French for the sake of completeness. Since I am not fluent in that language, I do not fully appreciate their inclusion. I do, however, greatly appreciate the inclusion of about 20 (!) more titles--in English--than this Halcyon (or any other) set. This makes the Delphi edition the largest and most appealing to me (even though the aforementioned modern translation by F.P. Walter is not used in it).I would encourage you to search, sample, and compare because new Verne collections keep popping up all the time in the Kindle Store. Check to see which titles are included, if the main TOC is active and takes you to additional active TOCs (one for each book), and that the text is formatted to your liking. See if graphics and illustrations are included. The one you ultimately select will depend upon the level of your interest in, and the degree of your enthusiasm for, the writings of Jules Verne. If you want a substantial collection which includes the well-known great Verne classics, this Halcyon set (or a recent, $.99 one from e-artnow, which is worth examining) should be quite fine. But if you want even MORE (as in EVERYTHING), the very BEST is that all-inclusive Delphi set.