Today marks the birthday of imaginative mind and part-time consultant for the Ministry, author Jules Verne. Yes, I am sure, good citizens, you find Verne’s works reflecting the Empire and Her Majesty (God save the Queen!) in a rather nasty light; but I do wonder if something was lost in translation. I have enjoyed the pleasure of Mr. Verne’s company and he is quite a clever chap. Look at only a few of the works that he penned in his lifetime:
- A Journey to the Centre of the Earth
- From the Earth to the Moon
- The Mysterious Island
- Around the World in Eighty Days
Also, he is quite the card player. I really should not have called his bluff when I had three Jacks in my hand.
I have it on good authority that Ministry historian Tee Morris was quite taken by Mr. Verne’s personal journal wildly creative masterpiece concerning a voyage Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. This particular tome of his would inspire another creative gent, Walt Disney, to create an iconic work of adventurous cinema (as well as one ripping fun ride at their amusement parks).
Of course, steampunk has a lot to thank Mr. Verne for; but what makes him a cornerstone of our genre, and literature on a whole, is how his imagination and unbounded sense-of-wonder inspired others to become scientist, explorers, engineers, and writers themselves. His “flights of fancy†prophesied underwater exploration, circumnavigation of the globe, multi-stage rocketry, and space travel.
Which begs a question from the Archives, good and loyal citizen of the Empire — what flights of fancy inspire you, and where shall they lead the world?
Yes, as Miss Braun would lead you to believe, the Archives is all about the facts, the dates, and the evidence of a peculiar occurrence. Hidden within case files and personal journals, though, are moments of inspiration, of passion, and of ingenuity. Never shy away from those moments. Mr. Verne didn’t, and his ideas led others to the future, and some (like our dear authors, Miss Ballantine and Mister Morris) to an incredible past that never existed.
Embrace the fantastic, and see what adventure awaits.
Happy Birthday, Mr. Verne.