Around the World in Eighty Days Genre

Adventure; Historical Fiction; Quest

As adventures go, Jules Verne should fall directly between The Goonies and Jumanji. While not exactly a Hollywood box-office thriller, Jules Verne delivers his own exciting story about a man, a goal, and the entire world.

Being chased by someone who wants to put him in jail, up against ridiculously tough obstacles, and having to choose between his head and his heart, we'd say Phileas Fogg is every bit as good as Bilbo Baggins, and ever so much more dapper. And, as the title suggests, it's no secret that Phileas Fogg visits many far and exotic places on a quest to conquer global travel in just eighty days.

Being one of the first of his genre, Jules Verne earns him some major adventure street cred, as so many other adventure writers, novelists, and filmmakers have idolized and copied his style. Heck, even Steven Spielberg in Back to the Future gave him kudos by naming Doc Brown's kids Jules and Verne.

As for the historical fiction bit, at risk of blowing your minds, this book isn't true—and that means it's fiction. Since much of what we see as our characters' journey is based on historical reality, though, it isn't just plain fiction; it's historical fiction.