11 NOVEMBER 1893, Page 22

The Castle in the Carpathians. By Jules Verne. (Sampson Low,

Marston, and Co.)—This story does not belong to that class of fiction in which M. Verne excels, the class which we may describe by the term, "scientific extravaganzas." He is at his best when he describes some outrageous impossibility with an air of verisimilitude which it is impossible to resist. The Castle in the Carpathians is weird and romantic enough, and no one can complain that it is wanting either in incident or in interest ; but it somehow fails to attract. The humorous element, to mention one cause, is not so effective as we have sometimes found it in M. Verne's tales.