Journey to the Centre of the Earth is an adaptation from the French novel Voyage and Centre de la Terre published in 1864. It is the second in the popular science-fiction series Voyages Extraordinaires. An impetuous German professor, Otto Lidenbrock, discovers an encoded manuscript wherein is mentioned the passageway to the centre of the earth. He prepares a roller-coaster expedition on the basis of this and is accompanied by his faithful nephew, Axel and his stoic Icelandic guide, Hans. The many months they spend in the underground world of luminous rocks, antediluvian forests and fantastic sea creatures and their final resurfacing leaves an indelible mark on the mind of the reader.