Jules Verne was born in 1828 in France. His dream was to write a new kind of novel, which combined scientific fact with fiction. Verne eventually wrote 40 novels in his Voyages extraordinaires series. The Adventures of a Special Correspondent Among the Various Races and Countries of Central Asia: Being the Exploits and Experiences of Claudius Bombar is the story of Claudius Bombarnac, a reporter assigned to cover the travels of the Grand Transasiatic Railway which runs between Uzun Ada, Turkestan and Peking, China. There are several interesting characters traveling with him and he hopes one of them will become a hero so he can write more than a boring travelogue. A train car is added to their train said to be carrying a great Mardarin. The trip is fraught with danger and a hero emerges.