Quote:
Originally Posted by HarryT
Verne was actually writing travel adventures, and that's precisely what most of his books were. The elements of a few of his stories that we now consider to be "science fiction" were simply present to allow travel to places such as the bottom of the sea, or the Moon, that were not otherwise "accessible".
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Yes, Verne wrote travelogues... and travelogue SF was a dominant sub-genre in the early days.
(Check Ron Miller's Classics of SF for notable folowers of Verne. And a precursor ir two.)
It is less common these days but you still see the occasional "journey of exploration" story, usually as the backbone to support other speculations. It was more common in the early 20th but it is an acknowledged sub-genre. Stanley Weinbaum's MARTIAN ODYSSEY is one of the classics of the sub-genre. More recently Phillip Jose Farmer used the form in GREEN'S ODYSSEY (its PD, folks!) and, more famously, RIVERWORLD. I would count Arthur C. Clarke's RENDEZVOUS WITH RAMA as a travelogue, too.
The subgenre is very much alive.