Written by Jules Verne between 1879 and 1880, the story is narrated by Monsieur Maucler, a otherwise secondary character, except for the last three chapters, told by a more classic omniscient narrator.
In 1867, in Calcutta, a British engineer named Banks invites his friends: Colonel Munro, Captain Hod, Sergeant MacNeil, the Gurkha Goumi, and Monsieur Maucler, a French traveller that Banks met and befriended in Paris some years prior, to a journey through India using an original transport: a steam machine shaped as an elephant (ordered by a nabab who died before the work was completed) pulling two very comfortable wagons. They all accept the invitation, Hod because he wants to go hunting some tigers, Munro to get a distraction from painful memories and the others out of curiosity.
But as they make their way across the country the past comes to haunt them back when the authorities announce that Nana Sahib, a former leader of the Sepoy Mutiny has suddenly reappeared in the country. Munro, whose wife Laurence was murdered during the uprising by Nana Sahib's soldiers, forgets everything about the journey with his friends and tries to locate the elusive rebel.
In the meantime, Nana Sahib and his brother Balao Rao are trying to rally as many supporters as they can find to start a new rebellion, until they are unknowingly denounced by a beggar called the Wandering Flame, a mad woman living in the jungle and perpetually carrying a torch in her hand.
This novel contains examples of:
- Action Girl: the late Lakshmi Bai, rani of Jansi, led her own troops on the battlefield and fought alongside with her soldiers during the Sepoy uprising, and was killed in action - both Truth in Television. Avenging her death is one of Nana Sahib's motivations for starting a new revolt.
- Laurence Munro also had shades of this during her enforced stay in Cawnpore, taking care of injured soldiers, trying to keep the morale high and arguing with the officer defending the place so that he would not surrender to Nana Sahib.
- Author Avatar: The French traveller Maucler could be one, as the illustrator of the original edition, Benett, made him look a lot like Jules Verne.
- Battle Couple: Nana Sahib and Lakshmi Bai were, according to this novel, lovers, and used to go together on the battlefield, until the rani was killed by Colonel Munro.
- Berserk Button: Do not, under any circumstances, mention the Sepoy revolt or Nana Sahib in front of Edward Munro. Friend or not, he is likely to squeeze the living daylights out of you if he thinks you can provide some news about his enemy.
- On a more comical note, Mathias Van Guitt, whose job is to provide feral beasts such as tigers to zoos and wealthy individuals, completely loses it each time Hod kills an animal he wanted to add to his collections.
- Better to Die than Be Killed: Subverted when Munro, waiting for his execution, discovers that the Wandering Flame is his wife Laurence and the torch she carries comes dangerously close to the canon he is tied to; he is ready to call Nana Sahib so that he can be killed by his enemy rather than by his beloved Laurence.
- British Stuffiness: Played with; Hod, Munro and MacNeil are certainly stiff and stern as far as military matters are concerned, but out of duty they are all rather relaxed, and not above showing some emotions.
- Buried Alive: What happened in 1857 to Laurence Munro, who was mistakenly considered as dead by the rebels and thrown into the well of Cawnpore along with the other victims of the slaughter.
- Came Back Wrong: Not that she was really dead, but when we meet Laurence Munro in 1857, she is wandering alone and crazy in the jungles of northern India.
- Canon Welding: Verne slipped some allusions to previous works in this novel, for instance when the travellers consider the Himalaya and Banks claims that within a century it will be possible to travel to the top of theses mountains. Captain Hod goes on by claiming that travel to the North (The Adventures of Captain Hatteras) and the South Pole or to the bottom of the ocean (20,000 Leagues Under the Sea) will be achieved just as easily. Or even to the center of the Earth (Journey to the Center of the Earth). Or even to other planets, while they're at it (From the Earth to the Moon, Off on a Comet).
- Banks created his Steam-House so that it can operate on dry land, railways or water. Hod notes that the machine is only missing flight, something that Verne will do with Robur's Terror in Master of the World.
- The Indian rebellion of 1857 was alluded to in The Mysterious Island, and in this novel we get a closer and more detailled look at this event.
- The Comically Serious: Monsieur Parazard, the African cook recruited by Banks for the journey, is a very dignified man, a little bit obsessed with his cooking. The others never miss an opportunity to chid him about it.
- Cruel and Unusual Death: The repression of the Sepoy uprising included tying rebels to the mouth of a canon and then firing said canon, scattering the poor guy all over the place. Pass the bleach, please. Also, very unfortunately, Truth in Television, as is the murder of British civilians in Cawnpore.
- Vladimir Vereschagin's famous painting "Blowing From Guns in British India", painted during the peak of The Great Game,note anachronistically depicts British soldiers wearing the 1880es uniforms, though.
- Crusading Widow: Nine years after his wife's death, Colonel Munro is still hell-bent on finding her murderers and avenging her. He is also still very much in love with her, which is rather unique in all Verne's work.
- Dark and Troubled Past: The courteous and mild-mannered Edward Munro was involved in the Sepoy uprising and then its repression, and lost part of his family during the war.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: By the end of the novel, Munro is finally free of Nana Sahib, alive and reunited with his long-lost wife but he had to battle his enemy one last time, almost lost his friends and his life in the process, and spent several months nursing Laurence back to health.
- Foil: Munro and Nana Sahib are equally merciless towards their enemies and obsessed with having the other's head on a spike, have very few friends and plan for revenge every waking hour. Even the love Munro expresses for his missing wife is mirrored by Nana Sahib's love for the late Rani of Jansi. Lampshaded by the cover of a comic book adaptation that shows Munro and Nana Sahib facing each other, with exactly the same expression on their faces, as if they were each other's mirror.
- Freudian Excuse: Both Nana Sahib and Colonel Munro, having each lost the woman they loved at the hands of the other.
- Gory Discretion Shot: Averted, as the reader is treated with very graphic descriptions of the slaughter committed by the rebels at Cawnpore and then of the repression led by the British officers.
- Great White Hunter: Captain Hod is known for killing 40 tigers and joins the expedition with the intent of shooting his 41st. However, he treats the animal rather as a Worthy Opponent than a mindless beast, and is sincerely scandalized when he finds some tigers caged in a zoo.
- Heterosexual Life-Partners: Colonel Munro and his two aides-de-camp MacNeil and Goumi. Once the war ended, Munro retired and the other two followed him out of loyalty and friendship. They are also willing to follow him wherever he goes though it is more to prevent him from doing anything stupid should Nana-Sahib reappear.
- Historical Domain Character: Lakshmi Bai the rani of Jansi, Nana Sahib and his brother Balao Rao... pretty much every listed character except the main group, in fact.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: Mr Van Guitt designed a very efficient tiger trap... so efficient that one day, its inventor finds himself locked in it after he accidentally triggered its mechanism.
- Humans Are Bastards: Despite his relative sympathy for the rebellion in real life and the fact he writes the British characters as decent men, Verne is quick to point repeatedly that both sides of the war committed senseless atrocities which solved absolutely nothing.
- Karmic Death: What Nana-Sahib intends for Colonel Munro, who will be executed the same way as the defeated rebels a decade prior.
- Meaningful Name: Captain Hod's assistant is named Fox, a perfect surname for a man who is both cunning and a skilled hunter.
- Maucler is pronounced as "mot clair" (clear word), an apt name since Maucler is a reliable and efficient narrator for the journey (save the parts told from Nana Sahib's point of view and the last chapters, when Maucler was not a direct witness). Can also count as a Stealth Pun, as Verne was very fond of them.
- Not So Stoic: Hod tends to lose his easy-going attitude each time he misses an opportunity for shooting a tiger.
- When Munro finally confronts Nana Sahib, he suddenly drops any hint of self-control and tries to strangle the nabob.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: Munro would be the blue, opposed to Hod's red.
- The Reveal: As Munro is strapped to a canon, waiting for his execution, the crazy beggar known as the Wandering Flame comes into the rebel camp, takes a good look at Munro and lifts her cowl, revealing that she is his missing wife Laurence.
- Screw the Rules, I Have Money!: In the holy city of Gaya, Banks tries to offer money to a priest so he can be allowed inside the local temple, which is forbidden to European travelers. It earns him a prompt Screw the Money, I Have Rules! from the priest in question. Captain Hod is tempted to force the entrance, but then it's Banks who scolds him for such a sacrilegious idea.
- Shell-Shocked Veteran: Munro retired after the end of the rebellion, and ten years later he still avoids contact with high society, does not talk much - and certainly not about what happened during the war - and is still haunted by his wife's death. It is so obvious that some of his friends constantly keep an eye on him.
- Steampunk: The novel fits the trope to a T, with a fantastic machine shaped like an animal, filled with comfortable accommodations and powerful enough to travel across India without trouble.
- Stock Unsolved Mysteries: The disappearance of Nana Sahib after the Siege of Cawnpore was a high-profile unsolved mystery (and as of this writing, the facts remain mostly unknown). The Steam House takes the premise and runs with it.
- Title Drop: Banks repeatedly describes his invention as a steam-house when he presents it to his friends.
- To the Pain: After Nana Sahib finally captures Munro, he gleefully describes in great detail how the colonel will be executed on the following morning.
- Trauma Conga Line: Poor Laurence Munro. First she was locked up with the women and children of Cawnpore in a crowded, over-heated room, then the Sepoy soldiers started shooting at their prisoners, injuring Laurence in the process. The survivors who tried to escape were either shot or dragged back into the room, where they were slaughtered during the night. Laurence tried to protect her mother, had to watch her die, then was repeatedly beaten and left for dead. After pulling herself out of the mass grave where the corpses and the injured alike were thrown, it's a small wonder she completely lost her mind.
