Hector Servadac by Jules Verne

Review by Greg Armstrong

Who among us has not heard of Jules Verne's classics, Around the World in 80 Days and Journey to the Center of the Earth. The other day I went into my collection of OLD SF and found one I had not read before, nor even heard of: Hector Servadac. This is the tale of a French Army captain catching, quite accidentally, a ride through the solar system. I thouroghly enjoyed the book, but for possibly different reason's than you might. I enjoy noticing how much science has changed in the hundred years since this book was written; for instance, "the volcano, like those on the moon, was fed by an internal supply of oxygen of her own." I also enjoyed the characters, though this book would not have been published in the politcally-correct 1990s. The money-grubbing Jew and the laxidazical, fun-loving Spaniards would have seen to that. And, of course, the English "will always be English." Altogether a fun romp through the sky, according to the rules of 19th century science.


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