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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