From the Earth to the Moon by Jules Verne
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Fantastic, fictitious, scientific and educational. I was surprised by the narrative style the author chose to adopt for a story of such a genre, but it certainly added to its appeal.
Based on the synopsis I expected a bit more of an adventure story and less of a scientific endeavour explaining the foundation of how to travel into outer space. However, considering my scientific background and interest in astronomy, I was greatly intrigued by the mystery and fascination of the moon the author infused into this narration.
The writing is simple, yet detailed. The author explains scientific processes and phenomena clearly without sounding condescending.
Since it focuses mostly on the mechanics of planning a journey into space, the story is more focused on the narration and less so on the development of the various characters, although each character introduced has a very clear and distinct role and personality that matches the story as a whole precisely.
Generally speaking, the entire story, which only spans 136 pages, feels like a prologue to the actual adventure of the sequel “Round the Moon” and makes it impossible to read this story without its continuation.
I certainly recommend it to anyone, who enjoys science fiction, its humble beginnings in the 1800’s, fantastic plots and out of this world adventures.
