Alternate Realities: A Scifi Book Club discussion

I found it to be quite dated. It isn't so much a story as it is a travel log. A travel log full of old superstitions and incorrect factual evidence on the moon. I am surprised there was not a discussion about what type of cheese it was made out of. It wasn't horrible, but it wasn't great. Trying to imagine the living arrangement on the capsule is funny to me. I am sure there were multiple couches and fine chairs. Verne did not discuss how they used the bathroom, I kept waiting for that to come up, but I suppose it was impolite for the time period.

If you look at it from when it was written, it is safe to say that this book inspired the people that would eventually start the space program. It also explains why we launch from Florida.

It is an interesting book as a curiosity, but not a great literary work.

I'd agree. Although it was quite humorous in parts, it really got bogged down in the logistics of the trip and all the facts and myths about the moon. I was also waiting for some mention of the green cheese moon, but alas, it never came.

The book is terrible even not taking into account the purely scientific/engineering tosh it is full of.

It's just poorly written. The story is incredibly dull – I'm fine with protracted engineering considerations, but there is ZERO intrigue and nothing of much interest happening until the last couple of pages. The completely empty characters aren't helping either: all the dialogue is as if it's from a terrible play in a crappy theatre (everyone in the book talks like George from Blackadder 3/4 – sans the jokes – tally-ho, pip-pip, and Bernard your uncle!).

The dialogue is so bad that I'm surprised they didn't base a musical off the book – Verne practically wrote the script for it.

Emperador wrote: "The book is terrible even not taking into account the purely scientific/engineering tosh it is full of.

It's just poorly written. The story is incredibly dull – I'm fine with protracted engineerin..."

The thing is, the plot is basically "let's build a rocket and go to the moon." "Yes, let's!" And they do. When I first read the description, I thought "that's it?" and it was.

Yes, but even with essentially spoiling (sort of) the ending, Verne could create serious twists and setbacks and pitfalls on the way. Instead, it's just a straight line of 'proceeding as planned', peppered with bad dialogue.

He also completely omits the trip to the moon itself (something, even if completely unrealistic, could be quite entertaining. Finally), and I find it disturbing, how indifferent the book is about the people disastrously stranded on the orbit of the moon, with no means of rescue (another huge plot opportunity missed).

Emperador wrote: "Yes, but even with essentially spoiling (sort of) the ending, Verne could create serious twists and setbacks and pitfalls on the way. Instead, it's just a straight line of 'proceeding as planned', ..."

That's so readers would buy the sequel, Around the Moon. Verne wasn't going to give it to them all in one shot.

The sequel came only 5 years later (which is a lot for someone as prolific as Verne), so it's debatable if a proper sequel was planned from the start.

Anyhow, the book is terrible either way.

The copy I read had both parts. The around it part was much weaker storywise.