This is a delightful little golden age of sci-fi book, published the year my father was born, about a man who taps the secret of nuclear energy to power a ship to sail to Venus. He "kidnaps" his circle of fellow bachelors, and when they have discovered that he means to carry them away from the Earth, they are angry. He placates them by offering to return them to Earth, but they have by this time conceived an interest in appeasing their curiosity, and agree to the expedition. They visit the dark side first, and some crazy adventures await them there, but none so amazing as the ones they will experience when they travel to the light side. Serviss' imagination is in full flight as he entertains his readers with a space fairy tale. ( )

It was good, but not as good as contemporaries such as H G Wells. It moves fast and plenty happens (and I love, as always, the old ideas of space travel and other planets in our Solar System) but something was lacking, perhaps real tension or care for the characters. Nevertheless a good enough read when you're in the mood for old-fashioned pulp fantasy, just not up there with the best. ( )