BY AEROPLANE TO THE SUN (1910) – Written by Donald W. Horner. This British novel features ideas that wouldn’t have been out of place decades earlier but in 1910 it’s astounding to encounter concepts like an alleged scientist believing that the sun is inhabited.
The story is set in the far-off year 2000 A.D. Automobiles run on electricity, wireless video telephones are available and fluorescent lighting is commonplace. The British Parliament is now majority female and women have passed legislation stating that in a Leap Year women may propose to men and the men must accept or be subjected to ruinous fines.
Wealthy astronomer (?) Dick Stevenson fears that his neighbor Cynthia Meadows will propose to him, and in the semi-comical setting of this novel goes so far as to design and construct a spaceship – which he calls an aeroplane. He plans to be off exploring space long enough for Leap Year to be over.
Stevenson decides to mount an expedition to the sun because in the year 2000 we are told that the moon and Mars have been thoroughly explored. The brick-shaped spaceship/ aeroplane is built from the newly discovered metal called zioomium, which is as light as silk but stronger than steel. Continue reading
THE DERELICT (1912) – This short story was originally published in Red Magazine in December of 1912. The author was William Hope Hodgson, whose other works have already been reviewed here at Balladeer’s Blog. 
A TALE OF THE X-RAY (1898) – Written by Clara H. Holmes. This short story was first published in her collection titled Floating Fancies Among the Weird and the Occult, but it’s more science fiction.
A JOURNEY TO THE WORLD UNDERGROUND BY NICHOLAS KLIMIUS (1741) – This novel was written by Danish author Ludvig Holberg and became a European sensation. Like Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels, Holberg’s work in this book had satirical political meaning and though the issues and social criticism no longer apply to the modern-day world, the fundamental story structure still holds up on its own. 
The rope breaks, and Nicholas falls so far that his colleagues assume he was killed. Actually, Klimius fell down into the often-theorized Hollow Earth. In this case with an interior sun and small worlds in orbit around it. 
TRAVELS AND ADVENTURES OF JAMES MASSEY (1714) – This is Part Two of 
I’ll spare all of us any details of the actual cockfights. When the fighting was over, the family whose cock lost the fight welcomed the winner’s family over to their home. The winner’s family brought along all of the food they had prepared for this eventful day, and the two families feasted and drank together the rest of the day. 
TRAVELS AND ADVENTURES OF JAMES MASSEY (1714) – By Simon Tyssot de Patot. Supposedly written in 1710 but not published until 1714, this novel dealt with the travels of the title character to exotic lands. 
THE BOATS OF THE GLEN CARRIG (1907) – Written by horror legend William Hope Hodgson, whose works 
In 1757 the story’s main character, John Winterstraw, is telling his son James Winterstraw about the horrific adventure that brought John together with the boy’s mother. (How I Met Your Mother: The Prequel Series) John and other sailors were on board the Glen Carrig when it struck a rock near the surface of the waters and sank. 
VOYAGE TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH aka Planet at the Center of the Earth aka “Journey to the Centre of the Earth, or Various Adventures of Clairancy and His Companions, to Spitsbergen, to the North Pole, and to Unknown Countries, translated from the English of Hormidas Peath by M. Jacques Saint-Albin”. 
This particular story centers around the fictional seaman Hormidas Peath and his crew who became shipwrecked in the icy Arctic Sea in 1806. They were shocked to discover that temperatures got warmer the further north they went, so they kept following the warmer air until they reached the Iron Mountains. 
AN AUTOMATIC ENIGMA (1878) – By Julian Hawthorne, son of Nathaniel Hawthorne. In the past Balladeer’s Blog has reviewed some of 
ANOTHER WORLD (1873) – This highly detailed account of life in Montalluyah (“God’s own city”), the capitol city of Mars, was written by British author Benjamin Lumley under the pen name Hermes. The book is presented as excerpts from historical accounts, including a biography of the Great Martian Reformer Tootmanyoso. 
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