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heroman's review against another edition
2.0
Weird thing. I didn't like it for another reason, but maybe you'll find this title helpful.
I'll drop this.
I got floored during a romantic moment so I'm going to drop this.
(Description of white lady)
"Youngest daughter of the branch of the Race that Rules."
I'll drop this.
I got floored during a romantic moment so I'm going to drop this.
(Description of white lady)
"Youngest daughter of the branch of the Race that Rules."
scarlettletters's review against another edition
2.0
Alright so this was the book I chose for the "between 1900 and 1950" task of the Read Harder challenge. It's an early work of science fiction and it does some interesting things, but I really can't give it more than two stars.
It was interesting to see what people imagined the surfaces of these planets would be like before telescopes could give us accurate information. So, for example, he describes Venus as having really really clean and fresh air. This also was published before Einstein's theory of relativity, so their travel just all takes place in real time with no relativistic effects. This is totally excusable because of the time that it was published.
What the time period does not excuse is how racist/xenophobic and sexist the author is. The entire plot revolves around him kidnapping a woman who pretty much immediately decides that yes, she does want to marry him. The narrative is peppered with offhand comments about the superiority of Anglo-Saxons. I can't write this off as a product of its time because not everyone at that time felt that way. Yes, it may have been a more common or acceptable viewpoint but that doesn't make it ok or enjoyable to read.
It's not a long book and, as I said, the author's vision of what the planets would be like is certainly interesting. If you are going for absolute completeness in reading every work of historical science fiction then this is a part of that journey, but if all you want is a space adventure narrative, there are much better and more modern books that will fulfill that need.
It was interesting to see what people imagined the surfaces of these planets would be like before telescopes could give us accurate information. So, for example, he describes Venus as having really really clean and fresh air. This also was published before Einstein's theory of relativity, so their travel just all takes place in real time with no relativistic effects. This is totally excusable because of the time that it was published.
What the time period does not excuse is how racist/xenophobic and sexist the author is. The entire plot revolves around him kidnapping a woman who pretty much immediately decides that yes, she does want to marry him. The narrative is peppered with offhand comments about the superiority of Anglo-Saxons. I can't write this off as a product of its time because not everyone at that time felt that way. Yes, it may have been a more common or acceptable viewpoint but that doesn't make it ok or enjoyable to read.
It's not a long book and, as I said, the author's vision of what the planets would be like is certainly interesting. If you are going for absolute completeness in reading every work of historical science fiction then this is a part of that journey, but if all you want is a space adventure narrative, there are much better and more modern books that will fulfill that need.
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