A JOURNEY IN OTHER WORLDS - John Jacob Astor

CLASSIC SCI-FI WEEK

Richard Ayrault is a major player (a stockholder) with Terrestrial Axis Straightening Company. The company has begun the process of tilting the Earth's axis so that it might be more useful to the most people on the planet. With this already well underway, the adventurous men decide they should travel to some of the other planets in the solar system and see what they might be able to accomplish there. Space travel isn't too difficult with "apergy" - an opposite force to gravity.

But first the spaceship needs to be designed and built. Ayrault takes bids - making sure it will have all the essentials ... you know, carpeting and drapes.  And rain gutters on the exterior to capture the rain on Jupiter.

Although they will pass Mars, they use the opportunity to take plenty of pictures, rather than making a stop. Once they get to Jupiter they need to make sure there's a breathable atmosphere, and of course the best way to do that is to crack the window. Jupiter is a good place for hunting for these adventurous men of the 21st century ... the planet is filled with dinosaur-like creatures. But with their advanced weaponry, the creatures pose no real threat, and Ayrault and his crew deem Jupiter fit for colonization because it also holds vast reserves of precious resources, like gold and oil.

It's on to Saturn, which they discover is colder and requires that the team wear their winter clothing. On Saturn they discover something even more unusual than dinosaurs.  Appearing out of nowhere, a man with a long white beard. It's a spirit. The planet is full of them. This spirit was once a bishop, explains how everything will be set right with Christ's return.

Yes ... the sci-fi book takes a hard religious turn.

There's really not much story here. This is typical of the era - describe a future that seems possible to the people reading this. It was mostly goofy fun, though I didn't need the religious lessons that we were given. Again, we have to take into account the time this was written.

I'm moderately glad I read this, but it's definitely not on my recommendation list. It's always fun to look back on old sci-fi and see what they got right (a police force equipped with cameras!) and what they got wrong (just about everything else).

For those who aren't familiar with author John Jacob Astor (I was not), his own story is more interesting than this book. It seems that many reviewers on Goodreads have gone into his story, so I don't need to.  But I will say that Astor was one of the wealthiest sci-fi authors of his time. His family are the Astors of which the Astoria Hotel is named for.

Looking for a good book? A Journey In Other Worlds by John Jacob Astor is a 19th Century sci-fi tale that speculates what life will be like in the year 2000. It can be an amusing read, but there's not a whole lot of story here.

2-1/2 stars

* * * * * *

A Journey In Other Worlds

author: John Jacob Astor

publisher: Open Road Media Sci-Fi & Fantasy

ASIN: B07B651NYC

Kindle Edition, 258 pages


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