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The Chase of the Golden Meteor (Bison Book)

By: Jules Verne
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: University of Nebraska Press
ISBN: 0803296193
ISBN-13: 9780803296190
Released: 01 Jan 1998
RRP: £13.99
Average Rating:

Customer Reviews

Not SF, but comedy - By: , 11 Jun 1999
Bison Books is doing a very nice (and nicely packaged) series of "classic," hard-to-find sf works from the early years of the 20th century. Why they picked this one, aside from the fact that it's been out of print for a while, is beyond me. It is not reallly science fiction at alll, but more a satirical comedy of manners about the human foibles of pride & greed. An amateur astronomer from a smalll town in Virginia discovers a golden meteor streaking across the sky. At the same moment, a friend of his across town also discovers the meteor. Most of the book details their comic rivalry in attmepting to claim credit for being the first to find this amazing sight. Scientists theorize that it is made of solid gold & could be worth more money that alll the earth's riches put together. More ink is spilled in showing the greed of the world's nations as they alll try to claim a piece of the meteor & try to predict where the gold will land. A subplot involving a comic figure named Zephyrin Xirdal, who is able to affect the meteor's path & bring it down where he wants, is ludicrous, but I give the book two stars just because I love Xirdal's name! Not very good Verne, & definitely not very good sf.