Celestial Voyages

by Jeff Provine

With the dawn of the Twentieth Century, man made his first step into the heavens. Mason Star, the incredibly wealthy British shipping magnate who constructed the Starship christened the “Star’s Comet,” was called insane by some, merely eccentric by others, until he revealed his creation and became a world-renowned hero of discovery. He assembled the greatest minds in the world to crew his vessel, among them a fairly common farm boy from Ohio with a passion for astronomy, Curtis Matricks, me. This is a record of my journal on our first adventure, tracing the wondrous events from my first meeting with the amazing Mason Star to his equally amazing estate to the surface of the Moon to the incredible civilizations living beneath it.

244 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2014

Reviews

[Robert Collins · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is another of the books I picked up at the Oklahoma Steampunk Expo.

This novel is an alternate history tale in the spirit of the science fiction of 100 years ago. A young man from Ohio, Curtis Matricks, is enlisted by the wealthy British businessman Mason Star to join the crew of his new spaceship. On New Year's Day 1901, the "Star's Comet" embarks on its maiden voyage to the Moon. Matricks narrates the tale of his adventure, which includes meeting a sentience race of insects living deep below the Moon's surface.

Taking the whole novel as alternate history allows for some interesting reading, not the least of which are the aliens on the Moon. Star's teenage daughter Mary is a bit of a feminist (and fairly smart). The technology includes solar power, cars, and a massive tower through the atmosphere. Star's crew is multicultural rather than just British, Anglo-American, or European.

It's a pleasant read and the first in a series. I'll need some time to consider whether or not I want to invest in the other books, but I'm leaning towards doing so.