Verne's first hit novel hasn't aged as well as his other classics, though it has some good bits. There's three characters - Dr Ferguson, Dick Kennedy and Kennedy's black servant Joe... who is admittedly a "yes massa" type but also gets to be heroic.
The basic plot is travelling over Africa in a balloon - but there are some lively set pieces: rescuing a missionary, Joe getting sucked down by quicksand, a missionary is rescued, Joe is rescued. There's lots of description of the places they travel and the balloon - this quasi-documentary approach (for lac of a better term) I think sold the piece as more realistic to viewers.
So some good bits but not that good.
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