While running away from home, for reasons that are eminently defensible, Emilie's plans to stow away on the steamship Merry Bell and reach her cousin in the big city go awry. Suddenly she's on the wrong ship and at the beginning of a fantastic adveture.
Taken under the protection of Lady Marlende, Emilie learns that the crew hopes to use the aether currents and an experimental engine to journey to the dark interior of the planet in search of her new guardian's missing father. Along the way, Emilie has to make some challenging decisions and take daring action if they are ever to return to the surface world alive.
A seriously fun read, and quite different from the other Wells material I've read to date. Really liking the diversity of subjects (and characters) Wells comes up with.
Emilie’s running away from home. Her plan is to stowaway on the steamship to Silk Harbour, to live with her cousin who runs a school. But stowing away isn’t as easy as it sounds and after being mistaken for a thief, she ends up on the wrong ship. A ship on a mission to travel to the world that exists beneath the world’s crust.
Emilie and the Hollow World is a wonderfully fun adventure story for the younger reader. I read it when I was ill and it was the perfect antidote. The story is a little reminiscent of The Journey to the Centre of the Earth, with a fantastical world hidden below the sea floor. Emilie finds out that seaweed isn’t always harmless, stumbles into a rivalry between philosophical sorcerers and does her very best not to get involved in all-out war.
Emilie’s world above ground, is an alternative …
Emilie’s running away from home. Her plan is to stowaway on the steamship to Silk Harbour, to live with her cousin who runs a school. But stowing away isn’t as easy as it sounds and after being mistaken for a thief, she ends up on the wrong ship. A ship on a mission to travel to the world that exists beneath the world’s crust.
Emilie and the Hollow World is a wonderfully fun adventure story for the younger reader. I read it when I was ill and it was the perfect antidote. The story is a little reminiscent of The Journey to the Centre of the Earth, with a fantastical world hidden below the sea floor. Emilie finds out that seaweed isn’t always harmless, stumbles into a rivalry between philosophical sorcerers and does her very best not to get involved in all-out war.
Emilie’s world above ground, is an alternative steampunk earth. The sorcerers specialise in the study of aetheric currents which powers the ships and gives them the ability to travel to the hollow world. Emilie’s a fantastic, if a little naive, character who is learning that life isn’t always fair for girls. She has a great role model in Lady Marlende and discovers that first impressions shouldn’t be relied on. However, there’s no in-depth character development, which I don’t think matters for this kind of story. As one of the blurbs states it’s a “rollicking adventure” and the ideal book to give to a child who is between children’s books and young adult (warning: Emilie does mention her Aunt and Uncle think her mother was a whore).
I’m looking forward to more adventures with Emilie.
