Jules Verne,

This book is much what I have come to expect of Jules Verne, that is, a mixture of imagination, scientific rigour (when mentioned in passing), interacting personalities, and simple breadth. However, in my moderate acquaintance with Jules Verne's writings, it seems a bit heavy on the Victorian sentimentality (I mean, even her name is Nell, for crying out loud!) compared with others of his works (in which said sentimentality was not lacking, by any means), perhaps to the detriment of some of the weird personalities that Jules Verne is famous for. I nonetheless recommend it.