Seventeenth Century (circa 1630) proper science fiction story, full of hopes and dreams of what it would be like to arrive on the Moon, using the most up to date science of the time, and invented notions of what was to be found. This edition was definitely worth getting, with plenty of footnotes, appendices and bibliography. The revelation into the minds of the astrologers at the time is enlightening; the darkness of night is caused by the shadow of the earth, space is as lit up as the earth in daytime, for example.

Below a synopsis of the plot (SPOILER):
Left university in Spain,
Travelled to Antwerp
Got mugged
Found employment as stable-hand for a Frenchman
Joined in the war against the Prince of Orange
Took money from a dead enemy he had killed
Made friends with a Spanish duke
Returned to Spain
Married a Portuguese lady
Had a duel
Fled to Lisbon
Met a Spanish count triumphant about a victory against the English near Cuba (the isle of Pines)
Left 2 sons and wife to trade in the East Indies
Bought jewels
Returning to Spain, fell ill
Rested at St. Helena island
Very fertile land, fruit, animals, chapel & tower built by Portuguese
Recovered with Diego companion
Tamed a fox
Set up communication across the island
Tamed swans to carry packages
Designed a vehicle to attach to group of swans "25 ganses" to carry himself
Made first flight across the island
Obtained passage on ship with his birds and device
Set sail for Spain
Met English en route
Captain ordered to shipwreck rather than be captured
Escaped by using his flying device
Watched the English rescue the drowning sailors (Diego escaped on another Spanish vessel)
Aiming to land at Tenerife, in a country occupied by Spaniards, the geese instead flew higher
Met Devils and wicked spirits who gave him food and drink
No wind, no rain, no clouds not hot, not cold, felt healthy and not hungry
Describes view of the Earth
Witnessed a red cloud of locusts he believed had come from the moon
The moon had water, land, trees, and many birds, and reasoned this is where birds disappear to when they migrate
Felt hungry and found the devil's food and drink had turned to trash and urine
Ate the same shrub that his geese ate, found to be delicious
Found himself watched by strange tall people, wearing no clothes, but skin was a colour never before seen
They responded to the word "Iesus", but spoke in words "I understood not"
Led by the hand to a huge building to rest
Taken to the Palace of the Prince, "Pylonas", and gave him some jewels
Used feathers to fan the air to propel them from place to place
Learned about the one supreme Monarch "Irdonozur", and how the people sleep by light
He himself succumb by sleep, slept for two weeks, awoke feeling refreshed and started to learn their language which is distinguished by tunes
Journeyed to meet their Monarch & gave him some jewels
In return received a gift of three stones: Poleastis, that retained heat; Machrus, that shone light; and Ebelus, that made you weightless or heavier depending on which side touched your skin.
Learned about the society free of crimes and vice, therefore without need for punishments (if one is born wicked they are swapped for Earth children); no illnesses and cures for all wounds; bodies naturally preserved after death often put on display for the ancestors; death celebrated with happiness.
Three of his birds died, so he got permission from the King to leave, promising to give the King's regards to Queen Elizabeth.
Crowds saw him off, and he flew away and landed in China.
The Chinese took him prisoner (he escaped once and hid his jewels), accused of being a magician and illegally entering the country.
The Mandarine took a liking for him, and gave him food and shelter (although still a prisoner), and listened to his story of his adventures, and formed a friendship. They travelled together, and met some Fathers of the Society, and the Mandarine allowed him to return to Spain with them. ( )

A short bit of what i guess is early sci-fi. I've read a number of things similar to this like [b:Lucian's True History;|10856060|Lucian's True History;|Lucian of Samosata|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1348898221l/10856060._SX50_.jpg|3593172], [b: Empires of the Sun and Moon |2433241|Other Worlds|Cyrano de Bergerac|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1331167669l/2433241._SY75_.jpg|85421274] by Cyrano de Bergerac or [b: Voyage to Cacklogallinia |21940544|A Voyage to Cacklogallinia With a Description of the Religion, Policy, Customs and Manners, of That Country|Samuel Brunt|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1397709263l/21940544._SY75_.jpg|41245541] but all of those are satires or comedy and so avoid being classed as sci-fi.
So this is sci-fi by virtue of not being interesting enough to get in another category.

There are occasional elements of interest but overall not really much here.
I'm not even going to mention any of the content as there is so little of it, spoiling any would further reduce what you might get out of the novella.
( )

This is a real curiosity: a science fiction novella published in 1638, 80 years before Defoe's Robinson Crusoe, often cited as the first novel in the English language. It purports to be the account of a Spaniard, one Domingo Gonsales who, after various adventures in Spain and on the Atlantic, discovers a new species of swan on St Helena. After experimentation with an ingenious device of pulleys, he discovers the swans can lift him into the air and he becomes the first man to fly. After a naval skirmish with the English, he escapes up a mountain and the swans carry him up into space and to the Moon. The Moon is, of course, peopled with humanoid beings, the Lunars, as well as plants and animals. Many of the former are 30 times bigger than people on Earth, reflecting the length of the lunar day. The plot of the novella, such as it is, more or less stops on the Moon, and the narrator describes the customs and utopian society of the Lunars, including their apparent link with Native Americans. Leaving the Moon, he lands in China and is detained as a magician. He alludes to a second part of his story where he will tell us more, but this does not appear to exist. A fascinating curiosity. ( )

An interesting short work if for no other reason than because of its age. Written in the early 1600s at about the time Galileo observed the moon through one of the first rudimentary telescopes, the author can be excused for various claims within the book, e.g., that the dark areas of the moon represented seas and that life existed on the moon. Nonetheless, the author describes the motions of the planets, including Earth, with accuracy and interestingly references Copernicus by name, whose ideas at the time were still not universally accepted.

Frankly, I thought the story itself was rather basic without any real depth. Nonetheless, a worthwhile read. ( )

The Man in the Moone published in 1638 is a delightful novella of 41 pages that is both an early (perhaps the earliest) science fiction story and a Utopian fantasy. How it came to be written and why it was published anonymously some five years after the authors death adds to it's mystique. Written by Bishop Francis Godwin and eventually printed under the pseudonym of Domingo Gonsales it was an instant and popular success easily eclipsing the bishops other best seller [Catalogue of the Bishops of England since the First planting of the Christian Religion in this island]

It's original title was "The man in the Moone or A discourse of a voyage thither by Domingo Gonsales (Thy Speedy Messenger) and it is written in the first person as a picaresque tale by Gonsales a Spaniard who has fled from his native land after killing an opponent in a duel. Marooned on St Helena he leads a sort of Robinson Crusoe existence before discovering that with the aid of the "gansa" a sort of wild swan he can convey messages and by fixing up some sort of engine he uses a flock of them to jump great distances. He finds a ship to return to Spain but is attacked by pirates; using his "gansa" as a means of escape they fly away with him on their usual migration path to the moon. Gonsales lands on the moon to find that it has lush vegetation and is inhabited by people who are at least twice as tall as him. He soon discovers that he has found a virtual paradise and is accepted by the inhabitants as soon as they discover he is a Christian and they look after him and teach him their language (which has to be sung). Most of the rest of the book describes the government and society of the Moon people which is Utopian, before Gonsales gets permission to attempt to return to Earth, where he pitches up in China.

The Moon is a world ruled by a stable government of hereditary Monarchs and Princes. There is no crime and all injuries can be quickly healed. The women are all beautiful and food grows so plentifully that very little work needs to be done to supply everybody's needs. Most of the people are tall, but those who are shorter end up doing the more menial tasks. They as a society hate all manner of vice and there is no crime because everyone is content. The smaller the person then the more sleep that is needed, Gonsales needs to sleep for 14-15 days at a stretch.

Godwin based his science of the solar system on that of Copernicus and in doing so got some of it right. He came down firmly on the idea of a rotating earth and surmised that there must be a gravitational force to keep objects in place. These ideas controversial and advanced for their time may have been one of the reasons that he did not publish, the other may have been that his position as a Bishop would have opened him up to ridicule, or worse, from his peers. He did of course make the moon a Christian society and he had one of the moon Princes ask Gonsales when he returned to earth to pay his respects to Queen Elizabeth "calling her the most glorious of all women living" so he may have been hedging his bets.

What did the moon people do with children who were of a wicked or imperfect disposition? Well, they sent them down to earth, leaving them on a high hill in North America, which might explain a lot.

If like me you want your science fiction to have a sense of wonder, then you might feel that The Man in the Moone is an early proto type. It is a fast paced read and my Logaston press edition has some nice plates and a useful introduction. Spelling has been modernised but it claims to be reasonably faithful to the 17th century language. I enjoyed this little book and if you are at all interested in early science fiction or fantasy then you will not be disappointed. A four star read. ( )