Through the sun in an airship

About this book

"Through the sun in an airship" by John Mastin is a science fiction novel written in the early 20th century. It envisions a hyper-scientific future where three researchers revive a legendary gravity-defying airship, the Regina, and aim to explore a newly arrived companion moon called Bona. Combining speculative technology with social satire, it follows Ross Ainley, Gilbert Eastern, and Dennis Oakland as they rediscover a lost propulsion secret and embark on daring voyages that challenge both science and society.

The opening of the novel places Ross and Gilbert at the North Pole, where antiseptic picnic fare and a state-managed, technology-saturated world spark a debate about progress and excess. Dennis arrives and reveals he owns the mysterious Regina, encased in an invisible field that vaporises anything near it, then recounts Earth’s altered gravity, the appearance of the benign second moon Bona, and the ship’s history—its inventors, the fatal loss of the control secret, and generations of failed attempts to reach her. The trio vow to solve the enigma, work for years, finally breach the field, and retrieve the written instructions from the safe. When locals force entry, they demonstrate the truth by making the crowd float with gravity-control, then fend off a government attempt to take the ship—levitating a sceptical official until he capitulates. After refitting stores to modern standards, they execute test flights inside and beyond the atmosphere, briefly manipulating nearby airships, and close the opening by preparing a scheduled, world-broadcast expedition to Bona.