Slightly less good than Verne's other works. The introduction said this was the prototype, or rather his first novel featuring his signature "cerebral adventurer", and you can sort of notice that he's not quite there yet. It's undeniably good though. It reads as if you're in the balloon with them, which is a great vantage point, but the geographical detail is something you do have to be able to deal with otherwise this'll read as a great bore. The b-romances between the three were lovely as well, Joe is obviously dedicated to his master, and the fact that they grow towards friendship and end up abandoning their master/servant relationship is a lovely development. (also par de cours , 80 days had much the same, with passepartout, but there it was more about Partout's faith in his master, despite only knowing him for like 40 days before this faith is called to the test)