A Strange Manuscript Found in a Copper Cylinder

Jo-Anne McBride is a renewable resource specialist in Vancouver, B.C.

Science fiction that asks questions, that explores the world around us
while describing a world that we’ve never seen, and that entertains is
an exciting find. Even more exciting to a reader is a book that history
claims is Canada’s first science fiction novel. Strange Manuscript is
that book, and Ed Greenwood in his foreword goes into fascinating detail
about the novel and its and history. At 150 years old, the novel shows
signs of age and of the time in which it was written, and to be sure the
dark, dense engravings accentuate the historical ambiance.

The story initially takes place in 1850, and by using the classic
“lost world,” de Mille explores issues important to his time, such
as utopia and class warfare. There is also a love triangle, flying
dinosaurs, and things strange and wondrous.

At times the plot suffers from overly wordy description, and to modern
readers the slowness of the action may be a drawback. But, in the same
way that H.G. Wells and Jules Verne explored and extrapolated, this work
is an exciting adventure and should be a standard for every reader of
speculative fiction.