Niels Klim's Journey under the Ground

In 1741, a young Norwegian falls through a cavern and discovers a world beneath our own: a civilization of rational beings who observe Earth with the same detached amusement we reserve for ant colonies. Niels Klim becomes an unwilling anthropologist in this underground utopia, where he witnesses societies organized on principles that mock the absurdities of European government, religion, and science. Ludvig Holberg, the great Scandinavian playwright writing his only novel, deploys Klim as a satirical instrument: every observation about the subterranean world is really an observation about the follies above. The book anticipates the utopian tradition by decades and offers sharp commentary on sexual equality, judicial corruption, philosophical pretension, and the fragile confidence of so-called civilization. It is philosophy wearing the mask of adventure, and it remains remarkably funny: Holberg's wit is dry, precise, and utterly merciless. This is one of the first works of modern science fiction, a genre that wouldn't be named for another century, and it arrives already fully formed, satirical and speculative in equal measure.