A geology professor finds a manuscript written in code that details the entrance to the center of the earth. Professor Lidenbrock will stop at nothing to go on this adventure with his, mostly unwilling, nephew and an Icelandic guide.

I don’t know if I had too low of expectations (the classics have always seemed a bit daunting to me), but I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. It was a little bit slow to start. After Lidenbrock and Axel figured out the code in the manuscript, I felt like it took forever for them to get to Iceland and the volcano. But once they got there, I was excited to keep reading and figure out what was going to happen next. I loved how Axel thought this whole adventure was a terrible idea and didn’t want to go at all, yet he still got talked into going. I also loved Hans’ carefree attitude. He was being paid to be there, and he was going to get the job done, scientific discovery or not. They wouldn’t have lasted a day without him, but at least they admitted that and appreciated him. The end did seem a little bit abrupt, but maybe that’s because I was assuming they were going to make the decision to return to the surface, instead of that decision being made for them. All in all, would recommend.