A brilliant scientist and his former student (and financial benefactor) build a rocket and travel to Mars, where they find a civilization identical to that of Biblical-era Egypt. Cited by writer and pop culture historian Richard Lupoff as an influence on the creation of Edgar Rice Burroughs' famed "John Carter of Mars" series, Ellsworth Douglass' 1899 novel is a classic tale of interstellar adventure and a landmark in the history of science fiction literature.