A Columbus of Space (1909) by Garrett P. Serviss is a pioneering American science fiction adventure. The narrator, Harmon Andrews, and his friend Jack Vernon join the brilliant inventor Edmund Stonewell aboard an atomic-powered spaceship, blasting off to Venus. There they discover a tidally locked world: a sunlit hemisphere ruled by intellectually advanced, caste-bound beings, a dark side swarming with monstrous creatures, and a twilight belt between the two. Wielding their superior technology, the explorers appear godlike to the natives, rescue captive women, battle savage beasts, and narrowly escape. Anticipating atomic energy decades ahead of its time, the novel draws direct inspiration from H.G. Wells.
