CASTLE IN THE STARS SPACE RACE OF 1869 HC GN

What if man journeyed into space in 1869, not 1969? In search of the mysterious element known as aether, Claire Dulac flew her hot-air balloon toward the edge of our stratosphere - and never returned. One year after her disappearance, her son and husband are delivered a tantalizing clue: a letter from an unknown sender who claims to have Claire's lost logbook. The letter summons them to a Bavarian castle, where an ambitious young king dreams of flying the skies in a ship powered by aether. But within the castle walls, danger lurks, for -there are those who would stop at nothing to conquer the stars!