The intrepid Bartlett, explorer extraordinaire, is back—along with his sidekicks, Jacques le Grand and Gozo. In this latest adventure, the three are captured and taken to the City of the Sun. When the city's "Pasha" mistakes Gozo for his long-lost son, Bartlett and Jacques must find the Pasha's real son, who has been kidnapped by a band of people from the "Underground."

Hidden beneath the sun-baked stonefields, the City of Flames— or Underground—as it is known to topsiders, is governed by the "Ahsap" and his band of quarreling counselors. Bartlett soon finds the Pasha's son there. The Ahsap agrees to release the boy if, and only if, Bartlett can give him his greatest desire: the sun.

How can one possibly bring the sun to the Underground? Certainly, this is an impossible task! Impossible, that is, for any ordinary person. But Bartlett is no ordinary person. For like all truly first-rate explorers, he knows when to rely on those three great principles of Inventiveness, Perseverance, and Desperation.

Witty, wonderful, and little wacky. Highly recommended.

Reviewed by the teachers at Education Oasis.