It is simple to understand this book written by Edward Bulwer and Lord Lytton, which was written in the 1870s, had such a significant impact on science fiction, fantasy, hollow earth theorists, utopians, occultists, and Eugenicists. The story can make you lose for a short time in a few spots when he goes into some of the intricacies of the society he has discovered in the subterranean world but overall this was a good yarn. The novel revolves around the story of a man who finds an underground world while exploring a mine. An advanced civilization greets him, educating him on all the secrets of their advanced civilization. The vril was a universal power that could be used for both creation and destruction. It was a discovery that heralded peace in this civilization. Men fled in terror when one of them was killed by a woman, Lytton writes. They remained in other communities and "were caught up" by other males, he says. Girls are married off at 16, guys hammer away until 20, and men stay celibate for life.