The scarlet empire

A fantasy action adventure that is totally engrossing. A man tries to commit suicide by drowning himself and ends up in an under sea city. It is a fantastic and futuristic city, but extremely repressive. Our hero has an amazing adventure finds a friend, finds true love and figures out how to escape the Scarlet Empire. It was written as a critique of Communism, but when it was read out loud to me as a child the social commentary went right over my head. This is a really fun book. I would put it in the same category as Jules Verne and H.G. Wells.