The Land of the Changing Sun

I'm not sure how William N. Harben's novel The Land of the Changing Sun  came to find it's way onto my list of dystopian novels to read this month. When looking for dystopian novels, I went to wikipedia, where I found this list, but Harben's novel isn't on that list.

Never the less, it found it's way onto my PC and I transferred the ebook to my Kindle.

I'm a little surprised that I had never heard of Harben before now. According to his wikipedia bio, he was born in Dalton, GA in 1858. I have ancestors on my mothers side who were living in Dalton at that time, although a difference in wealth would have made it unlikely that my ancestors would have associated with the Harben family.

I went to high school in Dalton and there was no mention of Harben being a native of the city. He was reasonably successful in his day - Queen Victoria reportedly requested a copy of his 1890 novel, Almost Persuaded . However, looking further into Harben's bio, I discovered that his father was a prominent southern abolitionist who served as a spy for the Union. That would explain why the city of Dalton would not have claimed William Harben as a native son.

I finished reading The Land of the Changing Sun and it is my least favorite of all the novels I've read this month. The story tells of an American and an Englishman who crash their hot air balloon near an island in the Atlantic ocean. The two are rescued and taken down to a "lost world" located inside the Earth.

Two reviewers at goodreads.com gave the book 3 out of 5 stars. I would not rank the book that high. I'd only give it 2 stars if I were feeling generous.

Best skip this one.