I was so excited today to find a really great book available in e-book format. Apparently it is public domain now. I am speaking of Robert Hugh Benson’s Lord of the World. I originally discovered this book in the library of the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, D.C., where my grad school was located. I devoured it, checking it out multiple times in the two years I had access to it.

Benson (1871-1914) was an Anglican priest who converted to Catholicism after a long interior journey. He wrote many books on various topics, from children’s books to devotionals to works of fiction. his fiction included both historical fiction and science fiction.

Lord of the World is considered “science fiction”, but today sits comfortably in the same category as the popular Protestant “Left Behind” series. (Well, except the fact that Left Behind would probably be very unhappy to sit in the same category as a Catholic end-times book, but that is another issue…) The book is an “end-times” story of great insight, interesting historical prespective (being written in the early 20th century), and best of all, full of excitement!

If you have never read it, treat yourself! You can find it for free e-reading at Project Gutenberg, or at Authorama.