William J. Locke

As I've mentioned in posts before, I've begun reading from the top ten best selling novels of 1917. As of this writing, I finished numbers one and two - Mr. Britling Sees It Through, by H. G. Wells, and The Light in the Clearing, by Irving Bacheller. I'm currently reading # 3 on the list, The Red Planet, by William J. Locke.

World War I was still being fought when these books were published, so it's not surprising that two of these first three concern the Great War. The Light in the Clearing is an historical novel of sorts, but takes place during the time of U.S. President Van Buren.

William J. Locke was a very good writer - five of Locke's books made the top ten best sellers list in the U.S.. I was so impressed with the first few pages of The Red Planet that I considered reading Locke's other top best sellers after I've read all the 1917 books on my list. However, I'll wait and decide on that after I've completed The Red Planet. As I said, Locke was a very good writer, but unfortunately, at this point in the novel, I am not at all fond of the protagonist, Major Meredyth. Major Meredyth appears to be more chauvinistic than I would like - but who knows, in Wells' novel, the character Mr. Britling becomes less enthused with World War I as the novel progressed, so perhaps there will be a change in the character of Major Meredyth as well.