THE QUEEN OF APPALACHIA (1901) – Written by Joe H. Borders. This novel features Paul Thornton, a merchant in Kentucky, and his Lost World adventures. While hiking in the wilderness Paul saves a beautiful woman from drowning. The woman is, coincidentally enough, utterly identical to Paul’s girlfriend May Arnold.
The rescued woman says she is Olivet, the Queen of a subterranean land called Appalachia. Several generations earlier, Kentucky pioneers were driven into hiding in a cave to escape hostile Native Americans. The cave was part of an entire network of subterranean tunnels which extend around the world.
A large mass of electricity provides light and heat and “revolves” in time to the Earth’s revolution to approximate day and night in the underground realm called Appalachia by the pioneers. Gold and diamonds are plentiful in Appalachia. Continue reading
BABYLON ELECTRIFIED (1888) – Written by Albert Bleunard. In the tradition of his fellow Frenchman, Jules Verne, Bleunard crafted this work of science fiction with an international cast. 
LOOKING FORWARD: A DREAM OF THE UNITED STATES IN 1999 (1899) – Written by Arthur Bird. This is speculative science fiction looking at world events and scientific advances from 1899 to 1999. Since the U.S. was coming off the 1898 war with Spain that accounts for the way Spain is presented as the major villain on the global scene. 
BIETIGHEIM (1886) – Published anonymously in 1886 this work of alternate history accurately predicted some of the actual results and fallout of the coming First World War (1914-1918). Bietigheim is presented as a series of John Minor lectures about world history as seen from “futuristic” 1932. 
THE STRANGE MANUSCRIPT BY _________ M.D. (1881) -Written by Alexander Pitts Bettersworth. The mock author, an M.D. who remains anonymous, upon learning that a comet will strike the Earth in 1883, stores supplies in Mammoth Cave with the help of his black servant Josh. With most of humanity dismissing the threat as a hoax or a mistake, the only other people who join them in the cave are a young woman named Ida and her black servant Chloe. 
FARMING IN THE YEAR 2000 A.D. (1890) – Written by Edward Berwick. Just when you thought it was safe to read speculative science fiction about life in the future without Edward Bellamy’s Looking Backward being referenced, along comes this entry from the Overland Monthly‘s Twentieth Century special. 
3,000 MILES THROUGH THE CLOUDS (1892) – Written by Francis W Doughty under a house pseudonym for The Boys of New York magazine, serialized from February 13th to April 2nd. 
THE LUNARIAN PROFESSOR AND HIS REMARKABLE REVELATIONS CONCERNING THE EARTH, THE MOON AND MARS TOGETHER WITH AN ACCOUNT OF THE CRUISE OF THE SALLY ANN (1909) – Written by James B Alexander back in the glory days of titles so long they might not fit in a 140 character limit. 
FREE SPEECH, LIBERALS AND CONSERVATIVES – Neither end of the political spectrum seems interested in defending freedom of expression except when their own point of view is in danger of being silenced. 
WITHIN AN ACE OF THE END OF THE WORLD (1900) – My review of this work of “ancient” science fiction was a hit with readers. 
POLO: 2018 U.S. OPEN, GAMES ONE AND TWO – Balladeer’s Blog’s annual coverage of the U.S. Open in Polo attracted its usual share of attention. 
TRUMP-HATERS: FASCISTS AND BUFFOONS – After two pieces of garbage like Barack Obama and George W Bush we got a de facto Third Party President in Donald Trump. 
NEGLECTED DETECTIVES WHO SOLVED REAL-LIFE MYSTERIES – This item looked at a pair of baffling real-life mysteries that were solved decades ago by eccentric detectives as colorful as any in fiction. 
THE PRISONER: MORE RELEVANT THAN EVER BEFORE – This item kicked off my review of the 1967 science fiction/ existential drama The Prisoner. 
POLITICAL FORTUNE COOKIES – This was a popular one-shot item in which I took shots at Congressional Republicans, Barack Obama and many, many more. 
MICHAEL MOORE: FAKE FRIEND TO THE WORKING CLASS – Pathetic, outdated Michael Moore STILL refuses to give away all but two million dollars of his bloated fortune to prove that he really cares about the 99 percent like he claims he does. 
IN SEARCH OF THE UNKNOWN (1904) by Robert W Chambers. Previously Balladeer’s Blog examined Chambers’ underrated horror classic The King in Yellow. The work we’re looking at this time around is a collection of short stories about Francis Gilland the Zoologist. Gilland was a forerunner of the real-life Frank “Bring ’em Back Alive” Buck and the fictional Indiana Jones. 
I. THE HARBOR MASTER – Gilland is sent north to Hudson Bay where a Harbor Master has reported capturing a pair of Great Auks, flightless birds which went extinct in the mid-1800s. The two-fisted scholar finds the Great Auks are for real but the Harbor Master harbors (see what I did there) a sinister secret. 
II. IN QUEST OF THE DINGUE – The Graham Glacier melts, unleashing a number of animals from species that were long thought extinct. Among the crowd of academics converging on the unexplored area are Gilland and Professor Smawl. The Professor is a sexy, strong-willed female scholar that our hero has been forced to accompany into the region. 
Balladeer's Blog 