Welcome to the conclusion of our winter Tale for Our Time: Lord of the World by Robert Hugh Benson.

No doubt about it, but reactions to this rather prescient novel of 1907 run the gamut. On the one hand, Steve, a Manhattan Steyn Clubber and globetrotting Mark Steyn Cruiser:

I have listened to many installments while traveling through Times Square and under the Hudson River. This is a Tales for Our Time triumph, and I can't wait for the grand finale!

On the other hand, for First Day Founding Member Tom Gelsinon, this tale took its time to catch fire:

It took me a while to warm up to this futuristic tale, but even while warming up I was impressed with many of Benson's first-rate descriptive passages. In a memorable early installment there was an airship crash, and as the 21st century onlookers viewed the scene they were relieved to see the medical personnel arrive on site — not with bandages and stretchers — but with euthanasia machines. It made me think of present times, where abortion and assisted suicide are all too often referred to as health care. Hoping for a happy ending of some sort, but it's not looking good . . .

Those "first-rate descriptive passages"? Not for everyone. From Nicola, an Ontario Steyn Clubber:

Benson's lengthy descriptions remind me of the descriptions of nature in G.K. Chesterson's The Flying Inn. I guess modern times make it harder for me to sit through long passages.

Okay, that's enough dissent in the ranks. Time for the big finish - which, on this tale, is very big. Our final episode begins with the villagers fleeing Nazareth:

He had left a few more standing bewildered at the doors of the little mud-houses; and had seen perhaps a hundred families, weighted with domestic articles, pour like a stream down the rocky path that led to Khaifa. He had been cursed by some, even threatened; stared upon by others; mocked by a few. The fanatical said that the Christians had brought God's wrath upon the place, and the darkness upon the sky: the sun was dying, for these hounds were too evil for him to look upon and live. Others again seemed to see nothing remarkable in the state of the weather....

Members of The Mark Steyn Club can hear me read the conclusion of Lord of the World simply by clicking here and logging-in. Earlier episodes can be found here.

Just in case you incline Nicolawards on Mr Benson, a word on our other Tales: some like the ripping yarns for boys, some the more genteel social comedy for girls, and some of you even enjoy our ventures into summer whimsy from yours truly. But of the tales in totality all seem to be in favour.

If you've yet to hear any of them, you can enjoy seven-and-a-half years' worth of audio adventures - by Conan Doyle, Kafka, Conrad, Gogol, Dickens, Baroness Orczy, P G Wodehouse, Jane Austen, George Orwell, Robert Louis Stevenson and more - by joining The Mark Steyn Club. For details on membership, see here - and, if you're seeking the perfect gift for a fan of classic fiction, don't forget our Steyn Club Gift Membership. Sign up that special someone today - it's the perfect birthday present!

Tales for Our Time will be back very soon, and I'll be here tomorrow for another episode of Mark Steyn on the Town.