Village in the Treetops, The (original: 1901; edição: 1964)

This was definitely one of the weaker Verne stories. Published in 1901 towards the end of his life but not translated into English until 1964, this concerned African natives and simians and the discovery by two French explorers of a new race that they come to see as representing the "missing link" between the Darwinian ape ancestor and modern man. In the pen of a Rider Haggard or a modern author like Michael Crichton, this could have been a decent story reflecting the viewpoint of the latter 19th and early 20th centuries, but it simply collapsed under the weight of poorly written and stereotypical scenes and characters. 1.5/5 ( )