The Smoky God (1908 novel)

The Smoky God, or A Voyage Journey to the Inner Earth is a 1908 novel by Willis George Emerson, relating what is purported to be a true account of Olaf Jansen, a Norwegian sailor, who travels with his father into the hollow earth through an entrance at the North Pole. The original editions featured accompaniment illustrations by John Alonzo Williams, including depictions of the gigantic inhabitants of the cavern world.

Synopsis
The story was serialised in The National from December 1907 to March 1908, in which the following synopsis of the novel was given:

"In his Foreword, published in the December number of the National, the author comments upon the undying interest which men have ever evinced regarding the hidden secrets of the frozen Northland. He recounts many of the well-known, and advances some new and interesting arguments founded on material proofs leading to the inevitable conclusion that there is still another and a grander continent somewhere 'beyond the North Wind.' At two o'clock, one morning he was summoned to the bedside of Olaf Jansen, an aged Norseman who, some years before, had established his home in an outlying section of Los Angeles, California. The old Norseman was about to die, but before the end came he told the author of this narrative of his marvelous voyage to the 'Inner World,' made by his father and himself many years before. A detailed story of the voyage written by the old Norseman himself, with data, drawings, and crude maps, were given to the author of this narrative with the understanding that they should be offered to the world after the old Norseman's death, that the mystery of the frozen Northland might be forever cleared away. In the old Norseman's story it is set forth that during the wonderful voyage which he so graphically describes, his father was drowned, and the son, on telling the captain of the whaling vessel which rescued him in the Antarctic Ocean, of his mysterious adventures, was believed to be a madman. Later he was permitted to return to Stockholm from whence he had started and there told his story in detail to his uncle who had him confined in a madhouse, where he remained for twenty eight years &mdash; long, tedious, frightful years of suffering! He was finally released and after many years spent as a fisherman and a student of books he came to America where he wrote the story of his voyage. In this he details how he and his father sailed from Stockholm to Franz Joseph Land from which point they dared to sail still on toward the mysterious land 'beyond the North Wind.' After thrilling adventures among icebergs and days of sailing in more open waters, an awful tempest of wind and snow which nearly sunk their sloop was followed by strangely mild, fair weather. One day, when Olaf was sleeping, his father roused him, saying, 'There is land in sight.' This land proved to be the outskirts of the 'Inner World,' and from the time huge men twelve feet in height came to their little sloop, took it bodily from the water and carried it on board a massive ship to the marvelous country and cities they inhabit, the two voyagers were filled with awe and wonder. They were treated with gentleness and courtesy. Great cities, vast waterways, evidence of advanced learning and marvels of every kind greeted them as they were conducted through the 'Inner World.'"