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When Worlds Collide #1-2
When Worlds Collide / After Worlds Collide
2 volumes in one, encompassing When Worlds Collide & After Worlds Collide
An early apocalyptic novel and its sequel. How does mankind react knowing of the imminent destruction of the Earth, before, during and after.
An early apocalyptic novel and its sequel. How does mankind react knowing of the imminent destruction of the Earth, before, during and after.
- GenresScience FictionFiction
685 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1934
4 people are currently reading
103 people want to read
About the author
Philip Wylie
122 books54 followersBorn in Beverly, Massachusetts, Philip Gordon Wylie was the son of Presbyterian minister Edmund Melville Wylie and the former Edna Edwards, a novelist, who died when Philip was five years old. His family moved to Montclair, New Jersey and he later attended Princeton University from 1920–1923. He married Sally Ondek, and had one child, Karen, an author who became the inventor of animal "clicker" training. After a divorcing his first wife, Philip Wylie married Frederica Ballard who was born and raised in Rushford, New York; they are both buried in Rushford.
A writer of fiction and nonfiction, his output included hundreds of short stories, articles, serials, syndicated newspaper columns, novels, and works of social criticism. He also wrote screenplays while in Hollywood, was an editor for Farrar & Rinehart, served on the Dade County, Florida Defense Council, was a director of the Lerner Marine Laboratory, and at one time was an adviser to the chairman of the Joint Congressional Committee for Atomic Energy which led to the creation of the Atomic Energy Commission. Most of his major writings contain critical, though often philosophical, views on man and society as a result of his studies and interest in psychology, biology, ethnology, and physics. Over nine movies were made from novels or stories by Wylie. He sold the rights for two others that were never produced.
A writer of fiction and nonfiction, his output included hundreds of short stories, articles, serials, syndicated newspaper columns, novels, and works of social criticism. He also wrote screenplays while in Hollywood, was an editor for Farrar & Rinehart, served on the Dade County, Florida Defense Council, was a director of the Lerner Marine Laboratory, and at one time was an adviser to the chairman of the Joint Congressional Committee for Atomic Energy which led to the creation of the Atomic Energy Commission. Most of his major writings contain critical, though often philosophical, views on man and society as a result of his studies and interest in psychology, biology, ethnology, and physics. Over nine movies were made from novels or stories by Wylie. He sold the rights for two others that were never produced.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
October 15, 2017
See the individual novels for short reviews.
June 24, 2012
Better than the movie and the sequel that wasn't.
When Worlds Collide is the story of what mankind would do if Earth was
about to be struck by a wandering star. That's the bad news. The good
news is that the small cold star has a traveling companion, an Earth sized
world that is thawing out as it gets nearer the sun, and will be pulled by
the good old mother star in a similar orbit as Earth. So the new home will
be waiting. The only trick is to get from here to there. And that is what
the first book is about, the race to get a couple of hundred people to
salvation before the end of the world, and the struggle of all the other
people on the planet to get on board that damned ship. After Worlds
Collide is of course the story of discovery on the new planet which is
coming to life, and of the Americans, Nazi Germans and Soviet communists
who struggle for supremacy. The world was once the home to a more advanced
species, their works everywhere. Great book from another era.
When Worlds Collide is the story of what mankind would do if Earth was
about to be struck by a wandering star. That's the bad news. The good
news is that the small cold star has a traveling companion, an Earth sized
world that is thawing out as it gets nearer the sun, and will be pulled by
the good old mother star in a similar orbit as Earth. So the new home will
be waiting. The only trick is to get from here to there. And that is what
the first book is about, the race to get a couple of hundred people to
salvation before the end of the world, and the struggle of all the other
people on the planet to get on board that damned ship. After Worlds
Collide is of course the story of discovery on the new planet which is
coming to life, and of the Americans, Nazi Germans and Soviet communists
who struggle for supremacy. The world was once the home to a more advanced
species, their works everywhere. Great book from another era.
February 28, 2012
Amazing to see how humans might react to a catastrophic event before all the modern technologies we use today. Good books if you can put yourself back in the 1930's.
September 6, 2019
I liked it, mind you I was younger then, but that can't be helped! I put it in the same category really as Airport or Hotel ... I thought of them as "disaster" novels, even though the "disaster" sometimes doesn't come 'til the very end. (Most books have a disaster of sorts in them, I now realise--I'd been conditioned by the Hollywood Films then current to think of this as a disaster genre).
Anyway, it's likely still worth reading, though as the years pass older works can sometimes get a bit dated (and others, even older, stay remarkably fresh--Jane Austin, George Eliot, Charles Dickens, the fashions change but the prose is pratically perfect).
(Note: 5 stars = amazing, wonderful, 4 = very good book, 3 = decent read, 2 = disappointing, 1 = awful, just awful. I'm fairly good at picking for myself so end up with a lot of 4s). I feel a lot of readers automatically render any book they enjoy 5, but I grade on a curve!
Anyway, it's likely still worth reading, though as the years pass older works can sometimes get a bit dated (and others, even older, stay remarkably fresh--Jane Austin, George Eliot, Charles Dickens, the fashions change but the prose is pratically perfect).
(Note: 5 stars = amazing, wonderful, 4 = very good book, 3 = decent read, 2 = disappointing, 1 = awful, just awful. I'm fairly good at picking for myself so end up with a lot of 4s). I feel a lot of readers automatically render any book they enjoy 5, but I grade on a curve!
November 5, 2024
I only read, “When Worlds Collide.” This book was a page-turner. Though I saw the movie version a very long time ago, I was able to draw a few mind’s eye memories from the movie as I read the book. Naturally, the book was better. Maybe one day I’ll decide to read the sequel. For now, however, I’m content with only having read, “When Worlds Collide.” Now back to my favorite genre, westerns.
October 8, 2017
Read back in the 70s
Read
March 5, 2021Excellent
May 9, 2021
These were the first books I owned when I was young. They are a bit dated but a fun read.
August 8, 2015
Perhaps an example of some of the finer 1930's era science fiction, it unfortunately does not age well, especially in regards to the roles of women, the implied approval of eugenics (only smart, beautiful people are allowed on the ship to the new world) and in terms of racial prejudice. Of the two books contained in this volume I would have have to say I enjoyed the first book more. When Worlds Collide is often a harrowing adventure tale of a small group of men and women struggling to escape a doomed planet. Danger is everywhere, including marauding tribes reduced to savagery, worldwide climactic and geological upheaval, and of course, an approaching planet that will demolish Earth. The tension is offset by moments of poignancy, such as when a main character buries his recently deceased mother, and ponders the point of this ritual in light of the planet's coming end.
The second novel begins shortly after the human survivors' arrival on the new planet. Hopefully no big spoiler there! After Worlds Collide starts out as a tale of exploration and discovery, but slides into an odd sort of thriller with the realization that others (Communists and Fascists, no less) have survived Earth's demise and now want to rule the new planet. There is strategic warfare, espionage, budding romance...and an amazingly quick and tidy anticlimactic resolution of all points of conflict that almost makes it feel like the authors (Edward Balmer being the uncredited co-writer here) got bored or lazy.
The second novel begins shortly after the human survivors' arrival on the new planet. Hopefully no big spoiler there! After Worlds Collide starts out as a tale of exploration and discovery, but slides into an odd sort of thriller with the realization that others (Communists and Fascists, no less) have survived Earth's demise and now want to rule the new planet. There is strategic warfare, espionage, budding romance...and an amazingly quick and tidy anticlimactic resolution of all points of conflict that almost makes it feel like the authors (Edward Balmer being the uncredited co-writer here) got bored or lazy.
October 30, 2012
WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE, Philip Wylie, Edwin Balmer
1932, #1 of 2, escaping a doomed earth, somehow...; scifi classic.
AFTER WORLDS COLLIDE, Philip Wylie, Edwin Balmer
1933, #2 of 2, creating a new life and then some; sequel, scifi classic style.
Two fast-moving new planets suddenly appear in our Solar System, one a gas giant that will soon obliterate Earth, the other a possible new home for the human race. But can Mankind work together quickly and well enough to succeed?
The original is fast-paced and loads of fun, with sharp characterizations that seem stock now, but remain somehow still thrilling, and much better than the 50s movie, although that too was fun. The sequel is rather disappointing, almost a mild Burroughs clone and thus entertaining, but not as good as the original. Several really fine plot twists are simply thrown away at the end, as a very traditional ending resolves itself far too quickly after an immense buildup.
Both still enjoyable but, overall, this treatment of a now-classic SF trope hasn’t aged well.
1932, #1 of 2, escaping a doomed earth, somehow...; scifi classic.
AFTER WORLDS COLLIDE, Philip Wylie, Edwin Balmer
1933, #2 of 2, creating a new life and then some; sequel, scifi classic style.
Two fast-moving new planets suddenly appear in our Solar System, one a gas giant that will soon obliterate Earth, the other a possible new home for the human race. But can Mankind work together quickly and well enough to succeed?
The original is fast-paced and loads of fun, with sharp characterizations that seem stock now, but remain somehow still thrilling, and much better than the 50s movie, although that too was fun. The sequel is rather disappointing, almost a mild Burroughs clone and thus entertaining, but not as good as the original. Several really fine plot twists are simply thrown away at the end, as a very traditional ending resolves itself far too quickly after an immense buildup.
Both still enjoyable but, overall, this treatment of a now-classic SF trope hasn’t aged well.
May 26, 2015
The first science fiction books I ever read, back when I was nine years old. They hooked me for life on the genre. They're real period pieces, quite dated in terms of the social values, particularly the role of women, but given that they were written in the early days of the Depression, that was to be expected. Re-reading them (the original and its sequel) over the years, they seem quaint but they're still highly entertaining, and in my view brilliant works for their time.
Reading them for the first time in the 1950s, I was struck by the fact that in After Worlds Collide, with each of the major powers having established a settlement on the new planet, the authors, writing in 1933, predicted the Second World War with amazing accuracy, even to the extent of Italy starting out on the side of the Axis and switching sides in the middle of the war. That blew my young mind (I was ten by then) and as I said, I was forever hooked. But then, Philip Wylie was a pretty sharp guy.
Reading them for the first time in the 1950s, I was struck by the fact that in After Worlds Collide, with each of the major powers having established a settlement on the new planet, the authors, writing in 1933, predicted the Second World War with amazing accuracy, even to the extent of Italy starting out on the side of the Axis and switching sides in the middle of the war. That blew my young mind (I was ten by then) and as I said, I was forever hooked. But then, Philip Wylie was a pretty sharp guy.
July 19, 2012
Although I love this book as classic science fiction, I must warn that the attitudes used herein are decidedly reflecting the attitudes of the time... in a word... eugenics. The book talks about races in ways that will make most people uncomfortable and I think it contains the seeds of what was to come later... the Holocaust. If you ever wondered "What were they thinking?" you can read this book and then you will know.
BTW, the co-author, Edwin Balmer, is not listed here for some odd reason.
BTW, the co-author, Edwin Balmer, is not listed here for some odd reason.
November 21, 2010
Actually, I read the really old, hardcover version when I was around 15... and had forgotten until today.
I think this would be hard to enjoy today -- it did not age well, in my opinion.
I think this would be hard to enjoy today -- it did not age well, in my opinion.
April 6, 2011
Top notch 1930s scifi.
June 27, 2011
At a combined page count of 690, it's still a sci-fi classic (and a great sci-fi movie too).
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews