Vril, The Power of the Coming Race (Forgotten Books) [Paperback]

Edward Bulwer-Lytton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 7, 2007

Book Description:

"The Coming Race (original title), also reprinted as Vril: The Power of the Coming Race, is a novel by Edward Bulwer-Lytton published in 1870. The novel is an early example of science fiction, sometimes cited as the first of this genre. However, many early readers believed that its account of a superior subterranean master race and the energy-form called Vril was accurate, to the extent that some theosophists accepted the book as truth. Furthermore, since 1960 there has been a conspiracy theory about a secret Vril-Society." (Quote from wikipedia.org)

Table of Contents:

Publisher’s Preface; Chapter I.; Chapter ii.; Chapter iii.; Chapter iv.; Chapter V.; Chapter vi.; Chapter vii.; Chapter viii.; Chapter ix.; Chapter X.; Chapter xi.; Chapter xii.; Chapter xiii.; Chapter xiv.; Chapter xv.; Chapter xvi.; Chapter xvii.; Chapter xviii.; Chapter xix.; Chapter Xx.; Chapter Xxi.; Chapter Xxii.; Chapter Xxiii.; Chapter Xxvi.; Chapter Xxv.; Chapter Xxvi.; Chapter Xxvii.; Chapter Xxviii.; Chapter Xxix.

About the Publisher:

Forgotten Books is a publisher of historical writings, such as: Philosophy, Classics, Science, Religion, Esoteric and Mythology. www.forgottenbooks.org

Forgotten Books is about sharing information, not about making money. All books are priced at wholesale prices. We are also the only publisher we know of to print in large sans-serif font, which is proven to make the text easier to read and put less strain on your eyes.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

About the Author:

"Edward George Earl Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton... was an English novelist, playwright, and politician. Lord Lytton was a florid, popular writer of his day, who coined such phrases as "the great unwashed", "pursuit of the almighty dollar", "the pen is mightier than the sword", and the infamous incipit "it was a dark and stormy night." Despite his popularity in his heyday, today his name is known as a byword for bad writing. San Jose State University's annual Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest for bad writing is named after him.

He was the youngest son of General William Earle Bulwer of Heydon Hall and Wood Dalling, Norfolk and Elizabeth Barbara Lytton, daughter of Richard Warburton Lytton of Knebworth, Hertfordshire. He had two brothers, William Earle Lytton Bulwer (1799 - 1877) and (William) Henry Lytton Earle Bulwer (1801 - 1872), afterwards Lord Dalling.

Lord Lytton's original surname was Bulwer, the names 'Earle' and 'Lytton' were middle names. On 20th February 1844 he assumed the name and arms of Lytton by royal licence and his surname then became 'Bulwer-Lytton'. His widowed mother had done the same in 1811. His brothers were always simply surnamed 'Bulwer'." (Quote from wikipedia.org)

Product Details

• Paperback: 187 pages
• Publisher: Forgotten Books (November 7, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1605060763
• ISBN-13: 978-1605060767
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #813,653 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Science Fiction roots -- a captivating and brilliant page-turner!, August 5, 2008

By 

Patrick W. Crabtree "The Old Grottomaster" (Lucasville, OH USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Vril: The Power Of The Coming Race (Paperback)

In this 1871 work, Lytton presents the reader with an early science fiction tale about an American adventurer whom we come to know only as "Tish". The author wrote the story near the end of his own life in 1873; however, he exposes his protagonist to vignettes of technology and ethical concepts which would not actualize until the 20th Century!

At the outset of the story Tish accompanies an associate deep into the bowels of a mine, presumably somewhere in Europe. It is therein that the two enter a subterranean world. The associate is killed almost immediately by a "krek," a creature with, "...a vast and terrible head with open jaws and dull, ghastly, hungry eyes -- the head of the monstrous reptile resembling that of a crocodile or alligator, but infinitely larger than the largest creature of that kind I had ever beheld in my travels."

From this point to almost the end of the work Tish is exposed to, and made the dubious guest of, a highly advanced culture in terms of technology: the Vril-ya. They represent the futuristic, powerful faction of the larger underworld race which is referred to as the "Ana". The non-Vril-ya were regarded as barbarians by the Vril-ya and were kept on the fringes of the technologically superior Vril-ya regions, (a situation which I regard as symbolism of the Jewish People of Europe during this era).

The author presents the Vril-ya as having aspired to social and civil preeminence; however, the excellence of their political systems and their philosophies, while devoid of conflagration and dispute, were shrewdly left for the reader to appraise.

Vril-ya society, in a nutshell, was static. They had no desire for wealth since each person could have anything s/he wanted by way of "Vril". Their diet was pseudo-vegetarian, milk being their singular non-vegetarian indulgence. A lazy society by nature, they considered Democracy to be primitive and thus perceived to be found only in barbarous cultures. Their own form of government was classified as "benevolent autocracy," except that the benevolence extended neither to the non-Vril-ya subterranean who shared their geography nor to any other. The most significant cultural divergence from surface dwelling humans hinged upon the fact that Vril-ya women were not only larger than males, they were also the assertive and dominant gender in their society.

Lytton was quite clever in his approach to analogizing Vril-ya Society to contemporaneous European events and attitudes. The technique is reminiscent of a later work by a fellow Englishman, J.R.R. Tolkien, author of "the Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings". It's also clear that Lytton was brilliantly intuitive in regard to his vision of futuristic technology.

The work is quite provocative in this regard: Lytton leaves the fate of mankind as an open issue with his Hitchcockian conclusion. Hence, do the Vril-ya exemplify God's [first] "unsuccessful experiment" in creating mankind? We He nullify the power of Vril in the event that the Vril-ya and the surface dwellers come into conflict? Or do the Vril-ya represent God's success story... and will humankind thus be purged from the Earth's surface as part of a "Master plan"? The latter appears to be the author's rendition and interpretation of "The Revelation to John" (in "The Holy Bible").

This is a superb yarn and seizes upon much of the "Hollow Earth" to-do of the period. This terrific book is timeless literature, expressed in the sci-fi genre and is just as compelling today as the day it was originally published. My highest recommendation even for non-science fiction enthusiasts.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Pulpy goodness, July 5, 2011

By 

Brett Alister Redden "bubs the pup" (San Antonio) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Vril, The Power of the Coming Race (Forgotten Books) (Paperback)

Pulp fiction before there was such a thing. This book strangely is some what "prophetic" in its writing in that it creates a convincing allegory of the nuclear age and its natural consequences. It's a creative look into a fantastical world of under world citizens and their lifestyles, very reminiscent of "Gulliver's Travels" though not as well written nor as lengthy.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars fantastic, December 10, 2007

By 

P. Chapman (ITHACA, NY USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Vril, The Power of the Coming Race (Paperback)

This book was better than I had imagined. It provides a wonderful model for harmonious living and is honest and kind in its assessment of how our civilization has gone awry.