Customer Reviews

When Worlds Collide

5 star:		(50)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I discovered this one when I was in 5th grade. Buying it now, 30 years later, I was worried that it just wouldn't hold up. To my delight, it stands up to the test of time magnificently.

We've seen movies and TV specials in the past few years on the impact of some cosmic body with Earth (Deep Impact, Armageddon, Meteor). Balmer and Wylie did it decades ago, and did it on a scale and with an attention to (then-current) detail that's still staggeringly convincing, if dated, today.

Written before WWII (1933 and 34), When Worlds Collide features the destruction of the Earth in the most complete manner possible, and focuses on the efforts of a few people to find a way to escape that destruction. The manner in which they do so is brilliantly thought out and detailed, the progressive deterioration of both society and of the Earth itself is heartwrenchingly chronicled, and the final flight from the doomed planet is a classic. Yes, we have super-science, purple prose, and sometimes overly-simplistic characters (not to mention outdated concepts), but this is an example of the Golden Age that can still stand on its own. It DEFINED the disaster novel, and set the bar so high that few who came after even dared attempt the grand scale that Balmer and Wylie achieved. The sequel has its own charm, a combination of aftermath and exploration, with some eerie scenes that still give me a bit of the creeps to read.

Many of the earlier reviews on this site call for a reissue of the sequel, "After Worlds Collide". Please note: BOTH STORIES, "When Worlds Collide" and "After Worlds Collide", are contained in this paperback version. The title is misleading because it only includes "When..." -- but both stories are there.
Other reviewers have correctlly noted that there are some scientific inaccuracies, and some 1930s political and social views that seem out of place today. Who cares?! This is a wonderful story. In part 1, the authors concoct an excellent apocalyptic scenario. And in part 2, their conception of the alien planet is brilliant.
This is a very well-told yarn.

Probably the best science fiction story of all times! A "gas giant" planet about the size of Uranus was dragged away from its original orbit around its sun in a distant solar system by a passing star, perhaps millions of years ago. Also dragged away was the gigantic planet's satellite, an earthlike planet. The two bodies retain their original orbital influence and wonder for eons, frozen in the absolute zero of space, until they come close enough to our solar system and are pulled in, attracted by the gravity of our own sun, their speeds increased several times in their endless travel through space. Star gazers soon discover that at least one of the newly discovered bodies will collide with and destroy the earth. Upon being discovered by a South African astronomer Professor Bronson, the two bodies are named by scientists after its discoverer. The larger one, the gaseous "Bronson Alpha", will destroy the earth, so a Noah's Ark rocket is built at a franctic pace to provide escape of 100 chosen would be travelers, so they can start a new life in Alpha's companion, the earthlike "Bronson Beta" which will replace the Earth in its orbital position. Time is of essence in this classic sci-fi thriller which should be remade by Hollywood in state or the art computerized special effects and sound!

I first read this book more than thirty years ago. I have read it many times since and it will always remain on my list of all-time favorites. This is a book in the tradition of Verne and Wells in that it brings many basic scientific principles to life and makes them understandable to the reader.

Against the backdrop of universal disaster, Wylie and Balmer manage to tell a story that has real human dimensions. Love, hate, ingenuity, and compassion all play out here in characters that will truly engage the reader. Furthermore, the scope of adventure the book gives will compel the reader to keep turning the pages, eager to see what happens next. In this way the book is a true success. However, for the discerning reader, the story also raises some perplexing and even disturbing questions, giving it a depth that mere adventure can't.

My career as a geographer and mathematician can trace its genesis to one book, and that book is WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE. So I personally owe its authors a great deal, and so does all science-fiction because this book epitomizes the genre's greatest strengths.

I first read When Worlds Collide/After Worlds Collide in the 1960's, while in junior high school. They were my introduction into what I considered adult science fiction, and I was hooked! After thinking about them for years, I finally ordered them, hoping the books would not disapoint so years many later. The themes are just as current today, though the prejudices and some science are certainly outdated. I highly recommend this book for pleasurable reading as well as a look into science fiction writing from the 1930's. Note that this volumn contains BOTH books bound together.

Two rogue planets, one the satellite of the other, are heading directly toward the earth. The scientists who make this horrifying discovery have a plan to save a small remnant of humanity.

The story is engaging enough that I was content to suspend my disbelief at the implausibility of the disaster and especially of the opportunity for survival. Much of the entertainment value of the book is in its being old: news of the impending disaster is spread by newspaper; atomic power is being hastily developed; and the attraction between two main characters is expressed only in passionate kisses.

There's plenty of apocalyptic fiction I'd recommend over this (e.g., "The Road," "Earth Abides," "The Stand," and "Alas, Babylon"), but "When Worlds Collide" is entertaining enough for a rainy Saturday.

This book and its sequel are two of the greatest sci-fi books I have ever read and read and read. I have re-read them at least 5 times since I first read them as a teenager. In fact I still have the books I bought as a teenager!

It's a monumental epic struggle to save the human race and the trials and tribulations of a group of scientists as they prepare to save the human race. It's also a look in to the dark side of man when faced with annihilation and too much time to contemplate it.

I would recommend this book and the second book, After Worlds Collide, to anyone, you won't be disappointed.

This is a true science-fiction classic. The reason is simple: it is plausible. I first read this story almost forty years ago when I was in junior high school, and in the intervening years, it has lost none of its' fascination for me. I especially was taken by the sequel. The basic story is this: an astronomer discovers two planets from outside the solar system that are on a collision course with earth. One of them is a gas giant the size of Uranus, the other is a planet similar to earth, which will be destroyed. The other planet will assume the approximate orbit that the earth had. The scientists of earth build space vehicles in an attempt to save the human race. When I heard it was back in print, I orderd a copy and was very happy to find that the sequel was included. After Worlds Collide deals with the adventures of the people who land on the new planet.Some of the criticisms of these books are somewhat understandable. For example, the dialogue is sometimes--to be charitable--unrealistic. And the absence of diversity will offend some. There were only whites and Asians mentioned, and the "Asiatics" were, for the most part,the villains. Ignoring these relatively minor flaws however, still leaves a story that fascinates.One disappointment in the Bison reprints is that they do not have the maps of the new planet in it, but I am still glad it is back in print.If your local bookstore does not have it, order it. I doubt that you will be disappointed.

Once the reader remembers that this work and its sequel, After Worlds Collide, were written in the 1930s prior to WWII the imagination of Balmer and Wylie regarding space and rocket development, as well as the psychology of the "hate cultures" was brillant. As a young man my imagination soared while reading these novels. The screen play discarded too much of the character development available in the the book. I strongly urge any lover of good science fiction to get a copy for a great read. I only scored the original as 4 stars, but if you are fortunate to have "When" and "After" to read concurrently, then you will have a 5 star experience.

Though this book was written back in the thirties and has a very strong political bias, it's got an ingenious idea and an exciting and realistic plot. The existence of the human civilization is threatened by an asteroid which is about to collide with Earth. Frantic preparations begin to save the mankind from disaster. Read and see what happens.

This novel has a follow-up "After Worlds Collide" which isn't good at all.