The Poison Belt

by Arthur Conan Doyle Narrated by Peter Joyce

Overview

'You will conceive a bunch of grapes,' said he, 'which are covered by some infinitesimal but noxious bacillus. The gardener passes it through a disinfecting medium. It may be that he desires his grapes to be cleaner. It may be that he needs space to breed some fresh bacillus less noxious than the last. He dips it into the poison, and they are gone. Our gardener is, in my opinion, about to dip the solar system, and the human bacillus, the little mortal vibrio which twisted and wriggled upon the outer rind of the earth, will in an instant be sterilised out of existence...'

And so Professor Challenger makes plans to ensure that he and his wife and three close friends are immune from the effects of the 'disinfecting medium', the poison belt, for as long as possible.

As in The Lost World, Conan Doyle had these ideas long before our modern filmmakers, and his elucidation of scientific concepts in these adventurous and thrilling tales had enormous appeal for an audience which gained its knowledge from books.

Sadly, the novel's ultimate appeal that 'solemnity and humility' would 'be the foundations upon which a more earnest and reverent race may build a more worthy temple' fell on stony ground. Within a year of its publication, most of Europe was embroiled in the most horrifying conflict the planet had ever witnessed, in which poisonous gas was to play an horrendous part.

Public Domain (P)2012 Assembled Stories

Editorial Reviews

Library Journal

Here are two more volumes in the publisher's ongoing series of sf classics. Burroughs's Pirates was initially serialized in Argosy Weekly in 1932 and released in book form soon after. It features astronaut Carson Napier, who becomes stranded on Venus and finds himself swept into numerous adventures. The Poison Belt portrays Conan Doyle's other great creation, Professor Challenger. In this 1913 outing, the professor grapples with the problem of Earth's passing through a poisonous cloud, putting humankind's existence in jeopardy. Both books feature vintage illustrations. Great fun. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

SFReader.com

Conan Doyle may be best remembered for his Sherlock Holmes mysteries, but his works of science fiction are as brilliant and historically significant as they are under-rated. Along with contemporaries H.G. Wells and Jules Verne, he helped create the mold for modern science fiction.”

SEPTEMBER 2009 - AudioFile

In Doyle's short novel featuring Professor Challenger, the earth moves through a poisonous belt of the "ether"—the stuff supposedly filling space—and the protagonists of the first Challenger novel, THE LOST WORLD, reunite to observe what seems to be the end of all life. The book, though a classic of science fiction, is painfully dated in its science and in its casual racism, which only surfaces occasionally but is off-putting. But Glen McCready's genial reading helps. He supplies appropriate voices for the major characters, including the rumbling, bull-like Professor Challenger, his dainty wife, and the drawling Lord Roxton. Overall, McCready delivers the somewhat talky text with careful expressiveness, helping to bring it to life. It’s entertaining for those who can overlook the book's deficiencies. W.M. © AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine

Product Details

BN ID:	2940169651423
Publisher:	Assembled Stories
Publication date:	03/11/2012
Edition description:	Unabridged

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