The purple cloud

Description

Published in 1901, M. P. Shiel's The Purple Cloud is an early "last man" science fiction novel. Foretold by a priest as being against the will of God, Adam Jeffson's Arctic expedition unleashes a terrible fate on the world - a mysterious purple cloud that spreads far into the heavens and across the earth. Jeffson returns to the horror of finding the entire crew dead onboard his ship, and, as he gradually realizes, the entire population of the planet has been wiped out. Descending into a madness, he burns cities, declares himself a monarch with no subjects, attempts to create an enormous golden palace for God and for himself. But everything changes as he discovers he is not the only person left, stumbling upon a naked young woman without any knowledge of the world that once stood.

Description

"A deadly purple vapor passes over the world and annihilates all living creatures except one man, Adam Jeffson. He embarks on an epic journey across a silent and devastated planet, an apocalyptic Robinson Crusoe putting together the semblance of a normal life from the flotsam and jetsam of his former existence. As he descends into madness over the years, he becomes increasingly aware that his survival was no accident and that his destiny - and the fate of the human race - are part of a profound, cosmological plan."--BOOK JACKET.

Subjects

Genres

• Fiction.

Series Statement

• Bison frontiers of imagination

Other Editions

• The purple cloudUniversity of Nebraska Press2000-01-01
• The purple cloudV. Gollancz ltc.1901-01-01
• The purple cloudHardcover, Red cloth, bright yellow DJVictor Gollancz, Ltd.1963-01-01
• The purple cloudWarner1963-01-01
• The purple cloud.V. Gollancz1963-01-01
• The Purple CloudhardcoverTartarus Press2004-08-27