After Worlds Collide

infobox Book |
name = After Worlds Collide
title_orig =
translator =


image_caption = cover of "After Worlds Collide"
author = Philip Gordon Wylie & Edwin Balmer
cover_artist =
country = United States
language = English
series =
genre = Science fiction novel
publisher = Frederick A. Stokes Company
release_date = 1934
media_type = Print (Hardcover, Paperback)
pages = 341 pp
isbn = NA
preceded_by = When Worlds Collide
followed_by =

"After Worlds Collide" (1934) was a sequel to the 1932 science fiction novel, "When Worlds Collide", both of which were co-written by Philip Gordon Wylie and Edwin Balmer. "After Worlds Collide" first appeared as a six-part monthly serial (November 1933–April 1934) in Blue Book magazine. Much shorter and refreshingly less florid than the original novel, this one tells the story of the survivors' progress on their new world, Bronson Beta, after the destruction of the Earth.

ynopsis

The United States and several other countries are able to construct and launch space Arks before the Earth is destroyed by a collision with Bronson Alpha, a rogue planet that had entered the solar system months earlier. A French ship malfunctions shortly after liftoff and crashes. Both American ships survive the voyage, though they are separated and cannot contact each other for much of the first part of the book. A British ship crash-lands in a lake on Bronson Beta -- the smaller, companion planet to Bronson Alpha -- and sinks. A hostile group of Japanese, Russians, and Germans calling itself "The Dominion of Asian Realists" quickly captures and enslaves most of the British survivors.

Most of the plot concerns the Americans' struggle for survival and their war with the Dominion. They also find the remains of a native civilization, whose builders were essentially humanoid and had considerably higher technology than humanity (though it didn't enable them to survive the freezing of their world). The Americans move into several of their long-abandoned domed cities.

The book ends rather abruptly. The Dominion is defeated, and the victorious American/British coalition settles into the domed cities. While challenges still exist, their immediate needs for shelter, energy, and food are taken care of. The story ends on an optimistic note with a reference to the first pregnancy among the colonists.

Unproduced movie

In the mid-1950's, George Pal toyed with the idea of producing a sequel to his movie "When Worlds Collide", which would likely have been based on this novel. Unfortunately, the box office failure of "Conquest of Space" set back his career for the remainder of the decade, and destroyed any chance of filming it.

References

*cite book | last=Bleiler | first=Everett | authorlink=Everett F. Bleiler | title=The Checklist of Fantastic Literature | location=Chicago | publisher=Shasta Publishers | pages=39 | date=1948