Dark, desolate and fantastical, The Purple Cloud was a pioneer in the genre of apocalyptic novels, and the first great science fiction work of the twentieth century. It inspired authors such as H. P. Lovecraft and Stephen King. The Purple Cloud tells the grandly bleak story of Adam Jeffson: the first man to reach the North Pole and the last man left alive on earth. A sweet-smelling, deadly cloud of poisonous gas has devastated the world, and as Jeffson travels the stricken globe in search of human life, he slowly succumbs ...
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Dark, desolate and fantastical, The Purple Cloud was a pioneer in the genre of apocalyptic novels, and the first great science fiction work of the twentieth century. It inspired authors such as H. P. Lovecraft and Stephen King. The Purple Cloud tells the grandly bleak story of Adam Jeffson: the first man to reach the North Pole and the last man left alive on earth. A sweet-smelling, deadly cloud of poisonous gas has devastated the world, and as Jeffson travels the stricken globe in search of human life, he slowly succumbs to madness, and unleashes fire and destruction on his planet. John Sutherland's introduction discusses M. P. Shiel's dissolute life, the originality of his book and its place within the context of 'last man' novels. This edition also includes a chronology, notes and further reading.
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Add this copy of The Purple Cloud (Bison Frontiers of Imagination) to cart. $4.16, very good condition, Sold by HR1Books rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Hereford, HEREFORDSHIRE, UNITED KINGDOM, published 2000 by Bison Books.
Add this copy of The Purple Cloud to cart. $4.98, very good condition, Sold by Zardoz Books rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Westbury, WILTS, UNITED KINGDOM, published 1966 by Paperback Library.
Add this copy of The Purple Cloud to cart. $5.08, very good condition, Sold by Zardoz Books rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Westbury, WILTS, UNITED KINGDOM, published 1966 by Paperback Library.
Add this copy of The Purple Cloud to cart. $6.38, good condition, Sold by Harry Righton rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Worcs, UNITED KINGDOM, published 1986 by Allison & Busby.
Add this copy of Purple Cloud to cart. $7.58, very good condition, Sold by The Guru Bookshop rated 3.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Hereford, WALES, UNITED KINGDOM, published 1986 by Allison & Busby.
Add this copy of The Purple Cloud to cart. $8.18, new condition, Sold by Ria Christie Books rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Uxbridge, MIDDLESEX, UNITED KINGDOM, published 2012 by Penguin Classics.
Add this copy of The Purple Cloud to cart. $9.19, new condition, Sold by Ria Christie Books rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Uxbridge, MIDDLESEX, UNITED KINGDOM, published 2022 by Lulu.com.
Add this copy of Purple Cloud to cart. $10.00, very good condition, Sold by HPB Inc. rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 1966 by Paperback Library.
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Add this copy of The Purple Cloud to cart. $11.66, like new condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Reno rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Reno, NV, UNITED STATES, published 2000 by Bison Books.
Add this copy of The Purple Cloud to cart. $11.66, fair condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Dallas rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 2000 by Bison Books.
Great book of another story about the end of the world (reccurent to this period of time ~1930)
I just finished reading Earth abides and it is as good as this one, though different.
klarkash
Feb 19, 2008
Mind-bending Prose at the End of the World
This flawed but still magnificent 1901 work was an early "end of the world" novel, exerting an influence on Stephen King's "The Stand" among many others. Shiel's work is distinguished by indescribably ornate prose and a wide range of erudite references. The power of "The Purple Cloud" is also its downfall; the last third of the novel can't match the first sections, in which Shiel paints, with insane visionary power, the enduring modern fantasy of finding oneself the last man alive on earth. The protagonist Adam Jeffson is the first to reach the North Pole, where his presence seems to trigger a bizarre phenomenon of natural vengeance for his hubris- descending by ship from the pole, he finds not a single soul alive, as a lethal cloud of purple poison has spread over the earth, obliterating all life in its path. Jeffson, borne on waves of Shiel's billowing, decadent poetry of the damned, begins his own campaign of obliteration, burning the dead cities of the earth. Shiel achieves a heightened, widescreen glory unencumbered by plausibility- you will love or hate this book depending on your appreciation for verbal audacity and 50-cent words. Fans of Poe, Lovecraft, and Clark Ashton Smith will find much to appreciate here.
