The Coming Race
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› Visit Amazon's Baron Edward Bulwer Lytton Lytton Page
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Product Description
Review
''The Coming Race' was enormously influential in its day and traces of its influence remain with us: the title of the book is namechecked in Bowie's 'Oh You Pretty Things' and Vril, the mysterious energy force utilised by the Vril-Ya, supplied the suffix for Bovril.' --The Independent
'His utopian novel, 'The Coming Race', is considered to be among the earliest science fiction novels, about a subterranean superior civilisation and its powers. In its day (and beyond), the book was tremendously influential as a novel of ideas, of scientific and philosophical speculation. In some quarters it was even taken as thinly disguised truth...The novel is utopian in that it examines the ideal life that the Vril-ya have developed for themselves. It wittily in many places juxtaposes that life with what nineteenth century humans have wrought.' --Fencer blog --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
'His utopian novel, 'The Coming Race', is considered to be among the earliest science fiction novels, about a subterranean superior civilisation and its powers. In its day (and beyond), the book was tremendously influential as a novel of ideas, of scientific and philosophical speculation. In some quarters it was even taken as thinly disguised truth...The novel is utopian in that it examines the ideal life that the Vril-ya have developed for themselves. It wittily in many places juxtaposes that life with what nineteenth century humans have wrought.' --Fencer blog --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
Product Description
This new and faithfully restored edition of Lord Lytton's infamous and foundational science fiction classic, sometimes known as 'Vril: The Power of the Coming Race,' is the story of a young, well-to-do American thrillseeker on his final adventure. Befriending a local mining engineer during his travels around the world, they descend together into a perilously steep pit discovered while expanding the mine, that is sure to bear them all manner of earthly riches. Instead, tragedy befalls his companion when they reach the bottom, and he is forced into the arms of a thriving ancient civilisation, secreted so deep in the bowels of the Earth that its people have lost the memory of the Sun. At first welcomed and succoured by the strangely luminescent beings, he soon learns of the Vril: a power they yield so ultimate that it can only mean the end of the human race. Torn between conflicting emotions towards him and his fellow kind on the surface, he escapes on the eve of his execution to warn us all of the danger that may come at any time.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Mr Customer above has written an admirable summary of the plot and the context of its authorship. Without a tedious discussion of Spencer I certainly cannot add much to it. I wanted to describe, on the other hand, what it felt like to read this book, and from this recommend it to life's cavaliers, though for all that the orderly future depicted might appeal to the roundheads in equal measure. It is a favourite book of mine; one to whose imagery I return again and again. I picture the lambent greens and blues of this sequestered world, and the calm triumph of a race that has surpassed the inanity of Koom-Posh (the Vril-ya's term for democracy). I mean to say by this that the race has found equality without sacrificing civilisation. Zee, the scholar of the College of Sages, is also an interesting character, embodying female empowerment in its full mental and physical sense. This book is what we might in bolder moments imagine as our future: a people safeguarded from the lust for power by a vitalising current of occult energy shared alike by the highest and lowest, and confident of its own lapidary destiny. In reading this novel it is difficult to ignore the associations of race that spring to the modern mind. For the the chill certainty of the vril-ya is that they, and not we, are the fittest to survive, and that when the time is right they will ruthlessly reclaim the surface world. Despite this, I would recommend readers to enter into this fantasy, and imagine for a moment the serenity of knowing what it is to be part of a community united in harmony and a numinous purpose.
Readers of this novel might also enjoy Lord Lytton's other occult stories, especially 'Zanoni', about an immortal adept, and 'A Strange Story', pitting the heroes against a master magician, who preys on a provincial English town.
Readers of this novel might also enjoy Lord Lytton's other occult stories, especially 'Zanoni', about an immortal adept, and 'A Strange Story', pitting the heroes against a master magician, who preys on a provincial English town.
19 of 21 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Written in 1871 The Coming Race was one of the last books ever written by the author, he died two years later. The story begins when an American civil engineer falls into an underground world. There he discovers a subterranean paradise inhabited by a race called the Vril-ya.These Vril-ya tell the narrator that they are descended from ancestors who escaped the 'upper world' as a result of a deluge which covered the earth. Their evolution has taken a certain course mainly because of the discovery of an energy source, similar to electricity.This energy, from which they also take their name, is called Vril. Lytton's narrative, published in the same year as The Descent of Man, is one of the first truly post-Darwinian novels. It incorporates many of the scientific ideas of the period, and the subsequent fears of degeneration and devolution. The narrator soon discovers that this subterranean paradise is not all that it seems. Lurking in an unlit region of this underground world are a race of primitive savages, who like Wells's Morlocks, represent the flipside of evolution. Without Vril the savages have not progressed, they live in darkness, eat meat and resemble animals. In contrast, the Vril-ya live perfect lives, they are physically beautiful and have developed the abvility to fly with the help of Vril. The narrator appears to have stumbled into a parasise where a race of angels live in perfect harmony, without conflict, without envy and where all men are considered equal. The one thing that this future paradise cannot overcome is boredom.Tthe narrator concludes that although mankind dreams of perfectibility it is a pleasure that we are not meant to enjoy, at least not in this lifetime. Worth a read, especially if you are interested in the history of Science Fiction.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
13 reviews
37 of 38 people found the following review helpful
Jules Verne meets H.G. Wells in Lytton's Dystopic Narrative
2 Mar 1999
Format:Paperback
Written in 1871 The Coming Race was one of the last books ever written by the author, he died two years later. The story begins when an American civil engineer falls into an underground world. There he discovers a subterranean paradise inhabited by a race called the Vril-ya.These Vril-ya tell the narrator that they are descended from ancestors who escaped the 'upper world' as a result of a deluge which covered the earth. Their evolution has taken a certain course mainly because of the discovery of an energy source, similar to electricity.This energy, from which they also take their name, is called Vril. Lytton's narrative, published in the same year as The Descent of Man, is one of the first truly post-Darwinian novels. It incorporates many of the scientific ideas of the period, and the subsequent fears of degeneration and devolution. The narrator soon discovers that this subterranean paradise is not all that it seems. Lurking in an unlit region of this underground world are a race of primitive savages, who like Wells's Morlocks, represent the flipside of evolution. Without Vril the savages have not progressed, they live in darkness, eat meat and resemble animals. In contrast, the Vril-ya live perfect lives, they are physically beautiful and have developed the abvility to fly with the help of Vril. The narrator appears to have stumbled into a parasise where a race of angels live in perfect harmony, without conflict, without envy and where all men are considered equal. The one thing that this future paradise cannot overcome is boredom.Tthe narrator concludes that although mankind dreams of perfectibility it is a pleasure that we are not meant to enjoy, at least not in this lifetime. Worth a read, especially if you are interested in the history of Science Fiction.
22 of 22 people found the following review helpful
Great Early Science Fiction: A Fast Fun Read
15 Feb 2005
Format:Paperback
The Coming Race is a great book on many levels. As a story it is well developed and is one of Bulwer-Lytton's best works of science fiction. Also from a historical aspect it is an interesting document to see how the Victorian mind saw the world and what was beyond their horizons. This book had an incredible impact upon the reading public upon its release in 1871 and its influence, as well as that of Lytton in general, is felt greatly in later works of early sci-fi. I especially feel the stylistic influence in Upton Sinclair's "Millennium" and while for a review this is neither here nor there, this is important in understanding the development of the genre.
The book opens up with the main character, an American, being invited into a mine exploration by friend. Within just a few pages of the most basic exposition the story begins. For this genre and being that the terranean characters matter little, jumping into the plot like this makes the reading fun. For a 19th century it reads very fast and before long the reader will be well acquainted with the ways of the vril-ya and "vril" - the power source of the coming race. It really is a fun read.
The only problem with this book is that while Lytton goes through an enormity of steps to describe the culture and idiosyncrasies of the vril-ya the book at times reads more like notes of an anthropologist than a literary novel. Of course this may be the intention and since it is such a quick and enjoyable read, we can forgive the author of this. If you are fan of Lord Lytton or a fan of early Sci-Fi this is a definite read. I also would recommend this book to anyone who like 19th century novels and think this should be included in more high school English literature classes because it does not fit the stereotype and would be a welcome break for many students. While we know quite well that this work is purely fantastical it is really enjoyable to see how the mind of the 19th century saw the possibility of worlds going on underground and it is fun to imagine and believe...
-- Ted Murena
The book opens up with the main character, an American, being invited into a mine exploration by friend. Within just a few pages of the most basic exposition the story begins. For this genre and being that the terranean characters matter little, jumping into the plot like this makes the reading fun. For a 19th century it reads very fast and before long the reader will be well acquainted with the ways of the vril-ya and "vril" - the power source of the coming race. It really is a fun read.
The only problem with this book is that while Lytton goes through an enormity of steps to describe the culture and idiosyncrasies of the vril-ya the book at times reads more like notes of an anthropologist than a literary novel. Of course this may be the intention and since it is such a quick and enjoyable read, we can forgive the author of this. If you are fan of Lord Lytton or a fan of early Sci-Fi this is a definite read. I also would recommend this book to anyone who like 19th century novels and think this should be included in more high school English literature classes because it does not fit the stereotype and would be a welcome break for many students. While we know quite well that this work is purely fantastical it is really enjoyable to see how the mind of the 19th century saw the possibility of worlds going on underground and it is fun to imagine and believe...
-- Ted Murena
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
jules verne meets H.G Wells in lytton's dystopic narrative
13 Feb 1998
Format:Paperback
Written in 1871 The Coming Race was the last novel ever written by Lytton, he died two years later. The story begins when an American civil engineer falls into an underground world. He discovers a civilisation inhabited by a race called the Vril-ya who tell him that they are descended from ancestors who escaped the 'upper world' as a result of a deluge which covered the earth. Their evolution has taken a certain course mainly because of the discovery of an energy source, similar to electricty. This energy, from which they also take their name, is called Vril. Lytton's dystopic narrative is influenced by the post-Darwinian fears of degeneration and devolution. He soon discovers that this subterranean paradise is not all that it seems. Lurking in an unlit region of this underground world are a race of primitive savages who, like Wells's Morlocks, represent the flipside of evolution. Without Vril the savages have not progressed, they live in darkness, eat meat and resemble animals. In contrast the Vril-ya live perfect lives, they are beautiful and have developed the ability, with the help of Vril, to fly. The narrator appears to have stumbled into a paradise where a race of angels live in perfect harmony, without conflict, without envy and where all men are considered equal. The one thing that this future paradise cannot overcome is boredom. The narrator concludes that although mankind dreams of perfectibility it is a pleasure that we are not meant to enjoy, at least not in this world. Worth a read, especially if you are interested in the development of science fiction.
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