The Poison Belt - Softcover

Doyle, Arthur Conan

Softcover

ISBN 10: 149747910X ISBN 13: 9781497479104

Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2014

Synopsis

Join us for a classic Professor Challenger Adventure, from the celebrated author of the “Sherlock Holmes” series. This is a sequel to “The Lost World.” An English scientist, with an interest in nature, discovers that the Earth is about to pass through a cloud of poisonous gas that may well wipe out all of humanity. Challenger and his companions create a sealed room, with several hours of air, to attempt to survive certain disaster. This novel is considered to be among the 100 greatest books of all time.

About this title

About the Author:

Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle was born on May 22, 1859, in Edinburgh, Scotland. His father left when he was five, but returned three years later, however, the family lived in poverty. Arthur was supported by his wealthy uncles and educated in a Jesuit preparatory school, then Stonyhurst College, then another school in Austria, before studying medicine at the University of Edinburgh through 1881. Beginning in 1879, began writing published stories and article for various magazines and journals. He became a ship’s surgeon and traveled to locations such as Greenland and West Africa, completing his doctorate while on board. He eventually set up an unsuccessful medical practice, but ended up writing more stories instead of seeing patients. Doyle’s success as a writer, began when his first Sherlock Holmes mystery was published in a magazine in 1886. A second Holmes story was requested by the magazine, with more appearing as time progressed. Arthur was also a soccer player under the name A. C. Smith, golfer and cricket player. In 1885, he married Louisa Hawkins, but she died from tuberculosis in 1906. They had two children. He remarried Jean Elizabeth Leckie in 1907, with whom he had three more children. She died in 1940. In 1890, Doyle studied ophthalmology in Vienna, Austria and opened a practice, but had not a single patient, so he continued writing. Growing increasingly tired of writing Sherlock Holmes, he decided to kill off the character, so he could write historical novels, but there was so much public outcry, that he eventually brought him back. Doyle died on July 7, 1930, from a heart attack in Crowborough, East Sussex, England at the age of 71.

From 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

About this edition

• Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 149747910X
• ISBN 13: 9781497479104
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 100
• Editor: Hartmetz Richard S.