After Worlds Collide

By: Philip Wylie, Edwin Balmer

Narrated by: Peter Ganim

Length: 9 hrs and 12 mins

Publisher's summary

After Worlds Collide picks up the story of its predecessor, When Worlds Collide. This sequel tells the story of the survivors' progress on the new world Bronson Beta after the destruction of Earth by a rogue planet.

©1933, 1934 Edwin Balmer & Philip Wylie (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

Great Classic SiFi

I read this book when I was a kid and liked it much more than the first book "When Worlds Collide" .. Today this audio version brought back the visuals I imagined as a kid of a New World of gleaming domed cities and mechanical marvels... The wording is a bit dated in some places but since if was written in 1934 that is to be expected .. But the Imagined Future of technology foreseen by the writer is remarkable .. Highly recommend this Classic SiFi .. If you have ever read "When Worlds Collide" or seen the old classic sifi movie "When Worlds Collide" and have not read this book then you never knew what those people saw after the closing shot of looking out the landed crafts door....

Great Sci-fi classic

The dated nature of the descriptive tale made all the better for me at 71 years old. This would make a great new movie updated of course if told both books in the tale. The writer had a good sense of civilization. Something we may have lost.

Sadly, this was not as good as the first book

Not as well written as the original. There were some easy plot questions I had the the authors missed. The ending gave me the impression they got tired of writing and took a short cut to end it.

Excellent opening, tight storyline and surprises

What did you love best about After Worlds Collide?

The story continues, on the new world.
The suspense is always there and just when the story was a bit dull, there was an unexpected surprise, like the flying craft, or the dome city, or the sleeping gas.

What was one of the most memorable moments of After Worlds Collide?

When the sleeping gas was used on the enemies.

Which character – as performed by Peter Ganim – was your favorite?

All of them

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

New World, New Surprises

Any additional comments?

Performance could have been a bit more spirited like Oliver Wyman or Ray Porter.

Once one gets past the prejudices of the 1930s...

Once one gets past the prejudices of the 1930s this and it’s predecessor “When Worlds Collide” represent an insight into the sensibilities of that time. They’re both interesting reads on the society and science of that time. Of course, both books in both ways are hopelessly outdated now. However, they do point to the origins of our current racism, sexism, and classism thus worthwhile to read to help us get out of our obsolete prejudices. It’s also fun to speculate on how such stories might be written today.

A great read...

If you could sum up After Worlds Collide in three words, what would they be?

A good fallow on to the first book. Made you actually think that if we all were lost that the ones to start a new world would be good,

Not a patch on the first book.

Don't have a lot to add to other negative reviews other than to say it's a good tale spoilt by masses of insignificant chatter. Parts that needed filling out weren't; parts that didn't were. Of course, of it's time as was the reading strangely. Al least we saw what happened to the travellers.

LOVED IT!! Exactly what I needed in the sequel!

This was the perfect sequel to When Worlds Collide. It saw our adventurers explore, tame, and survive in their brave new world. Is it dated, sure, but that was some of the fun, too! Imagine how you would explain a microwave oven to someone in the Pre-WWII era...they describe something that sounded like one to me! There are several "discoveries" they make on Bronson Beta that sound like current objects. I kept waiting for a Twilight Zone ending that said they "jumped" onto the real Earth, but to a century later. The really fast cars, the "instant food", the magically opening doors, all of it is really fun to watch them explain with 1930's science. Also, imagine if you didn't know that nuclear radiation could be problematic and all of the things you would use it for if you could.

I really loved this, and hope you will too. You will need it to complete your picture if you are going to read the first one. The jump to the new planet was only the beginning!

Much better than the prequel

For a book written when it was, this book is astounding with what they did. The book is from the 1930s, written before MUCH of the items "imagined" by the author(s) were in existence. Because of that fact, and with that in mind it's easy to forgive the 'mis-steps,' and see the story for what it is. Though brought back to reality, and occasionally torn from the 'suspension of disbelief' mindset that most of us are good at placing ourselves in when listening to a science-fiction story, it is surprising how easily they are able to keep you in that consciousness. Granted words now considered "taboo" crop up and surprise you, and concepts, even "items" (like a box that cooks food in mere minutes!!!!!!) now thought of as "everyday" are remarked upon occasionally, these just go to cement how "ahead of their time these authors were. Kudos!

Timeless but annoying

The story has a timelessness about it. The alien technology is sufficiently different to not make it out of date in the early 21st century. But the writer continually reminds of us of the how long the planet was floating in space and, well, all manner of dangers and mysteries that just slow down the book and diminish the experience. Peter Ganim is an able narrator but combined with the writing style I found it a bit overly formal as well. Maybe that's the way it was in the 30's, but towards the end I found it annoying.

Nevertheless, it's a good story and a worthy listen.