The Crack of Doom (Annotated)
Enriched Edition. Dystopian Sci-Fi NovelBy Robert Cromie
Length4h 42m
About this audiobook
Robert Cromie's The Crack of Doom is a striking late-Victorian scientific romance in which speculative physics, melodramatic intrigue, and apocalyptic suspense converge. Centred on the possibility that matter itself might be unlocked to catastrophic effect, the novel imagines a weapon of almost unimaginable destructive power decades before the atomic age. Its style blends the brisk plotting of adventure fiction with the intellectual daring of fin-de-siècle science writing, placing it beside the works of Jules Verne, H. G. Wells, and other pioneers of technological prophecy. Cromie, an Irish journalist and novelist, was deeply attuned to the period's fascination with invention, electricity, chemistry, and the social consequences of scientific discovery. His professional life in newspapers sharpened his sense of public anxiety and sensational possibility, while his fiction repeatedly explored the imaginative frontiers opened by modern science. The Crack of Doom reflects both wonder and dread: the belief that human ingenuity might illuminate the world, or annihilate it. This book is recommended to readers interested in early science fiction, Victorian apocalyptic literature, and the prehistory of nuclear imagination. It remains compelling not merely as a curiosity, but as a prescient meditation on power, responsibility, and technological modernity.
This enriched edition has been carefully crafted to add value to your reading experience.
- Hand‐picked Memorable Quotes shine a spotlight on moments of literary brilliance.
- Interactive footnotes clarify unusual references, historical allusions, and archaic phrases for an effortless, more informed read.
Audiobook details
Rating★★★ 3.2 (38)
Includes Goodreads, LibraryThing
GenreScience Fiction
Length4 hrs 42 mins
Narrated byListen with 1,000+ voices
FormateBook with Audio
Publish dateJul 13, 2018
LanguageEnglish
Table of contents
1The Last Man (Annotated)
2PREFACE
3CHAPTER I THE UNIVERSE A MISTAKE!
4CHAPTER II A STRANGE EXPERIMENT
5CHAPTER III "IT IS GOOD TO BE ALIVE"
Show all chaptersShow less
6CHAPTER IV GEORGE DELANY — DECEASED
7CHAPTER V THE MURDER CLUB
8CHAPTER VI A TELEPATHIC TELEGRAM
9CHAPTER VII GUILTY!
10CHAPTER VIII THE WOKING MYSTERY
11CHAPTER IX CUI BONO?
12CHAPTER X FORCE — A REMEDY
13CHAPTER XI MORITURI TE SALUTANT
14CHAPTER XII "NO DEATH — SAVE IN LIFE"
15CHAPTER XIII MISS METFORD'S PLAN
16CHAPTER XIV ROCKINGHAM TO THE SHARKS
17CHAPTER XV "IF NOT TOO LATE!"
18CHAPTER XVI £5000 TO DETAIN THE SHIP
19CHAPTER XVII "THIS EARTH SHALL DIE"
20CHAPTER XVIII THE FLIGHT
21CHAPTER XIX THE CATASTROPHE
22CHAPTER XX CONCLUSION
23Memorable Quotes
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