The Poison Belt
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 Cover of the first edition of The Poison Belt |
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| Author | Arthur Conan Doyle |
|---|---|
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Series | Professor Challenger |
| Genre(s) | Science fiction novel |
| Publisher | Hodder & Stoughton |
| Released | 1913 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback) |
| Pages | 112 pp |
| ISBN | NA |
| Preceded by | The Lost World |
| Followed by | The Land of Mists |
The Poison Belt was the second novel Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote about Professor Challenger. Written in 1913, roughly a year before the outbreak of World War I, much of it takes place--rather oddly, given that it follows The Lost World, a story set in the jungle--in a room in Challenger's house. This would be the last story written about Challenger until the 1920s, by which time Doyle's spiritualist beliefs had begun to affect his writing.
[edit] Plot summary
Challenger sends telegrams asking his three companions from The Lost World - Edward Malone, Lord John Roxton, and Professor Summerlee - to join him at his home outside of London. The cryptic telegrams also instruct each of them to bring a tank of oxygen. When they arrive they are ushered into a sealed room, along with Challenger and his wife. In the course of his research, Challenger has predicted that the Earth is about to come into contact with a belt of poisonous ether, which will, based on its effect on the people of Sumatra earlier in the day, cause the end of humanity. Challenger seals them in the room with the cylinders of oxygen, which he (correctly) believes will counter the effect of the ether. The sealing is not to keep the ether out - it permeates everything - but "to keep the oxygen in".
The five of them wait out the Earth's passage through the band as they watch the world outside die, and machines run amuck. (In an interesting display of Victorian values - or, at least, Doyle's take on them - Challenger does not even consider including his servants; they are left outside the room to die, and continue to perform their duties until the ether overtakes them.) Finally, the last of their oxygen cylinders runs dry, and they open a window, ready to face death. To their surprise, they do not die, and they wander through the dead countryside in Challenger's car, eventually making it to London. They encounter only one survivor, who is an elderly, bed-ridden woman prescribed oxygen for her health.
After going to London and back, they make plans for the fate of the world at their hands--when suddenly, people start to wake up again. The effect of the ether turns out to be temporary, and the world wakes up again after a little over a day in a coma, with no knowledge that they have lost any time at all. Eventually Challenger and his companions manage to convince the world what happened - a task made easier by the tremendous amount of death and destruction caused by runaway machines and fires that took place while the world was asleep - and humanity is shocked into placing a higher value on life, and how well we spend what little time we are given.
The tone of the book is very similar to H. G. Wells' The War of the Worlds, written 15 years earlier, but the "death" of humanity comes with even less warning and even less hope of escape. There are no aliens to fight, no tripods to run from, and no time to search for a solution. In fact, there is no solution; at any time, the Earth could pass through a similar belt, one that could be infinitely broad, and so cause the complete destruction of humanity. Whereas The War of the Worlds ends by stating that at least for the moment, Earth seems to be safe from the Martians, Doyle's story ends with the message to value the brief time you are given to live, because it could be snuffed out - without warning - at any time.
