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When Worlds Collide (novel): Difference between revisions
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{{work}}
''[[
In South Africa, astronomer Sven Bronson discovers a pair of rogue planets speeding towards the solar system from the depths of interstellar space. The smaller Bronson Beta will enter a stable orbit around the Sun, but the gas giant Bronson Alpha [[Signs of the End Times|will cause apocalyptic damage to the Earth through its gravitational influence]], swing around the Sun, [[The End of the World
…and naturally, they do, since the sequel, ''After Worlds Collide'', was also serialized between November 1933 and April 1934.
In 1951 producer George Pal followed up ''[[Destination Moon]]'' [[When Worlds Collide (
There was also a syndicated newspaper comic strip, ''[http://strippersguide.blogspot.com/2011/01/obscurity-of-day-speed-spaulding.html Speed Spaulding]'', that loosely followed the plot of the first novel; it ran from January 1940 to March 1941.
{{tropelist}}
The first novel included the following tropes:
* [[Apocalypse How]]: Bronson Alpha's first approach causes planetary societal collapse through massive tidal waves, earthquakes and volcanic activity. It wipes out the planet entirely on its second pass.
* [[America Saves the Day]]: Zig-zagged. The US government does a magnificent job of moving people and resources away from the vulnerable coasts; unfortunately, the devastation from Bronson Alpha's first pass is so comprehensive that the President can only radio his good wishes to the League from his devastated Midwestern redoubt, and wait for the second pass to finish off the planet.
* [[Disaster Scavengers]]: People are picking through abandoned New York City even as the streets flood due to Bronson Alpha's tidal effects.
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* [[I Love Nuclear Power]]
* [[Love Triangle]]: Between [[Ace Pilot|Dave Randsell]], [[Nice Guy|Tony Drake]], and [[Mad Scientist's Beautiful Daughter|Eve Hendron]].
* [[Next Sunday
* [[No Plans, No Prototype, No Backup]]: Averted; the League of the Last Days launches several test vehicles to try out their atomic engines, and when they complete the first Ark early, they immediately start work on a second, larger one for the rest of the construction team. In addition, other countries are building their own ships.
* [[Phlebotinum Breakdown]]: Without the [[Unobtanium]] available to the US team, the atomic engines of the French Ark melt down in mid-flight and it crashes back to Earth.
* [[The Ark]]: Five of them - two American, one British, one {failed) French, and one Japanese/Russian/German cooperative effort.
* [[
* [[Unobtainium]]: The massive tectonic disruptions from Bronson's first pass force a seam of exotic metal from the deep mantle all the way to the surface; it just happens to be exactly what the League needs to line the Ark's engine tubes.
* [[Weaponized Exhaust]]: When a crazed army of survivors attacks the Ark construction site, things look bleak until Randsell starts up the almost-complete first Ark, sets the engine to "1 G", and floats over the attacking hordes in blowtorch mode.
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* [[Apocalyptic Log]]: After the survivors move into one of the cities, they find written records from the Vanished People that describe the centuries between their discovery that a star was heading for them and its arrival. Apparently they voluntarily reduced their population over time, [[Sequel Hook|but their ultimate fate is unrevealed]].
* [[Becoming the Mask]]: [[Inscrutable Oriental|Kyto]] came to the US as a secret agent for [[Imperial Japan]] but learned to love its culture and eventually revealed [[Commie Nazis|the Dominion's]] plan to build their own Ark.
* [[Call a Smeerp
* [[Commie Nazis]]: The Dominion of Asian Realists, a group of "fanatical Japanese, Russians and [[A Nazi
* [[Curb Stomp Battle]]: After the Dominion sleep-gasses the second Ark's settlement, they fly in troop transports to occupy it and enslave the people. Unfortunately for them, people from the first Ark show up beforehand, find a warning message left by one of the locals, and rig a [[Ray Gun]] out of the Ark's atomic engines. They burn every one of the Dominion's flyers out of the sky.
* [[Domed Hometown]]: The cities of the Vanished People.
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{{reflist}}
[[Category:Science Fiction Literature]]
[[Category:When Worlds Collide (novel)]]
[[Category:Literature]]
[[Category:Multiple Works Need Separate Pages]]
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