6 h 57 minAudiobook7 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
In the Australian wilderness, danger hides beyond sight—and survival means learning who you can trust.
Robert Potter’s The Germ Growers brings strange science and hidden menace into the Australian bush. Distance, heat and silence surround people who must rely on each other to survive. At the heart of this Victorian adventure lies a conspiracy: a secret plan pursued by forces most people cannot see. The danger comes into view a little at a time.
Published in 1892, this early science fiction novel explores the fear and fascination stirred by germs, disease and the unseen world. Potter combines scientific wonder with perilous travel, alien conspiracy and supernatural menace. The wilderness is more than a backdrop: its isolation deepens the uncertainty. Read it as a story of its age, with nineteenth-century ideas about science, race and empire.
What you’ll discover
- A wilderness of uncertainty Enter an Australian bush where heat, distance and silence make hidden danger feel close.
- A conspiracy beyond sight Follow a secret threat whose scale emerges gradually, keeping the wider danger in question.
- Science touched by fear Explore a Victorian fascination with germs and the unseen forces that threaten ordinary life.
- Survival through trust Meet people whose need to rely on one another gives the adventure its human stakes.
- An early speculative world Discover how scientific wonder, supernatural menace and adventure meet in Potter’s tale.
Who will love it
You will enjoy this if you love Victorian adventure, lost valleys, flying machines and eerie menace, and if you like a tale where friendship and conscience matter as much as the chase.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A boy in Wales remembers a missing man
- A plague gives a doctor a dark theory
- Two friends choose the road into the bush
- Gioro leads the friends into uncertain country
- A hidden valley holds invisible flying cars
- The host tempts Bob with a hunger for knowledge
- The seed beds reveal what the valley is for
- The valley's wonders cannot win Jack's trust
- Knowledge offers both a trap and a way forward
Who’s who
- Bob EasterleyThe narrator, an Oxford man with a hunger to know everything, who follows adventure into the Australian interior.
- Jack WilbrahamBob's athletic, clear-sighted friend, who distrusts their host from the first and stands by Bob at every turn.
- GioroA loyal young Aboriginal guide with a gentleman's manner, who leads the friends to his people.
- BomeroGioro's tribal chief, a tall, shrewd speaker who rules by talk and swagger and fears the creatures in the west.
- Niccolo DavelliThe courteous, malicious master of a hidden valley who wants Bob to join him and share his power.
- LeäfarA calm, luminous visitor who warns the friends about Davelli and advises Bob how to resist him.
- James RedpathA handsome, cruel young man who vanishes from Penruddock and whose face haunts Bob years later.
- Mr. FetherstonA practical, kindly surveyor who scorns queer stories and leads the telegraph party north from Port Augusta.
Formats and delivery
- eBook
- On your phone, tablet, computer or Kindle, with the type as large as you like.
- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- Audiobook
- 6 h 57 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 7 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
eBooks and audiobooks open right away. Download EPUB or PDF, or send the book to your Kindle. Every printed copy is made when you order it and shipped worldwide; shipping is shown at checkout.
How it works
- Start free. Nothing to pay today; the eBook of this book is yours to keep.
- Read, listen and print. 200,000+ classics as eBook, large-print eBook, audiobook and 15-minute summary, and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print, 5 accounts for the price of one.
- We remind you first. Free for 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment. Then 0,14 USD a day in your first year on the yearly plan and 0,27 USD a day after, or 0,66 USD a day on the monthly plan. Cancel online in two clicks.
Bought on its own? Every eBook, audiobook and printed book you buy without the plan carries our 30-day money-back guarantee.
25 languages, side by side
Read and hear Los cultivadores de gérmenes in 25 languages and switch at any time. Or read two side by side, paragraph by paragraph: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
Los cultivadores de gérmenes
by Robert Potter · 1892
Two friends leave a survey camp in the Australian bush and find a valley where a courteous host grows plagues.
Medium level5–10 hours to read25 languages
Excellent
- Read or listen
- 25 languages, side by side
- Print and large print at cost
- 5 accounts for the price of one
Free for 3 months · starts right away, on any device
Read free3 months free · cancel anytimeFree for 3 months, then 0,14 USD a dayCancel anytimeHow it works
In short
What if the plagues that killed thousands were grown on purpose? The Germ Growers, by Robert Potter, tells how two young Englishmen, Bob Easterley and Jack Wilbraham, leave a telegraph survey in the Australian bush and stumble on a hidden valley.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A boy in Wales remembers a missing man
The story opens with the narrator, Bob Easterley, as a boy in the Welsh coastal village of Penruddock. The villagers tell tales of bold, charming, cruel men who vanish without a trace, and of cloud shadows that fall from empty skies.
Bob knows a young man named James Redpath who fits those tales. Bob once sees him deliberately scratch a small child with part of a fishing rod, just to enjoy the cry. Months later Redpath walks inland past Bob on the cliffs. Redpath is never seen again in Wales.
Free for 3 months · Cancel anytime
Free gifts
580 USD in free gifts when you start
Every book in every format and in 25 languages, 5 accounts for the price of one. Nothing to pay today.
- 200,000+ classic eBooksIn 25 languages, side by side
170 USDFREE - Every audiobookIn 25 languages, any device
120 USDFREE - 15-minute summariesRead or listen, in 25 languages
60 USDFREE - Print at cost, no markupPaperback, hardcover, large print
60 USDFREE - 5 accounts for the price of oneA shelf for everyone at home
170 USDFREE - A part in rebuilding the libraryNew languages and books for all
FREE
Questions about Los cultivadores de gérmenes
Can I read it free?
Yes. The first key idea of the 15-minute summary is free with no sign-up. Start free and the whole book is yours for 3 months, with the eBook to keep, plus 200,000+ more classics and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print. Nothing to pay today: we email you 7 days before your first payment, and you can cancel online in two clicks.
Can I buy the printed book?
Soon. The paperback, hardcover and large print editions are being prepared. Choose Paperback or Hardcover above, leave your email, and we tell you the day you can order it, printed at cost.
How many accounts do I get?
Five, for the price of one: you and 4 more people, each with their own login, shelf and their own place in every book.
Can I cancel anytime?
Yes. Cancel online in two clicks at any time and nothing more is charged. Nothing is charged in your first 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment.
What is The Germ Growers about?
Two Englishmen leave a telegraph survey party in the Australian bush, lose their guide, and find a hidden valley where a sinister host breeds disease germs. They must resist his temptation and escape.
Who wrote The Germ Growers?
Robert Potter wrote The Germ Growers.
Who is Leäfar in The Germ Growers?
Leäfar belongs to the story's supernatural side. His role is best discovered as you read.
The author
Robert Potter
1831–1908 · Irish-born Australian novelist and clergyman
Robert Potter was an author and clergyman born in Ireland in 1831. He moved to Australia in early adulthood and lived there for much of his life. He wrote the novel The Germ Growers, which was published in 1892. He died in 1908.
More like this
Our mission
The library burned once. We are building it back.
Every great book, in every language and every format, for every family. Every plan helps pay for new languages, new audiobooks and books for readers who have never had them. Join the movement.
Read our story- Every language25 languages today, side by side, and more every year
- No wastePrinted on demand: no warehouses, no unsold stock, no pulped copies
- For everyonePaperback, hardcover and large print at the cost of printing
