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What if the power hidden inside matter falls into the hands of a man bent on ruin?
In Robert Cromie’s The Crack of Doom, a brilliant scientist studies the forces locked inside matter. His obsession turns discovery toward destruction. Against him stands an honest, brave young man, drawn into a struggle where scientific power threatens far more than a single life.
This Victorian science fiction adventure moves from English drawing rooms to laboratories and distant landscapes. A love story runs through the danger, while a race against time gives the scientific threat a human stake. Beneath the chase lies a sharp question: does knowledge serve humanity, or become a weapon in the wrong hands?
What you’ll discover
- The terror inside matter Encounter an early vision of atomic destruction, where scientific promise carries the threat of ruin.
- A mind consumed by obsession Meet a brilliant scientist whose search into matter becomes inseparable from his terrible goal.
- Courage against destructive power Follow a young hero who brings honesty and resolve to a struggle against scientific danger.
- Adventure across distant landscapes Move between drawing rooms, laboratories and far-off places as the chase crosses countries.
- Love amid mounting danger Discover a love story woven into scientific adventure, with time pressing against the struggle.
Who will love it
Lovers of Victorian adventure and early science fiction about atoms and hidden forces will enjoy this novel, as will readers who like persuasive mad geniuses and love stories set against a ticking clock.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Attraction draws Marcel toward danger
- An experiment raises a terrible possibility
- Joining means surrendering the way out
- Even private thoughts offer no shelter
- Natalie refuses the comfort of innocence
- Brande turns suffering into an argument
- Destructive power becomes impossible to dismiss
- Ask who benefits from destruction
Who’s who
- Arthur MarcelThe narrator, an athletic traveller trained in medicine, who joins a deadly Society for love and then tries to stop its plan.
- Herbert BrandeA brilliant, calm scientist who founded the Cui Bono Society and believes ending the world will end all suffering.
- Natalie BrandeHerbert's gentle, clairvoyant sister, torn between pity for every living thing and loyalty to her brother's cause.
- Edith MetfordNatalie's frank, cigarette-smoking friend, who joins the Society to protect Marcel and proves braver than she first seems.
- Edward GreyBrande's close partner, who explains the Society's aim and leads a second party sent to Labrador.
- HalleyA slight, clever young student of Brande's, devoted to Natalie and ashamed of his own fear.
- Captain AndersonThe practical captain of the yacht Esmeralda, who keeps strict rules and bargains hard for his pay.
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The Crack of Doom
by Robert Cromie · 1895
A drop of water is thrown into the sea, and a fleet of fishing boats vanishes in flame.
Medium level2–5 hours to read20 languages
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“The Universe is a mistake!”
In short
What would make a calm man call the whole Universe a mistake? On the deck of the liner Majestic, bound for Queenstown, a pale young scientist named Herbert Brande says exactly that.
The Crack of Doom at a glance
- Reading time
- About 2 h 35 min2 h 5 min fast, 3 h 5 min slow
- Length
- 36,900 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
- First published
- 1895by Robert Cromie
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A remark on deck draws a stranger in
Arthur Marcel is sailing home after three years of aimless wandering. During the crossing from New York he has met Herbert Brande, a young man whose pale face looks middle-aged and whose ideas seem older still. Brande knows so much that he can defend any scientific joke he makes.
One evening, as the hazy blue line of the Irish coast rises from the sea, the two men talk about astronomy. Marcel feels the size of space press on him and calls the Universe inexplicable. Brande answers that it is easy to explain, because it is a mistake. Marcel, a little annoyed, guesses it is the mistake of the century. Brande says to make it the mistake of Time and he will agree.
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Details
- First published
- 1895
- Language
- English
- Level
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Cite this edition
Cromie, Robert. The Crack of Doom. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-crack-of-doom.
Cromie, R. (2026). The crack of doom. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-crack-of-doom (Original work published 1895)
Cromie, Robert. The Crack of Doom. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-crack-of-doom.
@book{cromie2026crack,
author = {Cromie, Robert},
title = {The Crack of Doom},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-crack-of-doom},
note = {First published 1895}
}
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What is The Crack of Doom about?
It tells of Arthur Marcel, who joins a secret Society led by Herbert Brande to be near Brande's sister. He then learns that the group plans to destroy the earth with a force that attacks atoms.
What does Cui Bono mean in the book?
It is Latin for who benefits. Brande uses it as the name of his Society and as the question of his lecture, asking what good life and suffering do, and who gains from them.
When was The Crack of Doom written and is it a true story?
Robert Cromie dated his preface May 1895. It is a novel, though the preface claims it rests on real notes. It belongs to the science fiction of its day, with its worry about atoms and the end of the century.
The author
Robert Cromie
1855–1907 · Irish novelist and journalist
Robert Cromie (1855–1907) was a British journalist and novelist from Ireland. He was born in County Down and lived and worked in Belfast. He wrote science fiction, including A Plunge into Space, published in 1890, and The Crack of Doom, published in 1895.
“The Universe is a mistake!”
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