5 h 55 minAudiobook9 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 5 h 55 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if a peaceful world beneath our feet holds a power that makes humanity seem weak?
In Edward Bulwer-Lytton’s The Coming Race, an unnamed young American follows a passage below a mine into a hidden civilisation. Roads, lamps and grand buildings stretch beneath a steady glow. His hosts are taller, stronger and longer lived than humans. They also command vril, a mysterious energy controlled through will and training.
As the narrator learns their language and customs, wonder gives way to questions. This society has no kings and no great quarrels, but what does its peace cost? Women are stronger than men and lead the way in courtship. Through his curious, modest visitor, Bulwer-Lytton turns an underground journey into a satire of Victorian life and ideas about progress.
What you’ll discover
- A world below sunlight Step into a lit underground land where familiar roads lead into an unfamiliar way of life.
- The mystery of vril Explore a universal force that places extraordinary power in the hands of this hidden people.
- Courtship on different terms Meet women whose strength and initiative challenge the narrator’s expectations of love.
- Words that shape thought Follow the visitor’s language lessons and consider how speech reflects a society’s ideas.
- The cost of perfection Look beyond a peaceful surface to question what progress means and what it demands.
Who will love it
You will enjoy this book if you like early science fiction, tales of hidden worlds and witty satire. It rewards anyone who asks what a perfect society would really feel like.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A strange light waits at the mine's bottom
- The fall that leaves him alone below
- First meetings with a winged and silent people
- Vril, the force that ended war
- A government so light it hardly exists
- Women who are stronger and do the courting
- A hunt, a quarrel and a lesson about democracy
- Zee's love and the danger of a Tish
- The cost of a world without struggle
- How the tale is told and why it still bites
Who’s who
- The narratorAn American traveller who enters the underground world and lives as a guest, increasingly longing to return home.
- Aph-LinThe host who takes the stranger in, head of the Lighting Department, wealthy and calm, and bound by the good of his community.
- ZeeAph-Lin's daughter, a learned and powerful sage who teaches the narrator and falls in love with him.
- TaeeA boy of about twelve, clever and playful, who befriends the narrator and hunts the dangerous reptile with his vril staff.
- BraAph-Lin's wife, who runs the great household and loves old tales of a more passionate world.
- The TurThe chief magistrate of the tribe, a serene ruler whose first duty is the safety of his people.
- The Tur's daughterA young Gy, kind and bold, who is Taee's sister and shows interest in the strange guest.
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The Coming Race
by Edward Bulwer-Lytton · 1871
A mining engineer spots a lamplit road underground, and his American friend descends to meet its inhabitants.
Challenging5–10 hours to readEnglish
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In short
What would you do if a mine shaft opened onto a paved road lit by lamps, with voices murmuring far below? That is where The Coming Race begins.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A strange light waits at the mine's bottom
The story opens with a narrator from the United States who inherits money and decides to wander the world. He hides the name of the country and the mine, and he says the reader will understand why before the tale is done.
An engineer he knows invites him to visit a mine where workers break into a jagged chasm. The engineer has himself lowered into it in a cage and stays down nearly an hour. When he comes up, he is pale and silent. After some brandy, he talks. He saw a steady light from below, then a broad road lined with lamps like a city street, and he heard what sounded like human voices.
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Which edition is right for me
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 9 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 1871
- Language
- English
- Reading time
- 3 h 50 min
- Level
- Challenging
Cite this edition
Bulwer-Lytton, Edward. The Coming Race. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-coming-race.
Bulwer-Lytton, E. (2026). The coming race. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-coming-race (Original work published 1871)
Bulwer-Lytton, Edward. The Coming Race. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-coming-race.
@book{bulwerlytton2026coming,
author = {Bulwer-Lytton, Edward},
title = {The Coming Race},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-coming-race},
note = {First published 1871}
}
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What is The Coming Race about?
It follows an American traveller who descends a mine shaft and finds an underground world of winged people called the Vril-ya. He learns their customs, their power called vril and their view of life, and he fears what they might do to the world above.
What is vril in The Coming Race?
Vril is a force that the Vril-ya control with a staff. It is like electricity joined with magnetism and other powers, and it can heal, light lamps, move machines or destroy anything. Its power ended war among them.
Who are the Vril-ya and what does Tish mean?
The Vril-ya are the civilized underground people who use vril. They call the narrator Tish, which means little barbarian. It is a polite and affectionate name, though it also shows how they see people from the upper world.
The author
Edward Bulwer-Lytton
1803–1873 · English novelist and politician
Edward Bulwer-Lytton (1803–1873) was a British novelist, playwright and politician. He was born in London and lived at Knebworth House in Hertfordshire. His novels include Paul Clifford (1830), The Last Days of Pompeii (1834), Zanoni (1842) and The Coming Race (1871). He served in Parliament and died in Torquay.
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