5 h 55 minAudiobook7 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
For readers who like early science fiction, imagined societies and sharp political satire, and for anyone curious about where the word vril and the idea of a hidden master people come from.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A chasm in a mine opens onto a lit world
- A strange and gentle people receive the stranger
- A promise of silence shapes the stranger's stay
- Vril ended war and made the people gentle
- Women hold the power and do the courting
- Children do the work and face the dangers
- Without struggle, writing and fame fade away
- A powerful woman's love becomes a danger
- A paradise the narrator does not recommend
Who’s who
- The narratorA wealthy American traveller who falls into the underground world, longs for the sun, and fears the power of his hosts.
- ZeeAph-Lin's tall daughter, a scholar and healer of great strength, who teaches the narrator her language and wants him as her companion.
- Aph-LinThe wealthy head of the Lighting Department, who shelters the stranger and explains his people's ways with calm courtesy.
- TaeeThe Tur's young son, a hunter of dangerous beasts, who befriends the narrator and is ready to protect or destroy him.
- The TurThe chief magistrate, an office without honours, whose calm face fills the narrator with fear.
- Taee's sisterThe Tur's young daughter, kind and bold, who invites the narrator to stay and be loved.
- BraAph-Lin's wife, who runs the great household and advises young women on winning a man's heart.
Formats and delivery
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- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- Audiobook
- 5 h 55 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
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- 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.
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The Coming Race
by Edward Bulwer-Lytton · 1871
A lamplit road at the bottom of a mine chasm leads an American into a world ruled by the force called vril.
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In short
What would you do if a mine shaft opened onto a lit road beneath the earth? In The Coming Race, Edward Bulwer-Lytton sends an American traveller down just such a chasm and into the home of the Vril-ya, a winged people who run their lives by a single force called vril.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A chasm in a mine opens onto a lit world
The tale opens in a mine, where an unnamed American traveller visits an engineer he knows. A new shaft breaks into a jagged chasm, and a soft silver light rises from far below. The engineer climbs down, returns pale and shaken, and describes a broad road lit by regular lamps and a murmur of voices.
The narrator doubts him until he goes down himself. Both men see the road, the lamps and a vast building with heavy columns. They fix a rope to a ledge, but the rock crumbles as the engineer lowers himself, and he falls to his death. A monstrous reptile pushes its head from a crack in the rock, and the narrator runs in terror. When he comes back, the body has gone, and no climb back is possible.
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What is The Coming Race about?
It follows an American traveller who descends a mine chasm into a lit underground world. There he lives among the Vril-ya, a winged people who use the force vril, and he studies their customs, their government and their dangers.
What does vril mean in The Coming Race?
Vril is the force the Vril-ya control with a staff. It joins electricity, magnetism and other energies, can destroy or heal, powers their machines and lamps, and shapes their peaceful society.
Who are the Vril-ya and what does Ana mean?
The Vril-ya are the civilised branch of the Ana, a people who live below the earth. Ana is their word for men. An is one man, Gy is a woman, and Gy-ei are women.
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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