The Death of the Earth (French: La Mort de la Terre) is a 1910 Belgian novel by J.-H. Rosny aîné.

The Death of the Earth
1958 edition (publ. Denoel)
AuthorJ.-H. Rosny aîné
Original titleLa Mort de la Terre
TranslatorsGeorge E. Slusser (1978, 2012), Brian Stableford (2010)
LanguageFrench
GenreScience fiction, Adventure novel
PublisherArno Press (US), Black Coat Press (US), Wesleyan University Press (US)
Publication date
1910
Publication placeBelgium
Published in English
1978, 2010, 2012
Media typePrint (hardback & paperback)
ISBN978-0-405-11020-7 (1978), ISBN 978-1-935558-35-4 (2010) & ISBN 978-0-8195-6945-5 (2012)
OCLC774276672

Plot summary

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In the far future, the Earth has become an immense, dry desert. Small communities of future humans, partially adapted to the harsher climate, survive united by the "Great Planetarium" communications web. The means for human survival are rapidly diminishing beyond repair, with the remaining supplies of water failing or becoming increasingly hard to find. Along with this, a barely comprehensible form of life – "ferromagnetals" ("les ferromagnétaux") – have begun to develop and spread within and throughout the Earth itself.

The narrative focuses mainly on group of humans led by Targ, who at the beginning of the story is the "watchman" ("veilleur") of the Great Planetarium.

See also

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