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When Worlds Collide #3
The Terrans of Beta
This third and final book to Philip Wylie's "When Worlds Collide" duology, The Terrans of Beta concludes this amazing story by finishing where "After Worlds Collide" leaves the reader, and goes even further into the story of the survivors of the Human race, and their new life and struggles upon Bronson Beta.
Having made tremendous new discoveries upon landing on Bronson Beta, Tony and the American survivors, along with the other survivors of Earth, discover that their new home on this alien world isn't as safe as now thought. Further investigating the cities of The Other People, the aliens that once called Bronson Beta their home, reveals an ancient conflict between the Humans and The Other People, a conflict still burning. In Tony's adventures with his fellow survivors, they will discover the true origins of the Human race, and of a war fought so long ago that it has been lost for millions of years in the darkness of space. Now, as the fate of Bronson Beta itself is at stake, The Humans must unite with unlikely friends to finally conclude what happens when worlds collide.
The Terrans of Beta is sure to please both science fiction and fantasy fans fans looking for an inspirational and patriotic tale of intense action and adventure while being able to let their imagination play freely with the abundant imagery and intricate characters with a plot that moves quickly from the introduction until the novel's dramatic conclusion.
Fans of Philip Wylie's "When Worlds Collide" duology will not be disappointed with the effort this novel has made to stay in step with Wylie's original creation, while elaborating more on the story, and bringing it to it's grand finale in The Terrans of Beta, concluding a science fiction masterpiece nearly 80 years in the making.
Having made tremendous new discoveries upon landing on Bronson Beta, Tony and the American survivors, along with the other survivors of Earth, discover that their new home on this alien world isn't as safe as now thought. Further investigating the cities of The Other People, the aliens that once called Bronson Beta their home, reveals an ancient conflict between the Humans and The Other People, a conflict still burning. In Tony's adventures with his fellow survivors, they will discover the true origins of the Human race, and of a war fought so long ago that it has been lost for millions of years in the darkness of space. Now, as the fate of Bronson Beta itself is at stake, The Humans must unite with unlikely friends to finally conclude what happens when worlds collide.
The Terrans of Beta is sure to please both science fiction and fantasy fans fans looking for an inspirational and patriotic tale of intense action and adventure while being able to let their imagination play freely with the abundant imagery and intricate characters with a plot that moves quickly from the introduction until the novel's dramatic conclusion.
Fans of Philip Wylie's "When Worlds Collide" duology will not be disappointed with the effort this novel has made to stay in step with Wylie's original creation, while elaborating more on the story, and bringing it to it's grand finale in The Terrans of Beta, concluding a science fiction masterpiece nearly 80 years in the making.
- GenresScience Fiction
398 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 29, 2011
24 people are currently reading
124 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
October 1, 2020
EXTREMELY DISAPPOINTING!
This book is awful. Nearly unreadable. Did the author even read the prior books? He rattles on and on for pages and pages of needless explanations. There is no storytelling here. Do not waste your money. This is the worst book I've ever read in my life.
This book is awful. Nearly unreadable. Did the author even read the prior books? He rattles on and on for pages and pages of needless explanations. There is no storytelling here. Do not waste your money. This is the worst book I've ever read in my life.
December 19, 2020
If you loved the first two books as much as I, then lower your expectations before reading this. My biggest complaint was the lack of continuity with the second book. A major character was completely absent. Next was a change in the nature of the autochthonous Bronson Betans. Thirdly was the coincidental introduction of solutions to existential problems. The original book set the standard for explaining sweeping issues by painting a picture with words. This novel not so much. Lastly was the wordy and complicated nature of descriptions delivered by characters. To be fair the middle of the book caught me and I read pretty much straight through to the end. I don’t regret buying this book in order to complete the set.
January 6, 2022
I don't often give a 2-star review but this book is severely lacking. It is intended as a third part to the original golden age pair of books "When Worlds Collide" and "After Worlds Collide" written by Philip Wylie and Edwin Balmer. Unfortunately, it comes across as a pale imitation of the original work's. Which while dated in some ways, are still good adventure tales, with some interesting thoughts on the human race.
This novel is like taking those books and sending them into some bizarre strange parallel world where they are twisted out of all recollection. The author pretty much destroys the sense of mystery the original books built up about the alien prior inhabitants of humanities new home "Bronson Beta" and replaces it with a parody of the advanced alien races featured often in science fiction of the 1930s and 1940s. Add in the revelation that humans are the descendants of ancient Martians, who happen to still be around, plus so many hackneyed old sci-fiction tropes such as telepathic powers, secret groups of aliens with hidden agendas, and more. The book is a mess and a huge disappointment.
The original authors created a fascinating world of adventure and mystery, this book ruins it completely. I could go on and on but enough said. Stick to the original books is my advice.
This novel is like taking those books and sending them into some bizarre strange parallel world where they are twisted out of all recollection. The author pretty much destroys the sense of mystery the original books built up about the alien prior inhabitants of humanities new home "Bronson Beta" and replaces it with a parody of the advanced alien races featured often in science fiction of the 1930s and 1940s. Add in the revelation that humans are the descendants of ancient Martians, who happen to still be around, plus so many hackneyed old sci-fiction tropes such as telepathic powers, secret groups of aliens with hidden agendas, and more. The book is a mess and a huge disappointment.
The original authors created a fascinating world of adventure and mystery, this book ruins it completely. I could go on and on but enough said. Stick to the original books is my advice.
March 7, 2023
not a great attempt to close out the story
stilted dialog. convoluted & conflicting plotting. poorly understood & exposited concepts. hard to read in a lot of places & inspired eyerolls in more than a few. stuffed every sf trope that the author could find into the narrative with little rhyme or reason. I guess the biggest issue, on top of all the poor writing issues, is that it didn’t so much continue the story of what happened on Beta but rather grafted on an entirely different story that was given superficial trappings to connect it vaguely with the duology. finished it, but almost stopped numerous times.
stilted dialog. convoluted & conflicting plotting. poorly understood & exposited concepts. hard to read in a lot of places & inspired eyerolls in more than a few. stuffed every sf trope that the author could find into the narrative with little rhyme or reason. I guess the biggest issue, on top of all the poor writing issues, is that it didn’t so much continue the story of what happened on Beta but rather grafted on an entirely different story that was given superficial trappings to connect it vaguely with the duology. finished it, but almost stopped numerous times.
May 18, 2020
Drags on and on and ....
Kind of drags on painful detail. Wears me out. Pronunciation is a curious chore and I wonder if I have caught on. I read When and After Worlds Collide and things flowed without dragging to the nittiest detail. So many diffarfatchedferent kinds of peoples, farfetched time lifes, etc., etc., etc.......
Kind of drags on painful detail. Wears me out. Pronunciation is a curious chore and I wonder if I have caught on. I read When and After Worlds Collide and things flowed without dragging to the nittiest detail. So many diffarfatchedferent kinds of peoples, farfetched time lifes, etc., etc., etc.......
March 14, 2016
Disappointed
I read and enjoyed first two books more than 40 years ago. Re-read both again before reading The Terrans of Beta. The third was a disappointment. Save your money.
I read and enjoyed first two books more than 40 years ago. Re-read both again before reading The Terrans of Beta. The third was a disappointment. Save your money.
December 30, 2017
Unnecessary sequel
As with after worlds collide, this was an unnecessary sequel. Dodgy science, flat characters, things work out just too pat.
As with after worlds collide, this was an unnecessary sequel. Dodgy science, flat characters, things work out just too pat.
May 25, 2019
A rather dull,rambling,inconsistent sequel to great source material
October 14, 2018
The third book in a trilogy begun with When Worlds Collide does not live up to the previous two books. They were written by Philip Wiley and Edwin Bulmer. The third one is written by another author by the name of R. L. Helms. This book is much longer than the previous two books combined. Unfortunately, the length of the book wasn’t an improvement, nor was the new author.
The reason I was fascinated with the first book was it explored how the world might respond to a world ending event. Most of the first book worked, as much as it did, because it was about that catastrophe. The second book was less successful, to me, because it wasn't really about what happens after, despite the title After, Worlds Collide. I really wanted to read about the survivors on a planet with no insect or animal life but plenty of flora. I mean how do you rebuild (or actually just build) any kind of eco-system when you need to bring everything with you in one trip? Its not like you can just bring all the animals two by two. Unfortunately the authors decided to focus on an indigenous intelligent species that had apparently died out, but left fully functioning cities. The book was fine but not what I really wanted.
I had hoped that the third book might touch on some of the subjects I wanted to read about, but now the new author focused on the natives. Almost nothing really happens with the original characters until a third of the book is over. The author's attempt at dramatic tension is constantly having either the humans or the natives needing to explain something to the other group. All of these fairly long monologues seem to start out with, “I don’t have time to tell you everything, but I must explain a few things now and I will go into more detail later.” Then we are left to read through the first explanation and wait till the next chapter to read through a more detailed version of what we just read.
I really hate not finishing books. I especially don’t like not finishing books that I will be writing a review of, but here I am. I could not finish this book I could not get past the first half. I thought the story was pointless. I thought the problems presented were convenient and not connected to any real theme or realistic portrayals. I really wouldn’t bother reading this book.
The reason I was fascinated with the first book was it explored how the world might respond to a world ending event. Most of the first book worked, as much as it did, because it was about that catastrophe. The second book was less successful, to me, because it wasn't really about what happens after, despite the title After, Worlds Collide. I really wanted to read about the survivors on a planet with no insect or animal life but plenty of flora. I mean how do you rebuild (or actually just build) any kind of eco-system when you need to bring everything with you in one trip? Its not like you can just bring all the animals two by two. Unfortunately the authors decided to focus on an indigenous intelligent species that had apparently died out, but left fully functioning cities. The book was fine but not what I really wanted.
I had hoped that the third book might touch on some of the subjects I wanted to read about, but now the new author focused on the natives. Almost nothing really happens with the original characters until a third of the book is over. The author's attempt at dramatic tension is constantly having either the humans or the natives needing to explain something to the other group. All of these fairly long monologues seem to start out with, “I don’t have time to tell you everything, but I must explain a few things now and I will go into more detail later.” Then we are left to read through the first explanation and wait till the next chapter to read through a more detailed version of what we just read.
I really hate not finishing books. I especially don’t like not finishing books that I will be writing a review of, but here I am. I could not finish this book I could not get past the first half. I thought the story was pointless. I thought the problems presented were convenient and not connected to any real theme or realistic portrayals. I really wouldn’t bother reading this book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 12, 2025
I eagerly bought this book hoping it would continue the story from When Worlds Collide/After Worlds Collide which have been two of my favourite books for over fifty years. Without fail I read them over again about once a year. So, when I saw The Terrans Of Beta, I snapped it up.
Well, as a science fiction story it is okay. The author gets a little long in the tooth quite often and seemingly goes off on a tangent explaining in very great detail about an item that could well have taken only one or two pages, not ten or more. One gets the feeling that this story is not so much about the survivors of the last few rockets from the doomed earth, although Tony, Eve, Peter and James to name the few, are present but not so much as headline characters but extras to fill in the rest of the story about the Kur'Ciin and the Marcelonians. One the long ago civilization of Beta and the other the precursor of humans each millions of years old. Although the four humans named above are present to carry on the torch, one seems to be missing in action somewhere between the end of the second book and this one. Dave Ransdell is nowhere to be seen.
I read the book to it's end and as I mentioned before it's an okay sci-fi story. Certainly not great. As a sequel to the two books When Worlds Collide and After Worlds Collide it is an absolute failure.
Well, as a science fiction story it is okay. The author gets a little long in the tooth quite often and seemingly goes off on a tangent explaining in very great detail about an item that could well have taken only one or two pages, not ten or more. One gets the feeling that this story is not so much about the survivors of the last few rockets from the doomed earth, although Tony, Eve, Peter and James to name the few, are present but not so much as headline characters but extras to fill in the rest of the story about the Kur'Ciin and the Marcelonians. One the long ago civilization of Beta and the other the precursor of humans each millions of years old. Although the four humans named above are present to carry on the torch, one seems to be missing in action somewhere between the end of the second book and this one. Dave Ransdell is nowhere to be seen.
I read the book to it's end and as I mentioned before it's an okay sci-fi story. Certainly not great. As a sequel to the two books When Worlds Collide and After Worlds Collide it is an absolute failure.
January 13, 2022
If you enjoyed the first two books you may enjoy this. I did find I mostly enjoyed the story although I found it rather contrived and not really consistent with the other two books.
My main problem with this book (Kindle version) is the absolute lack of any sign the text was proofed. There are spelling errors (e.g.: THEIR instead of THERE, OUT instead of OUR, ARE instead of OUR, etc.) and incomplete sentences that make parts of the text appear as if it was translated from some other language to English.
The author tends to ramble. There are many overly wordy, and unnecessary, explanations. I suspect the author was paid by the word. The final chapter of the book can really be skipped.
Spoiler alert: The journey of Alpha and Beta Bronson began more than 2 million years before the events in this book and yet, when the Marcelonians show up, it's as if they just saw the Kir'ciins a couple of years before. The author does not account for the passage of the many years. In fact, one would expect the Marcelonians to have, themselves evolved beyond their current form.
My main problem with this book (Kindle version) is the absolute lack of any sign the text was proofed. There are spelling errors (e.g.: THEIR instead of THERE, OUT instead of OUR, ARE instead of OUR, etc.) and incomplete sentences that make parts of the text appear as if it was translated from some other language to English.
The author tends to ramble. There are many overly wordy, and unnecessary, explanations. I suspect the author was paid by the word. The final chapter of the book can really be skipped.
Spoiler alert: The journey of Alpha and Beta Bronson began more than 2 million years before the events in this book and yet, when the Marcelonians show up, it's as if they just saw the Kir'ciins a couple of years before. The author does not account for the passage of the many years. In fact, one would expect the Marcelonians to have, themselves evolved beyond their current form.
July 24, 2023
The fewer words the better. This is not a very good attempt to add on to the classic science fiction novels When Worlds Collide and After Worlds Collide, both of which were written in the early 1930s. I am guessing this was self published, because of the lack of proofreading and capable editing. It barely manages to make use of one key character from the earlier books, Tony Drake. Even his fiance and later wife, Eve, doesn't get above cursory treatment. And it completely omits the third major character that should have been carried over, Dave Ransdell. No need to list the remaining omissions, distortions, and outright mistakes that Terrans contains. I'll just leave with a golden rule to follow for most writers: whatever you write should advance the story. Cut out what doesn't. More than half of this book needs to be cut, even if accepting the author's own storyline.
November 15, 2016
A different view of the future.
As I stated, a different view of After Worlds. Collide. In many ways a continuation of the first book written in the 1930's. But also a new novel that covers entirety new ground. A little wordy but OK in truth. If you loved the original books as I do, this is worth a look.
As I stated, a different view of After Worlds. Collide. In many ways a continuation of the first book written in the 1930's. But also a new novel that covers entirety new ground. A little wordy but OK in truth. If you loved the original books as I do, this is worth a look.
July 23, 2021
Yawn. Boring and stale. Totally lost touch with the original inspiration. Gave up reading after the fourth chapter.
July 17, 2012
Very, very disappointing book. It could have been absolutely incredible, given how much material the author had, but the book was scattered, full of typographical and grammatical errors, and spent inordinate time on irrelevant plot details (such as the first 100 pages, which dealt with the rescue of a ship of German survivors--you would think that it would play a major part in the rest of the story, but it barely factored in). Honestly, I only finished the book because I had spent money on it and felt obligated to do so. It was such a letdown, given how much I had loved "When Worlds Collide/After Worlds Collide" when I read them as a child (and I reread those two books before reading this book).
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 16, 2024
Wylie had nothing to do with this book other than being the great writer of the first two books in the series. It was a struggle to read. I skipped pages at a time just to get the torture over with. Skip this book and read other books by Wylie. Tomorrow is a great cold war futuristic science fiction novel.
December 31, 2017
An important character from the previous books is missing entirely with no explanation. Also as other reviewers have stated, bad science is used. The story is implausible to say the least. I was looking forward to a true sequel to the first two books; this isn't it.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews