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The Last Continent
It was forbidden to enter the tower. The law had been handed down from a time beyond man's memory, and none who broke it had ever survived. From the tower flowed the energy and intelligence that kept alive the city of Noi Lantis, the sole vestige of civilization left on Earth.The Earthling, Kymri, and the beautiful invader-girl, Mirlana, already had violated a great and terrible taboo by daring to fall in love. Now they were about to commit the most fearful transgression of all.But there was no turning back as they slid open the glittering tower doors. Within was the secret that could spell man's last hope for survival - or his final sentence of doom....
192 pages, Hardcover
First published September 1, 1969
2 people are currently reading
81 people want to read
About the author
Edmund Cooper
101 books45 followersExcerpted from wikipedia:
Edmund Cooper was born in Marple, near Stockport in Cheshire on April 30, 1926. He served in the Merchant Navy towards the end of the Second World War. After World War II, he trained as a teacher and began to publish short stories. His first novel, Deadly Image
(later republished as The Uncertain Midnight) was completed in 1957 and published in 1958. A 1956 short story, Brain Child, was adapted as the movie The Invisible Boy (1957).
In 1969 The Uncertain Midnight was adapted for Swiss television, in French. At the height of his popularity, in the 1970s, he began to review science fiction for the Sunday Times and continued to do so until his death in 1982.
Apart from the website mentioned above there was another Edmund Cooper website full of information about the author and his publications.
Known Pseudonyms:
Richard Avery
George Kinley
Martin Lester
Broderick Quain
Edmund Cooper was born in Marple, near Stockport in Cheshire on April 30, 1926. He served in the Merchant Navy towards the end of the Second World War. After World War II, he trained as a teacher and began to publish short stories. His first novel, Deadly Image
(later republished as The Uncertain Midnight) was completed in 1957 and published in 1958. A 1956 short story, Brain Child, was adapted as the movie The Invisible Boy (1957).In 1969 The Uncertain Midnight was adapted for Swiss television, in French. At the height of his popularity, in the 1970s, he began to review science fiction for the Sunday Times and continued to do so until his death in 1982.
Apart from the website mentioned above there was another Edmund Cooper website full of information about the author and his publications.
Known Pseudonyms:
Richard Avery
George Kinley
Martin Lester
Broderick Quain
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
June 27, 2016
In this classic, old school science fiction novel the twenty-second century is over and so is Earth. The worst war in the history of mankind was fought between Earth, the Luna colony and the Mars colony, but in essence it was a war between Black and White. Now the colony of Mars has sent a spaceship back to Earth to explore, but it turns out that Earth is not entirely dead, and the humans that live on it are white. What now? Can the colonists overcome their philosophy and training enough to see whites as equals or will the whole thing start over again?
It is a long time since I read a new Edmund Cooper, I remember being wild about his writing when I was a teenager, I loved the futuristic scenarios but even more I loved the ways he explored humanity, its attitudes and its capacity for change. The Last continent was published in 1970 so I think the similarities between the Black leader 'Vaney' in the novel and Malcolm X in America cannot be incidental, both were leaders of a new black independence, both were assassinated.... but then Cooper takes it further, to where ongoing war based on skin colour could lead humanity.
It is a fine book, although the writing style has dated a little.
It is a long time since I read a new Edmund Cooper, I remember being wild about his writing when I was a teenager, I loved the futuristic scenarios but even more I loved the ways he explored humanity, its attitudes and its capacity for change. The Last continent was published in 1970 so I think the similarities between the Black leader 'Vaney' in the novel and Malcolm X in America cannot be incidental, both were leaders of a new black independence, both were assassinated.... but then Cooper takes it further, to where ongoing war based on skin colour could lead humanity.
It is a fine book, although the writing style has dated a little.
August 11, 2025
This is a good novel of social speculation set two-thousand years after an interplanetary nuclear war has decimated the Earth, Moon, and Mars. An exploratory expedition from Mars finds an unexpected surviving enclave of people living on Earth's last continent, Antartica. The question is will racial hatreds from the past reignite and wipe out what's left of mankind, or can they be overcome. Cooper examines questions of colonialism and racism that are as timely now as they were when the book appeared in 1969... if not more so. It's an interesting adventure as well as a thought-provoking ethical study. Curiously, the book appeared in the U.S. (with a fine Ron Walotsky cover) before a U.K. edition was printed.
May 14, 2017
1980 grade B
2015 grade B+ or A-
A rather unique short social SciFi novel in which humans destroyed earth 2000 years ago and now one small slightly technological group lives in a small city in a rain forest. Things get interesting when they are visited by a high tech group from another planet. The kicker is the racial tension between the two groups. I won't say more because I don't want to spoil it.
There's not a lot of hard science until the end of the book. One science error I noticed was that over a period of 2000 years, both groups would have evolved to meet the changed conditions they were living in.
The book is very well written, easy to read, and moves fast. I could tell it was good because reading it was my first choice when I had free time for a recreational activity.
2015 grade B+ or A-
A rather unique short social SciFi novel in which humans destroyed earth 2000 years ago and now one small slightly technological group lives in a small city in a rain forest. Things get interesting when they are visited by a high tech group from another planet. The kicker is the racial tension between the two groups. I won't say more because I don't want to spoil it.
There's not a lot of hard science until the end of the book. One science error I noticed was that over a period of 2000 years, both groups would have evolved to meet the changed conditions they were living in.
The book is very well written, easy to read, and moves fast. I could tell it was good because reading it was my first choice when I had free time for a recreational activity.
March 13, 2013
This was a little hard to get to grips with - I think 2013 is a very different place to 1970! The book is based on a war between white and black people that nearly wipes everyone out. I know there are still racists in the world but it's now hard to believe that could happen. I guess things were still more raw in 1970. Almost more interesting for understanding the past than as an imagining of the future...
January 25, 2022
My second Edmund Cooper book (the first being A Far Sunset) and I'm impressed and I've decided to make my next book an Edmund Cooper one (The Overman Culture). I did find the premise that only one race of people, especially one that is marginalised and oppressed, would escape the environmental devastation of Earth to Mars to be a bit unrealistic. Otherwise, this is a well written and easy to read book with a positive message of racial tolerance and optimism in times of peril. I can suspend my disbelief as I enjoyed the inversion of stereotypes, with a black society being the scientifically advanced civilization and whites being backwards superstitious "savages". Both societies have good and bad aspects and characters, with neither being inherently "better" than the other. While the black Martians are scientifically advanced and most of their characters are sympathetic, the imperialist and racist undertones of the Vaney faction of Martians reflect the imperialist white Europeans of the 19th and 20th century.
My only complaint is the ending seemed a bit abrupt and occured without much agency from the two main characters. It almost felt like the author gave up in the last act and decided to resolve things as quickly as possible.
My only complaint is the ending seemed a bit abrupt and occured without much agency from the two main characters. It almost felt like the author gave up in the last act and decided to resolve things as quickly as possible.
October 8, 2022
Charming, lost little Sci Fi jewel. After nuclear holocaust, Earth is fully devastated and Moon is completely blasted out of the sky. The few survivors emigrate to Mars, terraforming and building a technological advanced society. Several centuries after, an expeditionary mission returns to Earth in order to check its condition and viability. To the mission's surprise, there are Earthling survivors in Antarctica continent, the only one with exuberant life on the whole planet surface.
Interesting comments on colonialism and racial prejudice. Well paced, and skillfully written. However, the end is too nice to be taken seriously and the inverted antagonism between blacks and whites is a little bit hard to swallow. In the end, a nice and entertaining reading. Good enough for neophyte enthusiasts of Sci Fi genre.
Interesting comments on colonialism and racial prejudice. Well paced, and skillfully written. However, the end is too nice to be taken seriously and the inverted antagonism between blacks and whites is a little bit hard to swallow. In the end, a nice and entertaining reading. Good enough for neophyte enthusiasts of Sci Fi genre.
December 19, 2025
The devastated Earth had only a handful of inhabitants - now even their future was in the balance.
The Twenty-Second Century had been and gone - and with it, the worst war in the bloody history of mankind: the War of the Black Rising. The Earth was devastated, the moon blasted out of the sky, it was only on Mars, many millions of miles away, that humanity had survived - in the shape of a few Black colonists.
But out of that few had grown a new civilization - a civilization which now, some two thousand years later, had successfully launched its first space exploration - destination, the 'dead' planet Earth.
Not bad, but not Cooper's best. Good ending though, if a bit rushed. Shame about all the typos.
The Twenty-Second Century had been and gone - and with it, the worst war in the bloody history of mankind: the War of the Black Rising. The Earth was devastated, the moon blasted out of the sky, it was only on Mars, many millions of miles away, that humanity had survived - in the shape of a few Black colonists.
But out of that few had grown a new civilization - a civilization which now, some two thousand years later, had successfully launched its first space exploration - destination, the 'dead' planet Earth.
Not bad, but not Cooper's best. Good ending though, if a bit rushed. Shame about all the typos.
November 27, 2022
Two thousand years ago, a race war ravaged Earth, supposedly making it uninhabitable. Now a ship from Mars has come to see what remains. The crew are descendants of the Blacks who fled the Earth, and they discover that Whites are still alive on the mother planet. Will race war break out again? Or is there a possibility of something new and enduring? After a slow start, this story builds up rather nicely. A very decent read.
December 17, 2022
Brilliant little Sci-Fi read - ahead of its time, a Sci-Fi novel of the human psyche rather than hard technological Sci Fi. Reflections on race, at times, felt out of date but appropriate for the publishing date - 2 years after the murder of Martin Luther King, which clearly inspires the lore of this story. Beautiful world descriptions and relatable and complex adult themes of love, sex, bias, politics and language. Will be delving more into Edmund Cooper’s other works after this!
January 5, 2023
A great idea for it's time- the opportunity for colonisation on another another planet taken up by those dissatisfied with their plight here on Earth- black folk. On this other planet the privilege of control is reversed.
August 27, 2024
Really interesting ideas for the time!
February 27, 2008
Good, solid pulp sci-fi.
February 3, 2017
um livro bastante simples, a premissa seria fazer uma critica sobre o racismo, mas ficou cliche e simples.
November 9, 2024
It's been a few years since I read this, but still enjoyed this time as much as the first time
April 10, 2017
"The Last Continent" is my least favourite book by Edmund Cooper so far. Cooper has his own style of writing usually very much sharp and ironic, but here it seems that his own ideas on a few subjects (mainly on racism) made him loose somehow his typical nihilistic approach that i much appreciate.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews