History Literature / WhenWorldsCollide

* TheArk: Five of them - two American, one British, one {failed) French, and one Japanese/Russian/German cooperative effort.

''[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin When Worlds Collide]]'' is a SpeculativeFiction novel co-written by Philip Wylie (who also wrote the [[UnbuiltTrope proto-superhero novel]] ''Literature/{{Gladiator}}''.) and Edwin Balmer. It was first published as a six-part serial between September 1932 and February 1933 in the "King of the Pulps", the magazine ''Blue Book''.

…and naturally, they do, since the sequel, ''After Worlds Collide'', was also serialized between November 1933 and April 1934.

* BecomingTheMask: [[InscrutableOriental Kyto]] came to the US as a secret agent for ImperialJapan but learned to love its culture and eventually revealed [[CommieNazis the Dominion's]] plan to build their own Ark.

* ShowSomeLeg: a ploy suggested by two of the female colonists for infiltrating the bad guys' stronghold [[spoiler: and successfully perpetrated by one of them]].

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: The plates on which the Bronson bodies were discovered are being shipped to the United States. By oceanliner. There was telegraph and telephone at the time, but this was ''right'' before television or other means of quickly transmitting images.

* SequelHook: The book leaves open the possibility that the Vanished People may reappear (did they die off, fly off into space or go into cryogenic suspension somewhere?), but no third book was produced. (Not by the original authors, at any rate. There is an unauthorized "sequel" which is, by most accounts, pretty bad.)

* RagnarokProofing: The cities are not only still in pristine shape, but repair themselves.

* SequelHook: The book leaves open the possibility that the Vanished People may reappear (did they die off, fly off into space or go into cryogenic suspension somewhere?), but no third book was produced. [[note*: Not by the original authors, at any rate - and let's not mention the unauthorized "third volume" self-published in 2011....http://www.amazon.com/The-Terrans-Beta-Collide-Series/product-reviews/1461020638/ref=cm_cr_pr_viewpnt_lft/191-0896965-5753038?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1&sortBy=helpful&reviewerType=all_reviews&formatType=all_formats&filterByStar=positive&pageNumber=1]]

* SequelHook: The book leaves open the possibility that the Vanished People may reappear (did they die off, fly off into space or go into cryogenic suspension somewhere?), but no third book was produced. [[note: Not by the original authors, at any rate - and let's not mention the unauthorized "third volume" self-published in 2011....http://www.amazon.com/The-Terrans-Beta-Collide-Series/product-reviews/1461020638/ref=cm_cr_pr_viewpnt_lft/191-0896965-5753038?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1&sortBy=helpful&reviewerType=all_reviews&formatType=all_formats&filterByStar=positive&pageNumber=1]]

* NoBiochemicalBarriers: Soon after arrival, a mysterious disease sweeps through the first Ark's people that sickens many and causes a couple of deaths. Later on, the find that the massive stockpiles of grains and meats they discover in the domed cities are perfectly edible.[[* Mostly.]]

* SequelHook: The book leaves open the possibility that the Vanished People may reappear (did they die off, fly off into space or go into cryogenic suspension somewhere?), but no third book was produced.

* NoBiochemicalBarriers: Soon after arrival, a mysterious disease sweeps through the first Ark's people that sickens many and causes a couple of deaths. Later on, the find that the massive stockpiles of grains and meats they discover in the domed cities are perfectly edible.

* ShowSomeLeg: a ploy suggested by two of the female colonists for infiltrating the bad guys' stronghold [spoiler: and successfully perpetrated by one of them].

* SequelHook: The book leaves open the possibility that the Vanished People may reappear (did they die off, fly off into space or go into cryogenic suspension somewhere?), but no third book was produced.

* FightingForSurvival: Being composed mostly of [[ScienceHero scientists]] and [[GadgeteerGenius engineers]], the League is Owl and Beaver-heavy.

* DyingLikeAnimals: Most Americans are Sheep and follow the government's sensible (but wholly inadequate) plans. The looters who try to strip New York City ''while the streets are beginning to flood'' qualify as (very dumb) Vultures. The army of survivors that attacks the Ark are a dangerous mix of Wolves and Vultures.

* HumanAliens: While exploring the city of the Vanished People/Million Years Dead, they find a picture of one on a wall. She looks perfectly human. Later video and audio recordings confirm this trope.

* PassingTheTorch: The chapter is even titled "Tony, I pass the torch to you!"

* {{Unobtainium}}: The massive tectonic disruptions from Bronson's first pass force a seam of exotic metal from the deep mantle all the way to the surface; it just happens to be exactly what the League needs to line the Ark's engine tubes.

The first novel included the following tropes:

The second novel included the following tropes:

''[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin When Worlds Collide]]'' is a DieselPunk SpeculativeFiction novel co-written by Philip Wylie (who also wrote the [[UnbuiltTrope proto-superhero novel]] ''Literature/{{Gladiator}}''.) and Edwin Balmer. It was first published as a six-part serial between September 1932 and February 1933 in the "King of the Pulps", the magazine ''Blue Book''.

* YourMoneyIsNoGoodHere: Just before launch, a tycoon who laughed at their efforts at the start of the book lands in a small plane and offers the League a suitcase full of money for a seat. He doesn't get one.

In South Africa, astronomer Sven Bronson discovers a pair of rogue planets are speeding towards the solar system from the depths of interstellar space. The smaller Bronson Beta will enter a stable orbit around the Sun, but the gas giant Bronson Alpha [[SignsOfTheEndTimes will cause apocalyptic damage to the Earth through its gravitational influence]], swing around the Sun, [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt and finish off ol' Terra by smashing into it on its way out]]. It looks like humanity is doomed. But if "The League of the Last Days" can [[InterplanetaryVoyage cross the gulf of space between Earth and Bronson Beta]], some small fraction of the human race might just survive...

* Apocalypse How: Bronson Beta was also a victim of planetary depopulation, since it held a thriving civilization before it was ejected out of its own solar system by Alpha and its original star.

* SequelHook: The book leaves open the possibility that the Vanished People may reappear (did they fly off into space or go into cryogenic suspension somewhere?), but no third book was produced.

''[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin When Worlds Collide]]'' is a DieselPunk SpeculativeFiction novel co-written by Philip Wylie (who also wrote the [[UnbuiltTrope proto-superhero novel]] ''{{Gladiator}}'') and Edwin Balmer. It was first published as a six-part serial between September 1932 and February 1933 in the "King of the Pulps", the magazine ''Blue Book''.