Line #20 Literature/ThePoisonBelt


1	[[quoteright:237:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/posion_belt.jpg]]
2	''The Poison Belt'' is a 1913 sequel to ''[[Literature/TheLostWorld1912 The Lost World]]'' by Creator/ArthurConanDoyle. [[Literature/ProfessorChallenger Professor George Edward Challenger]] (the cantankerous hero of ''The Lost World'') predicts that the Earth will pass through a belt of "[[DeadlyGas poisonous ether]]" which will [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt kill all life on the planet]]. Together with his wife and his companions from his previous adventure, IntrepidReporter Edward Malone, GentlemanAdventurer Lord John Roxton, and AbsentmindedProfessor (and Challenger's former rival) Professor Summerlee, Challenger [[LockedInARoom holes up]] in an airtight room of his own design to await, and hopefully survive, the coming apocalypse. Has a TwistEnding!
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5	!!Tropes used in this novel:
6	* AfterTheEnd: The last part of the story, wherein the character emerge after Earth has finished passing through the belt and the ether has dissipated. The most effective part of the book involves Challenger and the others driving through the countryside and witnessing the devastation wrought by everyone dropping in their tracks (mostly automobile collisions and construction accidents). Doyle really makes the reader ''feel'' the weight of loss as the characters do.
7	* ApocalypseHow: Planetary. Challenger believes the titular belt will wipe out all of humanity and that only he and his friends, locked in their airtight room, will survive. [[spoiler:As it turns out, the ether was just a sedative.]]
8	* AscendedExtra: Challenger's wife Jessie and their chauffeur Austin have larger roles than they did in ''The Lost World''.
9	* CozyCatastrophe: The Challengers and their friends sit out [[spoiler:what they think is]] the end of the world in the airtight room, which is pretty comfy even by modern standards. It's the waiting and anxiety that makes it difficult.
10	* DeadlyGas: The titular poison belt, which is described as being made up of a kind of [[ScienceMarchesOn undefined]] "ether."
11	* DemotedToExtra: Malone, Roxton and Summerlee don't have a lot to do in this story.
12	* DepopulationBomb: The ether [[spoiler:before it turns out it isn't poisonous.]]
13	* TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt: What Challenger predicts the planet passing through the ether belt will result in.
14	* EverybodyLives: [[spoiler:The TwistEnding is that the ether wasn't poisonous, it merely knocked everyone out.]]
15	* HairTriggerTemper: Professor Challenger is still Professor Challenger; the novel begins with him back to his old reporter-assaulting ways after one of Malone's fellow journalists deigns to bother him at home.
16	* InstantSedation: [[spoiler:The actual effect of the ether, instead of death.]]
17	* JustBeforeTheEnd: Much of the novel takes place during the leadup to Earth's passing through the belt of ether. [[spoiler:The TwistEnding, of course, reveals it isn't really the end.]]
18	* [[KilledMidSentence Killed Mid-Tuneup]]: Austin collapses from the effects of the gas in the middle of working on the car. [[spoiler:Since the ether turns out to be non-fatal, it instead turns out to be [[CollapsedMidSpeech Collapsed Mid-Tuneup]]]].
19	* LockedInARoom: The bulk of the book involves the main characters waiting out the end in a special room Challenger designed.
20	* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: [[spoiler:Though the ether isn't directly lethal, there are consequences to knocking out the entire planet so quickly. Trains crash and cities catch fire, killing thousands--though the protagonists find that number joyously low, since they thought the gas had killed ''billions''.]]
21	* TwistEnding: [[spoiler:Of course, the ending reveals that (almost) EverybodyLives. The earlier gut-wrenching drive through the countryside and the horrifying sight of all the seemingly dead people makes it all the more joyous and triumphant when the main characters find a half-conscious policeman, followed by everyone else slowly waking up. As [[TwistEnding Twist Endings]] go, it's definitely on the happier side.]]
22	* UnPaused: [[spoiler:When humans wake up from the ether's sedative effects, they resume whatever they were doing before without any pause. It takes a while for the protagonists to convince everyone that they're missing 38 hours of time.]]

Context Literature / ThePoisonBelt