A runaway planet hurtles toward the earth. As it draws near, massive tidal waves, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions wrack our planet, devastating continents, drowning cities, and wiping out millions. In central North America, a team of scientists race to build a spacecraft powerful enough to escape the doomed earth. Their greatest threat, they soon discover, comes not from the skies but from other humans. A crackling plot and sizzling, cataclysmic vision have made When Worlds Collide one of the most popular and influential end-of-the-world novels of all time. This Bison Frontiers of Imagination edition features the original story and its sequel,  After Worlds Collide. The concept of Earth being struck by a large body from space has been a popular plot in several recent films. This 1932 volume, however, was possibly the first to present that scenario. Here, humankind races to complete a spacecraft--an airborne ark--that will carry an assortment of people to begin the population over again as a rogue planet on a collision course with Earth speeds toward a cataclysmic end. Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. A runaway planet hurtles toward the earth. As it draws near, massive tidal waves, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions wrack our planet, devastating continents, drowning cities, and wiping out millions. In central North America a team of scientists race to build a spacecraft powerful enough to escape the doomed earth. Their greatest threat, they soon discover, comes not from the skies but from other humans. A crackling plot and sizzling, cataclysmic vision have made When Worlds Collide one of the most popular and influential end-of-the-world novels of all time. This Bison Frontiers of Imagination edition features the original story and its sequel, After Worlds Collide. Philip Wylie (1902–71) wrote several classic works of speculative fiction, including Gladiator and The Disappearance , as well as a popular work of nonfiction, A Generation of Vipers .   Edwin Balmer (1883–1959), an engineer, was also a writer of detective stories and speculative fiction. Introducer John Varley is an acclaimed science fiction writer and a winner of the Hugo and Nebula Awards. His books include Wizard , Demon , and Steel Beach.