The Lost World & Other Stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

The Professor's three friends from his previous adventure are summoned to his home with tanks of oxygen to watch the last moments of humanity only to get an unexpected reprieve.

3. The Land of Mist

This is a tale of how proof was supplied to Professor Challenger and others of the authenticity of Spiritualism, mediumship and sceances. Edward Malone makes some investigations into the subject and is convinced that these things are true and the rest of the tale is spent providing "evidence" to support it.

4. The Disintegration Machine

This short story sees Professor Challenger come face-to-face with an extraordinary scientist who has invented a weapon of mass destruction that cannot be resisted and who sells it to the highest bidder.

Professor Challenger and Edward Malone experience the machine first hand and then the Professor makes an enlightened decision.

5. The Day The World Screamed

Another short story which sees the Professor conducting a remarkable experiment to prove his theory that the Earth is a living organism. After years of excavation and boring he is ready to demonstrate to the public that he is once again correct, no matter how far fetched his theory seems.

The result is success for Professor Challenger but disaster for many.

The Lost World is an enduring story which goes through three phases; before the adventure, the adventure and after the adventure, with all three told well with their own highlights. 

The beginning introduces the four main characters very nicely indeed. Edward Malone is first encountered attempting to impress a woman, whilst Professor Challenger is introduced through a series of rude and egotistic encounters which culminate in a riot in his lecture. Professor Summerlee and John Roxton are both introduced in ways which start to give an idea of their characters too and each of the four members of the expedition are different, if rather old-fashioned, types of men.

I would definitely recommend this story to science fiction lovers and, of course, to all those grown up little boys who have loved dinosaurs their whole life. Those who have enjoyed Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories may well also enjoy this.

My Rating Of The Lost World: 8.5 out of 10

This story is of interest as a sequel to the four adventurer's previous tale and is enjoyable to read in that light. The story is fairly simple and unoriginal - a Doomsday scenario - but it is dealt with from the perspective of the enlightened observing the process before the instinct of self-preservation kicks in.

The personalities of all four characters are preserved from the Lost World story, adding to the sequel feel of this story, but the reader learns more of the character of Professor Challenger with the introduction of his wife.

This story may be seen to parody the detachment that many scientists have from humanity in their experiments and developments but lacks the excitement of the previous story.

My Rating Of The Poison Belt: 6.5 out of 10.

The Land of Mist is Conan Doyle's long, rambling attempt to convince his readership as to the authenticity of Spiritualism by "proving" it to Professor Challenger. The problem here is that the self-satisfied zealousness of the "enlightened" is obvious and it feels like the author is talking down to the reader as well as providing pathetic examples of "proof" throughout the story. 

The story does contain some moments of interest to those who have seen entertainers such as Derren Brown as much of what is described can be explained in the terms of those type of shows.

Ultimately, this is a long, boring story which is not fun to read at all.

My Rating Of The Land Of Mist: 2 out of 10

This is a very intriguing tale which delves into the morality of using science to produce weaponry that can cause mass destruction. Professor Challenger's usual bombast is tempered when he realizes that the disintegration machine actually works and threatens the existence of mankind. 

The reader is left to think out the repercussions that could occur should the machine fall into the "wrong" hands and what should be done. At the end Professor Challenger makes the decision that the weapon is best left undiscovered. Although some readers might wonder who is he to decide who should have access to such technology. An interesting tale in the light of nuclear proliferation and the attitude of some nations towards who should be allowed to possess them.

My Rating of The Disintegration Machine: 7 out of 10.

The Day The World Screamed is a fairly linear short story which introduces Challenger's theory that world is a living organism and then his experiment to prove it by inflicting pain on the planet. There is no real development of the story, we know what is going to happen, more or less, but it is interesting nonetheless as Challenger's perception of the world is in keeping with Gaia theory. 

Professor Challenger is portrayed with his usual thorny character and Edward Malone reports in typical fashion although the friendship between the two men has grown since earlier stories. This is an easy, if unremarkable, read for those who want more of Professor Challenger.

My Rating of The Day The World Screamed: 5.5 out of 10.

Overall I enjoyed this book with the exception of "The Land of Mist" and my suggestion would be to read all the other stories before reading that one last or not bothering with it at all. The Lost World is a classic story of adventure and prehistoric creatures and the stories "The Poison Belt", "The Disintegration Machine" & "The Day The World Screamed" make suitable Professor Challenger sequels.

Readers who have enjoyed H.G.Wells, Jules Verne and other adventures such as Robinson Crusoe are likely to enjoy this book and those who are fans of Sherlock Holmes should check this book out to discover Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's other memorable character.

If you are a fan of Sherlock Holmes then you may also like this collection of stories featuring similar characters - Shadows of Sherlock Holmes.