Complete Professor Challenger Stories

Professor Challenger #1-5

by Arthur Conan Doyle

This is the complete collection of scientific fiction stories featuring Professor George Challenger.

Along with Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, Professor Challenger stands in the front rank of the immortal characters created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

These are scientific stories rather than science fiction; the stories are based solidly on scientific facts, not possibilities.

Contains:
The lost world
The poison belt
The land of mist
The disintegration machine
When the world screamed

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Adventure, Classics, Fantasy, Short Stories

Paperback

First published December 25, 2013

About the author

Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle was a Scottish writer and physician. He created the character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for A Study in Scarlet, the first of four novels and fifty-six short stories about Holmes and Dr. Watson. The Sherlock Holmes stories are milestones in the field of crime fiction.

Doyle was a prolific writer. In addition to the Holmes stories, his works include fantasy and science fiction stories about Professor Challenger, and humorous stories about the Napoleonic soldier Brigadier Gerard, as well as plays, romances, poetry, non-fiction, and historical novels. One of Doyle's early short stories, "J. Habakuk Jephson's Statement" (1884), helped to popularise the mystery of the brigantine Mary Celeste, found drifting at sea with no crew member aboard.

Reviews

[Mike (the Paladin) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I always preferred Professor Challenger to Holmes, as a matter of fact i was never a big Holmes fan, but I am a fan of the Professor. I stumbled over these stories years ago wandering through the "stacks" or shelves at the library of a small town where I lived. It was the late 70s and employment was "iffy" in a lot of the country and my family was just getting by...very little to spend on books. But there was a bit of time when I wasn't working so....check out the library. The local library in the town where we lived at that time (which has since been replaced by a larger more modern building) had 3 stories of shelved books. The top floors were of a kind of glass tile which allowed light through...odd feeling walking around on what was some kind of glass flooring 3 floors up. A wrought iron spiral staircase wound up through the floors in the center of each room. It was there that I found this book.

It's not usual to wander through the library shelves anymore in this day of going to the library web sight and finding certain books. The library here purges their shelves regularly and books that don't get frequent use are removed from the system to make room for other more popular material.

Looking at this book and remembering how I found it, I wonder what I'm (we're) missing and what's vanishing from the shelves.

[Kay · Rating 4 out of 5]

There's a lot more to Arthur Conan Doyle than the Sherlock Holmes stories. The character of Challenger, unlike Holmes, is an excitable and passionate character, given to outburst of temper. The best-known Challenger story (there were five all told) was "The Lost World," but the other four are equally entertaining. Doyle seems to be stepping into Jules Verne territory here with these tales of disintegration machines and poisonous space gases. This ones for ACD fans and those (like myself) addicted to the sorts of fantastic and romantic tales featured in Victorian magazines such as The Strand.

[Sasha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Even better than the Sherlock Holmes stories, criminally underrated.

[Tina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, I am having a hard time rating this one. I had very high expectations that weren’t fully met. I love Sherlock Holmes and being a scientist myself I had expected to love Challenger even more. However, the stories about Holmes already contain a lot of scientific details and though they often touch superstitions and fantasies in the end Holmes always figures out which scientifically explainable secret lies hidden behind each case.

Arthur Conan Doyle uses a different approach for the Challenger stories which is exactly what put me off about them. I was always waiting for the twist in the story, for the moment he discovers that everything can be explained scientifically. I liked The Lost World and The Disintegration Machine was a nice short story, but the other three – especially The Land of Mists – do not contain much of what I like about Doyle’s story setup. It was not as straightforward as the stories about Holmes in which every single storyline serves a purpose and leads you to the solution of the case. In Challenger’s stories for example, I did not get where he was going with the Silas Linden part. Okay, he was evil and pretended to possess the powers that killed him and let his children escape to safety. However, in my opinion it does not help to make an additional point or advance the main storyline.

Furthermore, I was just not into the fact that all of this stuff about spirits and mediums was true and that the views of our protagonist had to be adjusted accordingly. Of course, I do not object to this concept in general, I just like Holmes and Challenger to be the ones to solve the mysteries and riddles while the common folk is clueless.

[Rozonda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Conan Doyle was a master at creating unforgettable, unique characters.Professor Challenger, like Sherlock Holmes or Brigadier Gerard, is a larger-than-life character who remains very much alive a century after this book was published. Bad-tempered but kind-hearted Challenger and his friends- another touchy professor, an adventurous sportsman and his very own Watson, journalist Edward Malone-live adventures that deal with issues which remain interesting for today's reader: dinosaurs, spirits,and even the consequences of not listening to the earth's needs. A man ahead of his time in many ways, Conan Doyle shows it again in this book.

[Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Once you get into it, it's hard to put down! Slow to get started, but the second half of the book is fantastic!aFor those readers who love a good "lost world" story, well told and with plenty of exciting action and detail, this book is a must. One terrific scene follows another, and the principal characters, especially the incomparable Professor Challenger, are well drawn. It should come as no surprise that this novel is far superior to the silent film of the '20s that was made following the book's huge success. I won't even go into that recent popular dinosaur novel/movie that ripped off Conan Doyle's title. In short, hey--they don't call these books classics for nothing!

[Karl · Rating 4 out of 5]

These novels and short stories cover a lot of ground but are scientific adventures laced with comedy. The characters are certainly colorful: Professor Challenger is part genius, part raving maniac. Journalist Edward Malone is the reader-surrogate who is often in over his head. Other characters of note are Prof. Summerlee (scientist and target for Challenger's scorn), Sir John Roxton (adventurer and hunter), the professor's amazingly tolerant wife Jessie, and their daughter Enid.

"The Lost World" (1912): By far the best story in the collection and the most influential. The scenario is wonderfully fun and Challenger is almost of force of nature. James De Mille and Jules Verne may have been the first to have prehistoric creatures in a contemporary setting, but "The Lost World" has dinosaurs aplenty. 4-5 Stars

"The Poison Belt" (1913): A novella about a global catastrophe, with a twist. I doubt many modern readers will not see it coming a mile off. 3 stars.

"The Land of Mist" (1926): This novel explores and promotes Conan Doyle's own belief in Spiritualism. What plot there is focuses on a series of seances and other supernatural events. As such it reads almost like as series of entertaining, but repetitive and unrelated, short stories. This is Enid Challenger's only appearance, and while her introduction is promising, the novel forgets about her for several chapters. Prof. Challenger himself has only a minor role. 2½ stars.

The collection wraps with the short stories "The Disintegration Machine" (1929) and "When the World Screamed" (1928). They are lighter in tone and allow for some wilder ideas: teleportation and the idea that Earth is a living organism. 3½ stars each.

Sadly, there is some casual racism; not so casual in case of "The Poison Belt". Was this the same author who gave us the sweet and hopeful ending to the Sherlock Holmes story "The Yellow Face"? At times, too, Challenger's Smartest Man in Any Room persona can be a bit much. On the other hand, at times it can also be very funny.

Most people will probably be perfectly happy with just "The Lost World", but if you are a completist or a big Conan Doyle fan, you'll find something to like here.

[Maik Civeira · Rating 4 out of 5]

Después de Holmes, el personaje más popular de los creados por Doyle es el Profesor George Edward Challenger, que vio la luz en 1912 con la novela de aventuras "El mundo perdido".

Al igual que Holmes, Challenger es un personaje excéntrico y engreído que tiene poca tolerancia por la mediocridad. Pero, a diferencia del flemático Holmes, Challenger se caracteriza por un temperamento volátil que lo lleva a utilizar muchas veces la violencia física contra quienes logran exasperarlo. Challenger es originario de Escocia y estudió Medicina, Zoología y Antropología en la Universidad de Edimburgo, aunque es de aquellos científicos, típicos de la ciencia-ficción temprana, que dominan todas las áreas del conocimiento.

El mundo perdido (1912) es una exótica novela de aventuras en la que el intrépido equipo del profesor encuentra en medio de la selva amazónica una meseta que alberga dinosaurios y otros animales prehistóricos vivos, además de una tribu de hombres-mono y otra de indígenas americanos. El libro resulta una encantadora novela de aventuras llena de peligros, emociones, escenarios fantásticos y criaturas extrañas, protagonizada por personajes entrañables, y ubicada a medio camino entre la tradición de aventuras decimonónicas y la nueva tendencia de la Era Pulp.

Las otras historias son menos interesantes, aunque también tienen su encanto. "The Land of Mists" es un panfleto espiritista aburridísimo.

[Kevin Findley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wow, what a mixed bag! The shorter tales are top Doyle efforts, but the Land of Mist is a really hard slog to get through. It is the 'final' tale of Challenger in terms of the character's timeline, but was published in the middle of Doyle's adventures. Honestly, it's 2 stars for me.

The other tales feature the Professor Challenger well known by everyone who has read even one story or watched The Lost World in its various film presentations. Absolutely loved them!

One last note: When I first read these stories as a teenager, I enjoyed The Land of Mist much more than this year's reread. I'm not sure why that is, but if anyone has a suggestion, send it my way.

Find it! Buy it. Read it!

[Chuck McKenzie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've always loved Conan Doyle's Professor Challenger stories (far more than his Sherlock Holmes tales, in fact), and this collection - filled with the 'sense of wonder' of early science fiction - is a joy to read. From lost worlds populated by dinosaurs to living planets to apocalyptic disasters, these tales showcase many of the tropes and concepts that remained popular within the genre from the turn of the century through to the end of the pulp magazine era. Many of these concepts are obviously scientific balderdash, but the way in which the wonderful characters react to their circumstances allows the reader to suspend disbelief and just go along with it. If you love the works of H. G. Wells and Jules Verne, you must read this collection.

[James Hannley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sir Arthur constructs a adventure to rival any of H. G.Wells or Jules Verne. Of special interest is the turn of the century knowledge of Palentology and Archeology. Doyle's lost world is geologically plausible, and the characters and situations are realistic and engaging. It's drama, suspense and excitement are second to none and will have you picking it up and reading lost in a lost world. Move over, Jurassic Park!

[Douglas Wingert · Rating 5 out of 5]

I always been a big fan of Sir Arthur from his books about Sherlock Holmes and his adventures. But after reading this book has made me appreciate his writing style even more. His detailed accounts were interesting and thought provoking.

[Parker · Rating 3 out of 5]

Finally got around to reading this and like a lot of stuff written in this style, it doesn’t jive with me. At times overly flowery with pages and pages of. asides that don’t seem to go anywhere. Interesting but just not my style.

[Anne Lydolf · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well written stories with colourful characters but some have sadly not aged very well.

[Riddhiman · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 star for the imagination

[Dermot O'Brien · Rating 3 out of 5]

very staid and one paced

After The Lost World, I expected more but this was very staid and low key, never got off the ground for me

[Dina · Rating 4 out of 5]

En god lille samling historier, som minder svagt om Jurassic Park i miniformat, og Jules Vernes rejse til jordens indre. God underholdning med scifi-adventure elementer.

[Dhove · Rating 3 out of 5]

It took me a year and I ended up skipping Land of Mist because I kept falling asleep on it, but... I finished it!

[セレナ · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved the lost world and I loved the character of Professor Challenger but it got gradually worse with every book, I couldn’t even finish The Disintegration Machine…

[Tony Ciak · Rating 5 out of 5]

fun watching Doyle going down the rabbit hole or is it off with the faeries.

[Aki Umemoto · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read "The Lost World" about a decade ago and didn't realize that there were additional Challenger tales, but once I got a Kindle I discover this complete omnibus. I really enjoyed "The Lost World", but as I read each tale, the quality started to diminish. Here follows my review on each volume:

THE LOST WORLD, the first Challenger story and the best. It introduces the indomitable Professor Challenger, who swears to have found prehistoric beasts on a lost plateau in South America, unfortunately he has no proof. He challenges fellow scientific rival, Summerlee to join him on a mission to return to this Lost World, he also enlists the big game hunter Lord Ruxton and reporter Edward Malone.

The adventure is different from the movies, but it's still interesting, and they find a tribe of primitives and some man-apes. But when they return to London, they do have proof that there are dinosaurs still alive, but it's not what you think! Still lots of fun.

THE POISON BELT, an elongated short story about a cosmic belt that has entered the earth's atmosphere which starts to dissipate all breathable oxygen, sending everyone to an unconscious stupor. Challenger enlists the same crew from the Lost World to come to his house, with each bringing a tank of oxygen. We are introduced to Challenger's wife. Slowly the world is covered by this belt, and they can see people dropping to the ground in mid-step. Luckily they are spared some time since they have their own supply of air, hoping to find a solution in time. It would have been more effective if this was half its length, it just goes on and on.

THE LAND OF MISTS. The Professor's wife has passed on and Challenger mourns for her. Malone who is now in love with the Professor's daughter, tries to get him out of his funk. He begins paranormal research to discover ways to talk to the dead wife. He visits psychics, mediums, haunted houses, and the such. This novel goes on far too long and detours to a subplot of the poverty in old London. This is the least interesting of all the stories.

THE DISINTEGRATION MACHINE a light-hearted short story about time travel. It has an O. Henry type of ending.

WHEN THE WORLD SCREAMED. A short story that was rather predictable and not that interesting.

I definitely recommend the Lost World, and some of the shorter ones. But unless you're a completist, I'd stay away from "The Land of Mists".

[Van Roberts · Rating 5 out of 5]

Take the Challenge!!!

When he wasn’t writing about the world’s famous amateur detective, Arthur Conan Doyle chronicled the exploits of the contentious scientist Professor George Edward Challenger. Like Sherlock Holmes, Professor Challenger had a friend who wrote about him, an Irish born journalist, Malone of The Daily Gazette. You’ll find five sagas about Challenger and his friends; there are three novels and two short stories. Most well-known of the quintet is “The Lost World” where Professor Challenger defends the honor of his scientific works with a safari into South America where his comrades and he come face to face with prehistoric dinosaurs living among early species of men. Thoroughly exciting fare with Challenger’s haughty character dominating the narrative. “The Poison Belt” reunites the quartet of adventurers in what boils down to a sci-fi thriller involving a poisonous belt of ether that sweeps with deadly effect around the globe killing everything in sight. Challenger has Malone join him again along with big game hunter Sir John Roxton and Professor Summerville as they ride out this onslaught of ether by confining themselves in the same room with Challenger and his wife with bottles of oxygen. Afterward, they tour London and find chaos and death at every turn. The third novel “The Land of Mist” concerns spiritualism and Conan Doyle’s belief in it and the conversion of Professor Challenger it those hallowed ranks. “The Poisoned Belt” is gripping, but it’s revelations come as a supreme letdown. “The Lost World” is a travelogue into the past and the kind of epic escapade that Edgar Rice Burroughs would excel in with his stories. Of the two short stories, “The Disintegration Machine” surpasses “When the World Screamed” with its tale about a scientist who has invented a machine that can break down human anatomy and make a person vanish from sight and then reappear intact. “Star Trek” fans will really enjoy this one.

[Peter · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was left rather unimpressed by the four Professor Challenger stories that were new to me. The Poison Belt was rather morbid for my tastes. The Land of Mist contradicted character developments from The Poison Belt (excused by some comment by the narrator about "works of fiction being passed off as accounts of the professor", in my paraphrase). The disintegration machine was an interesting one-off, but Professor Challenger seemed rather unscientific at the end. And When the World Screamed was okay, but nothing to entice me to read it again. I'd probably rate the five stories as a 5, a 3, a 2, and two more 3s, so I'll give the collection as a whole 3.2 stars.

[Mary · Rating 1 out of 5]

It is perhaps difficult to believe that the author of the Sherlock Holmes stories could write these stories, which run the gamut from an adventure novel ("The Lost World") to science fiction ("The Distintegration Machine," "The Poison Belt") to a philosophical tract, thinly disguised as a novel, in favor of spiritualism ("The Land of Mist"). Readers should prepare for wooden characterization, an extreme lack of female characters, and casual racism. Readers of this edition should also prepare for numerous typos, including this speech, spoken earnestly at a particularly dramatic moment in the book: "We must kelp!"

[Rajat TWIT · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sherlock Homles owed every bit of charm to the great Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and here you can see Sir ACD giving his extra-ordinary art of story telling in the shape of Professor Challenger. Not only the stories had elements of pure genius, more than a century back but also had pure fictional magic. Beautiful language and strong connection to the well defined characters make the stories unputtable!
Though I am reviewing the series almost after 4 years of completing them, still I can feel the magic of the amazing work!

[Kevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Lost World is undoubtedly the most famous of the Challenger series written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. He may be better known as the creator of Sherlock Holmes and his involvement in the spiritualism movement of the early 20th century. Overall I think these stories are quite good even though one of the novels delves quite deeply into spiritualism. It might take a bit to get through that one, but if you can put up with the weird storyline, it’s quite an enjoyable series. Definitely recommended.

[Rebecca altman]

I am reading some of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's works on Challenger now but I am not sure if they are all of his stories. What a fascinating character Pro. Challenger turns out to be. I must say I have almost fallen in love with Lord Roxton as well. I have to echo the words of another reviewer that SACDoyle comes awefully close to overtaking Verne in the Si-fi world.

[Tusher · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great & marvellous work by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
professor challenger , a scientist & explorer who is a great creation by the author him self.
a must read book by the sci fi & adventure lover.
best regards
tusher’

[Holly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't get why these stories aren't more popular. I think they are hilarious and wonderful and achieve everything that Conan Doyle did through Sherlock Holmes, but fresher because NO ONE KNOWS ABOUT PROFESSOR CHALLENGER.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

i think my favorite story was the lost world, but they're all fun.