City of Endless Night

by Milo M. Hastings

An example of early dystopian science fiction written shortly after World War I, City of Endless Night imagines a future with a very different ending to the Great War. Set in 2151 and in an underground Berlin, our protagonist is Lyman De Forrest, an American chemist who enters the city to discover the hidden truths of a forbidden metropolis. The subterranean world hosts a highly-regimented society of 300,000,000 sun-starved humans. As the first outsider to enter, he's horrified by what he finds, but will he accomplish his mission and escape the living tomb?

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Classics, Dystopia, Alternate History, Historical Fiction, Fantasy

314 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1920

About the author

Milo Milton Hastings was an American inventor, author, and nutritionist. He invented the forced-draft chicken incubator and Weeniwinks, a health-food snack. He wrote about chickens, science fiction, and health, among other things.

(wikipedia)

Reviews

[Charles van Buren · Rating 2 out of 5]

 A little of this goes a very long way, January 8, 2016

Verified Purchase

This review is from: City of Endless Night (Kindle Edition)

Mr. Hastings imagines a horrible future for a fragment of Germany in this story of an alternate ending to WW1. A lot of discussion of various forms of government and philosophies including eugenics and socialism takes up a large portion of the novel. To actually believe that Imperial Germany could have gotten to this point requires a mighty suspension of disbelief. Either that or being firmly convinced that poor Kaiser Bill and the Hohenzollerns were evil proto-Hitlers. Parts of this novel read much as some of the crude anti-German propaganda from the Wilson administration and friends. There were crude pamphlets and movies such as The Beast of Berlin and Wolves of Kultur distributed throughout the U.S. This novel began life as a serialized story during that era. In fact, our view of Imperial Germany is colored by this propaganda and the crimes of the Nazis. Many modern historians recognize that Imperial Germany was no more at fault in WW1 than Imperial Britain and others on the allied side.

[Laure · Rating 4 out of 5]

Score 4.5 stars.
Many people make a big deal about the fact that this book was written in 1920. It is true it is somewhat prescient of what was to come regarding WWII. It is based after all on a city of Berlin where survival is due to eugenics and other 'twisted' models of society. It would not surprise me if this book was on Margaret Atwood's bookshelf too.
What I would also like to point out is that it is a good adventure book with incredible detailed world building and a very enjoyable (somewhat short) read. Dive in readers.

[Joseph Jupille · Rating 5 out of 5]

I try to be very chary with the five stars, but I have to say I found this book breathtaking. I think that mostly has to do with the eery accuracy of his predictions.

My copy, published by Wildside Press, had no original publication information, only reading "This edition published in 2006 by Wildside Press, LLC, www.wildsidepress.com". No real publications page. The type is very old looking, the printing quality is rough, but that can sometimes be affectation by a particular imprint. Some typos as well, which reinforced the Samizdat feel of it. The author seems like an interesting guy, check out Milo Hastings via wikipedia, and the protagonist doesn't sound very removed from the writer.

Now, I usually know publication information, but here I didn't. It was recommended to me by someone whose judgment I trust deeply, and I never bothered Googling the author, who was unknown to me. So as I am reading this story, a utopia/dystopia, certainly futuristic but utterly human, I am wondering when it was written. The protagonist is a scientifically dazzling, unadorned but intellectually well-rounded chemist who is seeking to erase a black spot from the map of the world, the spot representing the fortified city of Berlin, autocratic Germany, the only deviation from the gold that maps the extent of the democratic World State. We find him as a boy contemplating five great maps hanging in his uncle's library. 1) "The Age of Nations, - 1914"; 2) Germany's Maximum Expansion of the First World War -- 1918"; 3) "The Age of the League of Nations, 1919--1983"; 4) "Maximum German Expansion of the Second World War, 1988"; and 5) "A Century of the World State", running to the setting date of 2041. As I have said, the entire world is awash in gold, and only the black spot of Berlin remains of socialist (red) and autocratic (black) alternatives to democracy.

All of this is a long-winded way of saying that the rendering of the 20th century was close enough to the real thing that I was certain the book was written post-World War II. But I see that it was written in 1919, and published in book form (perhaps the very form of the edition I have) in 1920.

Wow. This dude, like, saw the future of the rise of fascism in Germany and the advent of World War II. And it wasn't just a lucky guess. Like all good futures, it was an extrapolation. Actually, it's in two amazing extrapolations.

The first involves his analysis of modernity, and especially its dark underbelly. The Germany he invents is a nightmare of scientific rationality, technical efficiency, dispassionate eugenic and social engineering. Again, in a point, it's the dark underbelly of all that warm and fuzzy progress we so enjoy.

The second involves his analysis of the German character. I don't recommend this to my German friends -- it cannot make for comfortable reading. It's painful for me, and I am French (albeit a Germanophile and certainly a Europhile). (On the other hand, you all have been so thorough in confronting war guilt, that it might be worth checking out.) Here, in a nutshell, Milo Hastings more or less predicts the rise of fascism and the advent of WWII, on a roughly accurate timeframe.

Now, that's all he gets "right", but, well, he gets right perhaps the most important events in European history within a roughly accurate timeframe a half-century forward of when he was writing.

Again: I went to check the publication date, and it was 1919. I tore through the book very quickly, utterly fascinated.

I think this book is amazing. The protagonist briskly moves history forward, a bit too smart to believe, too-frequently lucky, but fascinating nonetheless. The narrative unfolds much more successfully than Huxley's did in another book I just read, TIsland. It's done through dialogue, protagonist's reading, research and reflection, etc. It's a little quirky, not perfect but rarely dull.

The world that Hastings constructs is terrifyingly believable. It's probably most terrifying because he was so uncannily accurate in other respects. Given how much of real history he got right, his imagined future is all the more plausible.

I won't go into all of the details. But he basically presents us with an imagined ethnography of the German people. Everything is there -- the symbolic belief systems, the politics, the economics, the sociology, the technology, the science, the family, demographics, international relations, etc. There are a few places where I have holes in my understanding, or perhaps don't quite buy what Hastings has laid out --social control and room for change coexist a little bit too frictionlessly, for example-- but he has laid out an entire world in compact, readable, and impossible-to-resist form.

I won't talk much about the story. It's a good story, a good vehicle to run us through the world as it might have been and still might be.

If you like futures/dystopias/utopias, this one's for you. Amazing. Five stars.

[Carl Alves · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written a hundred years ago, City of Endless Night is a dystopian novel set in future Berlin. In this future, Berlin has isolated itself from the rest of the world through a protective dome. They feed their people through a synthetic food. Every aspect of their lives are controlled to obscene levels including what job they are allowed to have, how much food they are allowed to eat, and how much money they can spend on a gift for their girlfriends. Meanwhile, they have rigged elections where members of the royal family are elected without opposition, and their grand plan is to conquer their enemies and rape the woman in order to populate the world with more Germans. This is really horrible stuff, and given that this novel predates the Nazi rise in Germany and the author wrote about many things that would become Nazi doctrine like the use of eugenics, it was really quite impressive.

The story, although reasonably well written, wasn’t really the selling point. It was the excellent world building of this dystopian society that makes it. The protagonist isn’t the most compelling character, and there is some eye rolling lack of believability such as the narrator being able to take over the life of a dead German, and not a single person realizing that he was an imposter. It’s not conceivable that the dead German chemist would not have interacted with anybody so that they wouldn’t realize it was a different person posing as the Chemist. The ending was also a bit difficult to swallow, but on the whole this was an enjoyable novel that I would recommend.

Carl Alves – author of Reconquest Mother Earth

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

I narrated the audiobook version for Librivox.org, and found myself drawn along and caught up in the story - part dystopian sci-fi, part espionage, part love story. It was quite fun to read and well-paced, though a few chapters are spent exploring the city. I hope you'll give it a listen and let me know what you think!

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

The important thing to know about ‘City of Endless Night’ before reading it is the date of initial publication: 1920. It is a speculative dystopian fantasy set in 2151, steeped in the aftermath of the First World War. I therefore found myself fascinated by the currents of subsequent events that Hastings picked up on. In his vision of 2151, there is a (presumably democratic?) World Government, which rules everywhere except Berlin. The city is now a subterranean megapolis of 300 million Germans, protected from the outside world by a massive domed fortification and ruled by the imperialist Hohenzollern dynasty. Our protagonist and hero is an American chemist named Lyman, who finds himself in Berlin through a chain of coincidences involving a potash mine and takes on the mantle of one Karl Armstadt. The ease with which he does this, and his impressive ability to assimilate into German society, is both a plot convenience and an interesting comment on human flexibility. Although underground Berlin is undoubtedly a dystopia, it is a carefully organised one in which most (men, at least) appear satisfied with their lot. Armstadt’s ambivalence is quite evident to the reader.

Hastings predicts Nazism in several chilling respects. The Hohenzollern regime is based upon a racist and antisemitic system of eugenics. All undesirable, non-teutonic bloodlines have evidently been removed from the population and their removal from the whole world is stated as an eventual aim. The main role of women is as progenitors. The imperialist regime is not merely a monarchy, however. It combines imperialism with elements of socialism, recognising the vital importance of the working class to the continued survival of the state. It is likewise striking to read Hastings anticipating in 1920 a Second World War spurred by a resurgent imperialist Germany. The weakness and downfall of the League of Nations is also predicted.

This book is thus fascinating for what it says about the time when it was written and geopolitical fears after the First World War. It is also an effective novel, as the dystopia it describes is so well thought-through. Obviously the current reader has to wave away some fake science, but the structure of the Hohenzollern regime is interesting as well as horrifying. Whilst giving the reader a tour of its class issues, sexual politics, and education system, the plot throws in witty trifles like the charity work done by the royal family. Lyman, the likable point of view character, is a sort of everyman whilst also being a talented chemist. This allows him to fit in whilst rising socially. Amongst the other characters I liked Marguerite, who gets the chance to voice some strident criticism of the roles accorded to women in Berlin.

Although written like an adventure story and suffering from a trite ending, this book is well worth a read. It is a thought-provoking and historically astute dystopia with a beautifully melodramatic title. Whilst the world outside buried Berlin barely gets a mention, the underground city itself is vividly described and lingers in the mind. Also, the chapter titles are priceless in their bald description, my favourite being ‘In which I Salute the Statue of God and a Psychic Expert Explores My Brain and Finds Nothing’.

[Ana · Rating 4 out of 5]

https://anaslair.wordpress.com/2016/0...

I have to admit I struggled with the writing on this one. This is completely different from anything I have read. The book was written in 1919 and I found the prose difficult to understand at times (English is not my native language), quite contained and very matter of fact. Yet, I still felt engaged. The book has strong politic and socialist components but it leaves room for more humane assessing as well. There is a bit of romance and enough tension of all sorts to want to keep reading.

However, right from the beginning there were things that irked me, namely how everything came together for our main character. As the narrative initially developed, things seemed to fall into place much too easily for him. He enters this world by taking the place of a dead guy who looks just like him and who happens to have his own personal biography in his pocket, after having had a life experience that would allow him to succeed brilliantly at his new persona. And everyone just assumes his lack of memory is due to gas poisoning. I don't understand, was no testing done at the hospital to see he had indeed not been poisoned by gas? What about his tanned complexion? And he had to have an accent, even if he learned German from the age of 7. The guy admitted his vocabulary was more technical than anything! And then the right people seem to come across his path so easily as well, just the ones he needs, and who just spill their true thoughts to such a stranger, even though no thoughts are really allowed there.
All these questions and others bothered me throughout the story.

But the fact is it is a very disturbing one. The Germany described here is nightmarish in its potential to become real at that time. This book is astoundingly futuristic, in a way that I could not help but think how it all must have inspired Hitler. I mean, I was never much of a fan of History, but it seemed like the guy tried to replicate much of what went on here. That is so terrifying.

Although there were quite a few plot holes and I found the development of the story too easy for our main character, this is an amazing classic that everyone should definitely read at least once in their lifetime. Having just finished it, I am still chilled.

[Jacob · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really really liked this novel. The author is oddly prescient, especially when you consider he wrote this in 1919. Basically World War II occurs but at the end the Germans wall in and bunker proof the entire city of Berlin, digging down 60 some levels to hold out against a world coalition. Ray guns (an entirely defensive weapon, more like energy shields) keep ground troops out and the only warfare consists of occasional bombing of the "roof" and sapper struggles far below in the mines. A chemist (chemistry plays a large part in this world of 2041) manages to infiltrate the city several generations after they go underground and finds a untopia that is part Nazi Germany and part Brave New World, with a sprinkle of Kaiser's Germany thrown in. The descriptions of the city structure (physically and organizationally) are intriguing, but unlike Brave New World, the characters are real and the plot compelling. Having never heard of the novel or author I was pleasantly surprised to have found a hidden gem. I would recommend this book to anyone with a curiosity about what ifs or utopian novels--even if you don't have an interest, this is a well-written sci-fi lite that is worth the time. Strong 4 star rating.

[D.M. Dutcher · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting "black Utopia" about a future Germany.

It's hundreds of years after World War I. A World State has been established after the successful dominance of the League of Nations, and it governs the globe in relative peace and harmony, save for one spot: Germany. By the use of a ray weapon to maintain its airspace, Germany has refused to submit to the rule of the League, and has tunneled down. The city of Berlin is now a gigantic subterranean metropolis shrouded in mystery. The World State can do little more than bomb it for political show.

Until one day a chemist discovers a way to neutralize some poisonous gas used by the Germans as point-defense, and decides to launch an impromptu attack on them. He manages to swap his identity with one of the dead Germans, and penetrates the city to find out a horrible truth. This Germany is an eugenic state of the highest order, with workers bred in castes and segregated by levels. Can he escape and bring light to this City?

It doesn't read as dated at all, and is eerily prophetic. It was written in 1920, just after the war, and it's focus on eugenics and talk of a blond, blue-eyed master race is chilling considering in just twenty years we'd see the fruit of this. The future Berlin is also compelling. It's a scientific state where people are bred in castes and segregated by levels, each for a specific function. Workers are bred for stamina, their calories metered out and given a strict schedule of sex and television watching. In a well done spot of black humor they go on strike because they are such creatures of habit that working less and having more leisure makes them uncomfortable, and they go on strike by continuing to work without wearing a pin that shows they agree with their ruler.

Intellectual workers live on their own level, and women are split up into Free women, who enjoy a hedonistic lifestyle of sex and money, and breeder women who are kept for when a specific worker contributes enough to be allowed to father children. These levels have some of the best scenes in the book, with the grey shrouded mothers locked in motherhood almost as in a cage, and a particularly powerful scene where our scientist hero meets a girl on the Free level who despairs of the futility of being what essentially is a perpetual prostitute, forced to court men or her food money will run out. In a surprising yet powerful scene, it's revealed she isn't a free thinker-this is her act to get a lot of money out of different men, and she is so lost in her act that she can't even understand what the words that she uses means.

The scientist adjusts to life in Berlin a little too well, rising to minor nobility. His movements each show the nature of a cynical society based on perpetual warfare transforming itself into a machine, and it's only with the aid of a few dissidents that he even has a chance to escape.

It's a strong world, and a rebuke to the idea of a scientifically planned society. He calls it a Black Utopia because the society works-the people in it are more or less happy with only a few dissidents, and without the protagonist on the inside, could easily keep going. There's a lot of scenes of quiet horror in the book, like how mothers out of all the castes are identified by number, and schools instill rational hate in their students. It's a lot better than you think it would be.

However, there's some problems. One problem is that the main character is bloodthirsty, as is his society. The World State has been trying to attack Berlin for a hundred years, and the main character decides to attack the Germans as soon as he realizes he has a chance to. This was written shortly after WWI, so the idea that the League of Nations was a a pure good seems naive in hindsight. The protagonist also seems to go native a lot, in order for the book to explore each level of Berlin, and the idea he has to escape gets forgotten until the very end. The end also is too brief, and doesn't really go over what happens when Berlin loses-you've just opened up a society where people are bred for their roles to the point of not being able to sit down instead of stand up when doing line work. It may be impossible for tremendous numbers of them to adjust at all.

It's still an interesting read, and an unusual dystopia that can be eerily prescient and naive at the same time. The author himself is incredibly surprising. You'd think this book was written by an intellectual, but he was just a small-time inventor most known for his contributions to chicken incubation. Definitely give this a try if you are into dystopian novels.

[Dean McIntyre · Rating 4 out of 5]

CITY OF ENDESS NIGHT by Milo Hastings -- Written just after World War I, Hastings envisions a future set in 2151, one in which Germany was not defeated in WWII. The world proceeds on with its political divisions and WWII, after which an undefeated Germany organizes itself as a huge metropolitan city (Berlin) that is located entirely underground. It is a highly regimented and controlled society with classes and social functions performed by specific types of people specifically bred, fed, housed, and clothed for those purposes. The underground city is protected from ongoing hostilities of war and conflict by virtue of its stratified structure in layers, all well underground. The outside state is actually a world state of former nations, somewhat resembling the League of Nations. Our hero, a chemist from the outside, infiltrates the underground society and experiences numerous episodes and characters. This is a fascinating example of early dystopian literature. The story and characters are engaging, but what is most interesting is the many similarities to the actual evolution of our history following the two World Wars. The book, after all, was released in 1920. A fascinating read.

[Isaac · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is decent, but not amazing. The setting is great; a dystopia of World War I era Germans fighting a perpetual war as they are subsist in an underground bunker. The author then introduces an American hero from outside this world who infiltrates it and has various adventures.

There are many detailed descriptions of the various adaptations the Germans have made to their society, which gives a good feel to the overall setting. Unfortunately, while I earlier stated that our hero has "adventures," I am using the term in a very loose sense. While the hero does in fact make plans, and occasionally circumstances arise to oppose him, as a whole there is a remarkable lack of tension or suspense considering that the hero is infiltrating an entire enemy nation. Characters are introduced, but most of the dialog is explaining the different sociological changes in the nation; there is little personal dialog, or even a feeling that the characters have lives apart from the story line. This may or may not be appropriate, considering the setting, but it does not make for a very entertaining story, despite the provocative ideas the author introduces. While I generally enjoyed reading this book, I feel no desire to reread it at a later time, which is pretty much the definition for me of a three star book.

[Nex Juice · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was pleasantly surprised by this book! Usually, I don't read much fiction, but the editor reached out and offered me a free copy, so I obliged. I'm so glad I did! I love fiction about dystopian societies. I don't want to spoil it for anyone who may read it, but if you like books along the same idea of George Orwell's 1984, you'll probably like this one too! It's about a dystopian walled city of Berlin, Germany. One of the fascinating things about this book is that it was written before World War 2, and they talk about the German value of eugenics! It's always a bit awe-inspiring when an author is able to tell the future in some way, although luckily the Germany of the real world never quite reached the extreme level of loss of identity that is demonstrated in this book. It's a real page-turner, consistently making the reader wonder "What happens next?" Personally, I wished the ending had been more thoroughly fleshed out, it felt like it ended more abruptly than I would have liked, but all in all a great fiction read!

[Adam Meek · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Yes, the Germans were civilized... I recalled those fairy tales that naturalists tell of the stagnant and fixed society of ants in their subterranean catacombs. These insect species credited for their industry and intelligence, have in their lesser world reached a similar perfection of civilization. Ants have a royal house, they have a highly specialized and fixed system of caste, a completely socialized state—yes, a Utopia—even as Berlin was a Utopia, with the light of the sun and the light of the soul, the soul of the wild free man, forever shut out. Yes, I was walking in Utopia, a nightmare at the end of man's long dream—Utopia—Black Utopia—City of Endless Night—diabolically compounded of the three elements of civilization in which the Germans had always been supreme—imperialism, science, and socialism."

[Wilde Sky · Rating 5 out of 5]

In the future Berlin has become a ‘country’ of 300 million battling the rest of the world.

This was a random selection from the library (I’d never heard of the book or the author) and I’m glad I picked it up. The story was set in a future world that (considering the book was written in 1919) was surprisingly accurate in some aspects. The central characters are all well drawn / developed / believable, the story line has its own logic and the imagined world was fascinating (think George Orwell mixed with Philip K. Dick) – a ruthless world of dispassionate efficiency and eugenics.

My overall rating is 4.5 – as the ending was too positive for me.

If you like future dystopian stories this is definitely worth a look.

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was one of the most amazing books I have ever read. I absolutely and thoroughly enjoyed every second of the read. I was disappointed when I finished that the story had ended.

[Josef Hernandez · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very strong apocalyptic novel

For a full review, please go to https://areviewerdarkly.blogspot.com/... and follow me on Twitter @josenher

[Paul Spence · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am reviewing the Librivox audiobook version of Milo Hastings' The City of Endless Night narrated by Kate Follis. I discovered this book by listening to the SFF Audio Podcast which had a detailed review/discussion about this book. The panel on the podcast recommended the Librivox version and I was so intrigued by their discussion that I decided to listen to it.

Kate Follis is a volunteer and not a professional audibook narrator. While she is not as good a narrator as Grover Gardner, Simon Vance or John Lee, she is much better than some of the other Librivox narrators. I struggled through some Edgar Rice Burroughs books in the fall where the narrator was wheezing so much that I though he was going to expire. Follis is does an accepatble job with this book.

Written shortly after the guns of World War I fell silent, City of Endless Night presents a strange yet well-conceived vision of the future that might have been, had the Great War ended differently. The premise is that allied bombing in an extended WWI had driven the Germans in Berlin underground into a series of bunkers and subterranean factories. The Germans quickly discovered ways of surviving under these bizarre conditions, while the Allies failed to figure out any means of ferreting them out, and the war turned into a frustrating stalemate.

There is something about the nature of this book that seems very much ahead of its time.

In the guise of an alternate future where the world has united against Germany, the author writes a character from the outside world who assumes a stolen identity in the barricaded and isolated city of Berlin- the last stronghold against the World Government, depicted as a black spot on the map that had haunted the protagonist.

In a fortuitous circumstance, he infiltrates this society and his guise is most perfectly suited for him. It seems only too easy thrashed would speak the language and find someone that closely resembles him as well as shared his profession, whom he could conveniently dispose of and therefore observe this world undetected. This is just part of the story- the tale of a man in culture shock but with an almost ethnographic eye for this bewildering world he finds himself in.

This is where this book really shines. It seems almost unbelievable this book was written almost a hundred years ago... and yet some things just don't change. People can have cultures which manifest the same basic needs and drives and impulses- universal motivations, that are expressed in a variety of different ways.

Some issues this book touches are still things we struggle with in the modern world. The idea of human worth, the value of resources, economic efficiency. Just how much humanity is worth sacrificing to maintain control? How much control can be exercised to manipulate the masses before they rebel? What kind of cost are we willing to pay for the enforcement of morals- furthermore what moral benefit what demographics? The ethical dilemmas of those days, the idea of German superiority, eugenics, genetics, human rights, female rights, ethnic cleansing. All huge issues in the 1920's... and still huge issues to this day.

Despite the decades that have passed, the ideas of this book are still very much alive. Although the protagonist has some views which seem fairly standard to a reader of today, his viewpoint must have been somewhat radical in a time when so much of the progress we take for granted today had not even happened yet.

I find it a most curious read. A bit light, somewhat preachy at times, but incredibly interesting and I would highly recommend it.

[Mbuye · Rating 3 out of 5]

This 1920 dystopian novel both anticipates and fumbles in the creation of a horrifying Third Reich that lasted a hundred, if not a thousand years. Hastings envisages a world ruled by eugenics, backed by the authority of a powerful, divine, autocratic monarchy that functions underground, like a colony of ants or termites. He even discusses the antisemitism of the Germans and specifies the object of their hatred as a debased and “mongrel” race.

Germany is still at war with the World, although all that is left of their once fertile and industrial world are Berlin and a fleet of submarines which hold a closely guarded secret entrance to the Arctic sea, where all that remains of the old Germany are their underwater ports. The rest has been reduced to a heap of rubble caused by “radiation.”

The narrative is that of the chemist “Capt. Karl Armstadt,” a chemical engineer fom Chicago who has infiltrated enemy Germany lines. Nowhere are we given his real name, or any details about him, except that he was educated in Bonn and Berlin, but had been flown back to his uncle in Chicago when his parents died. Having found a way through the underground tunnels, his entrance causes a mining explosion which kills everyone but spares him. His resemblance to the real (and dead) Karl Armstadt is striking and he disposes of the body and his own identity with cold-blooded despatch, and assumes those of the real Arnstadt.

The novel is prophetic, not just of a ruthlessly efficient Nazi empire, but of the Soviet Union under Stalin. (Of course, Milo Hastings could not have known of the obliteration of the old Hohenzollern dynasty by Hitler, though he must have been aware of the murder of the entire Romanoff family in 1918.) The philosophy and structure of the German anthill provided sufficient fodder for later, and more focused, authors like Huxley and Orwell to lay out their own dystopian worlds. Even the piggeries of Hastings’s rooftop paradise hold out the germ of an idea for a future writer.

The story’s great defect is its style, where vast swathes of information are given as history lectures or similar device. The reader is not allowed to see any details at first hand. There is a feebly structured love interest, which could have been turned into something. Instead, the girl is moved from the courtesan caste into the highest level of all, thus qualifying her to lead a free and happy life in Disneyland.

[gvw · Rating 5 out of 5]

Curiously Prescient

There is something about the nature of this book that seems very much ahead of its time.

In the guise of an alternate future where the world has united against Germany, the author writes a character from the outside world who assumes a stolen identity in the barricaded and isolated city of Berlin- the last stronghold against the World Government, depicted as a black spot on the map that had haunted the protagonist.

In a fortuitous circumstance, he infiltrates this society and his guise is most perfectly suited for him. It seems only too easy thrashed would speak the language and find someone that closely resembles him as well as shared his profession, whom he could conveniently dispose of and therefore observe this world undetected. This is just part of the story- the tale of a man in culture shock but with an almost ethnographic eye for this bewildering world he finds himself in.

This is where this book really shines. It seems almost unbelievable this book was written almost a hundred years ago... and yet some things just don't change. People can have cultures which manifest the same basic needs and drives and impulses- universal motivations, that are expressed in a variety of different ways.

Some issues this book touches are still things we struggle with in the modern world. The idea of human worth, the value of resources, economic efficiency. Just how much humanity is worth sacrificing to maintain control? How much control can be exercised to manipulate the masses before they rebel? What kind of cost are we willing to pay for the enforcement of morals- furthermore what moral benefit what demographics? The ethical dilemmas of those days, the idea of German superiority, eugenics, genetics, human rights, female rights, ethnic cleansing. All huge issues in the 1920's... and still huge issues to this day.

Despite the decades that have passed, the ideas of this book are still very much alive. Although the protagonist has some views which seem fairly standard to a reader of today, his viewpoint must have been somewhat radical in a time when so much of the progress we take for granted today had not even happened yet.

I find it a most curious read. A bit light, somewhat preachy at times, but incredibly interesting and I would highly recommend it.

[Kevin Eigelbach · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a find this book was! Written in 1920 by an American science fiction writer, it imagines an alternative future in which Germany initiated a drive for world conquest that resulted in a Second World War in 1988. It lasted until 2041 or so, when the forces of the World State confined Germany to the city of Berlin, three million people living in a metropolis of three million people, all enclosed in a vast concrete bunker. In this future Berlin, people are bred for certain occupations and are taught only what they need to know to do them. The descendants of Kaiser Wilhelm rule and live in luxury, while the rest of the country works like dogs. It sounds like the kind of state that Hitler envisioned, including the absence of Jews. But in this story, the Jews left Germany because the Germans made the eating of pork compulsory.
All this is great, but there's a neat plot, too. Our hero's an American who finds himself stuck in Berlin and having to impersonate a dead German chemist to survive. As he learns about the "perfectly efficient" society the Germans have created, we learn along with him. He even finds time for romance as he meets some dissidents and plots a way to overthrow the government.
Highly recommended for people who like novels about alternative history and science fiction. It's said to have been the inspiration for Fritz Lang's movie "Metropolis," if that means anything to you.

[Patrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has received a lot of flak due to its origins. It was written directly after WW1 when anti-German propaganda was still very much in circulation and emotions were still running high. As such it should be taken as a product of the time period when it was made, rather than through a modern lens.

It's a story of an alternate future that's pretty heavy on sci-fi elements. Taking it as fiction it's a decent read and has a much darker feel than most modern fiction. It's also a great study on the propaganda and anti-German sentiments in post-WW1 America. The story includes some philosophies that the Nazi government would later promote, including eugenics and genetic superiority. It's unclear if Milo Hastings accidentally predicted the path of the Nazi party, or if he was basing these plot points on the existing eugenics movement in the US.

Definitely recommend this book as both fiction and a view into the post-WW1 mindset in the USA.

This book can be read via Project Gutenberg: www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/9862

[Kay · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I started reading this I had no idea that this book was written a hundred years ago and first published in 1919. Rather like reading H. G. Wells but better written in that Wells focuses a bit more on his characters although not as much as a modern reader may expect, this book is about an American chemist who falls underground and replaces a German chemist who looks similar to them. In this story written just after WWI, Germany having lost that war changed to an entirely underground city. The plot purpose of the chemist falling underground and being able to have 'lost his senses' is he is able to learn about the underground Berlin and how it has evolved as of 2151. Considering WWII and Hitler's rise had not happened yet, this book is astonishing in its predictions based on German traits and culture. There's no Hitler but eugenics has resulted in people's reproductive lives being controlled entirely by the authoritarian state to the point of breeding people for specific jobs. Reading information is strictly controlled and information cannot be shared between the classes/types of people. The chemist, coming from a background without such restrictions, comes up with a vital process that causes his rapid rise in this society. Of course, the chemist is certain his own American way is far better and offers only a critical look at Berlin. My rating is 4 stars for I found this interesting and well worth reading.

[M.A. Notaras · Rating 4 out of 5]

Considering this book turns 100 years old this year, it is amazingly prescient. It's the story of an alternate future, where WW2 never really ended but the Nazis barricaded themselves underground Berlin in a massive several hundred storey city. Today's political situation is eerily the same - one race/cultural group claiming superiority/supremacy over the rest of the world - a repetition of history. After 100 years the novel hasn't dated much - even though the language is a little formal (compared to today), the city itself is trapped in a type of 'time warp' allowing that formality of speech to be acceptable. Lots of interesting social commentary and social structural invention. City of Endless Night is about how one of the "Allies" accidentally infiltrates the city, his luck in masquerading as one of the locals and his attempt to escape. A good read, I really enjoyed it.

[Cynthia Dawson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the most artfully crafted books I've ever read. Really sad to have to turn it back into the library. The characters were well defined, the world building was wonderful, and the prose was delicate.
I adored the science. It reminds me of the MaddAddam series because of 1. The science and 2. The lack of a huge climatic ending. It does have an awesome ending but truly the beauty in this book lies with the journey to get there.

[Joanne Manchester · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing read

This was a random pick for me and once I realized it was a dystopian I became a bit trepiditious. I am not a fan of books that leave me unsettled. Regardless, this book was quite entertaining with the hindsight we have into the years between 1920 and now. It makes you feel as if the author realized it would all happen and even was able to predict the fall of the wall and the eventual decline on the communist power.

[Alix · Rating 3 out of 5]

100 Year Old Dystopian Fantasy

Free on the kindle. Written in 1920, this is interesting, from deep social commentary to strangely familiar science fiction themes. Reflecting a great deal of WW1 in it's telling, it is a fascinating, and occasionally difficult read. The use of language from 100 years ago is sometimes a hurdle remembering that a word is not used in its modern meaning.

[Nichole · Rating 4 out of 5]

This novel is staggeringly predictive! Written right after WWI, "City of Endless Night" rewrites the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Hastings predicted a second world war with Germany that eventually isolates the country so that it must only exist underground apart from the rest of the world. The political and historical implications of this novel are comparable to "1984" and "Brave New World." I definitely recommend this for sci-fi and historical fiction lovers!

[Lephiloup · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought a bunch of old sci-fi and fantasy books, more or less at random. This was one of them and among my favorites. It provided a really interesting look at eugenics, and the setting was described very vividly. One of the older stories about a dystopian future, I found it original and well written, and it had characters you cared about. The dialogue wasn’t bad, but it was probably the weakest link.

[Kent Morris]

Will read again. Would have earlier, had I known.

A simple entertaining book. Written 100 years ago, shows similarities to today. Bourgeoisie vs Proletariat. Factory farming. Freedom vs virtual shackles.

[Isabel (kittiwake)]

The lure of unravelled secrets, the ambition for discovery and exploration stirred my boyish veins. Yes, I would know more of the strange race, the unknown life that surged beneath that grey blanket of mystery.