<p><strong>It begins with the end of the world . . . In some way, Jeffson is chosen, for he tells of hearing the voices from an early age.</strong> Adam Jeffson ends up as the first man to reach the North Pole -- alone -- where he finds a scene of wonder and terror described in Shiel's evocative prose. Jeffson struggles back to the ship, and along the way, the real horror begins.</p><p>H.G. Wells lauded The Purple Cloud as "brilliant" and H. P. Lovecraft later praised the novel as exemplary weird fiction, "delivered with a skill and artistry falling little short of actual majesty." It begins with the end of the world.</p>