The Poison Belt vs The war in the air: Which Should You Read?
Both live on shelves: English Science fiction, British and irish fiction, Classic Literature, Science Fiction, Fiction
The Poison Belt
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Being an account of another adventure of Prof. George E. Challenger, Lord John Roxton, Prof. Summerlee and Mr E. D. M alone, the discoverers of "The Lost World".
The war in the air
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Following the development of massive airships, naive Londoner Bert Smallways becomes accidentally involved in a German plot to invade America by air and reduce New York to rubble. But although bombers devastate the…
Side by side
The verdict
- Readers rate The Poison Belt highest: The Poison Belt 3.9 · The war in the air 3.6.
- The Poison Belt is the quickest read — about 1 hours vs 6 for The war in the air.
- The war in the air has the widest readership — 1270 ratings behind its score.
- The war in the air runs the darker storyline; The Poison Belt stays the lighter read.
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How to choose
Scores by source
| The Poison Belt | The war in the air | |
|---|---|---|
| Goodreads | — | 3.6 (1270) |
| Hardcover | 3.1 (17) | 2.5 (1) |
| Apple Books | 4.0 (98) | 4.0 (42) |
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Reception
| The Poison Belt | The war in the air | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | 98 | 1270 |
| Editions | 345 | 54 |
| Film adaptations | 1 | 1 |
| Want to read | — | 2172 |
| Reading it now | — | 258 |
| Written reviews | — | 139 |
| Wikipedia attention | 770 | 1417 |
| Pages | 83 | 375 |
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Questions readers ask
Which is rated higher: The Poison Belt or The war in the air?
The Poison Belt has the higher combined reader rating across sources (The Poison Belt 3.9/5, The war in the air 3.6/5).
Which is shorter to read: The Poison Belt or The war in the air?
The Poison Belt is the quickest read. Estimated at 225 words per minute: The Poison Belt (83 pages, ≈ 1 h 32 m); The war in the air (375 pages, ≈ 6 h 57 m).
Which is harder to read: The Poison Belt or The war in the air?
Estimated difficulty, based on era, reader shelves and length — The Poison Belt: Challenging; The war in the air: Challenging.