Edward Bulwer-Lytton (1803—1873) was an English novelist, poet, playwright and politician. A lot of his works contributed to the early growth of the science fiction genre. "The Coming Race" is an early science fiction novel about a superior race living on the Earth. It offers a fascinating vision of a shadowy underworld populated by strange and beautiful creatures. These beings, known as Vril-ya, live underground, but are planning soon to claim the surface of the earth as their own — destroying humankind in the process.