Peter Groff built his empire through fear. Governments obey him, armies serve him, and billions of people tremble at the sound of his name. From the tower that crowns his immense citadel, Groff surveys a planet he believes he has conquered. Yet one small moment—a glimpse of two ordinary people sharing a quiet happiness—ignites a fury he cannot ignore.
Groff has spent his life crushing opposition. Now he intends to end the problem forever. With unlimited wealth and a network of loyal agents, he sets in motion a plan that no army could stop and no nation could prevent. The result will prove, beyond all doubt, that Peter Groff is the most powerful man who ever lived.
But triumph has a strange way of changing shape once the cheering stops. As the last pieces of Groff’s design fall into place, the meaning of victory begins to shift in ways he never imagined. The question is no longer whether his plan will succeed—it is whether success will give him what he truly wanted.
Ray Cummings was one of the most prolific pioneers of early American science fiction. Beginning in the 1910s, he published hundreds of stories in magazines such as Argosy, Amazing Stories, Astounding Stories, and Weird Tales. Cummings wrote popular novels including The Girl in the Golden Atom, Tama of the Light Country, and The Man Who Mastered Time. His fiction often combined bold scientific ideas with high-stakes adventure, and “The Man Who Killed the World” stands as one of his starkest examinations of absolute power and the cost of wielding it.
