H. G. Wells lauded The Purple Cloud as "brilliant"[1] and H. P. Lovecraft later praised the novel as exemplary weird fiction, "delivered with a skill and artistry falling little short of actual majesty.

"[2] The story is about a Adam Jeffson, a man on a polar expedition who discovers a mysterious and deathly Purple Cloud.

In the wake of the massive global deaths wrought by the Purple Cloud, Jeffson becomes ruler of the world and builds a huge palace to his glory.

[4][5] The 1901 text was reprinted in London by Tartarus Press in 2004 in an elaborate edition with all the Cameron illustrations from the serial and a new Introduction by Brian Stableford.

[13][14] The story, a recording of a medium's meditation over the future writing of the text, details the narrator, Adam Jeffson, on an expedition to the North Pole during the 20th century on board the Boreal.

Jeffson remembers meeting with a man who claimed that the universe is a place of strife between vague "powers", "The White" and "The Black", which vie for dominance.

The later parts of the book describe Jeffson's descent into mad pompousness: adopting Turkish attire, he declares himself monarch and burns down cities (including Paris, Bordeaux, London, and San Francisco) for pleasure.

The girl (who is unable to pronounce "r", instead saying "l") reveals that she had lived her whole life in a cellar below the royal palace of Turkey, and that she knew nothing of the world until she was freed when Jeffson burned down Constantinople.

He concludes his writing by saying that he has accepted his role and that after three weeks have passed no purple cloud has appeared, and he looks forward to the two of them becoming the progenitors of future humanity.