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The World Set Free

3.37 of 5 stars 3.37 · rating details · 238 ratings · 48 reviews

This chilling, futuristic novel, written in 1913 and first published the following year, was incredibly prophetic on a major scale. Wells was a genius and visionary, as demonstrated by many of his other works, but this book is clearly one of his best. He predicts nuclear warfare years before research began and describes the chain reactions involved and the resulting radiat...more

Paperback, 140 pages

Published March 1st 2007 by Book Tree (first published 1914)

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Mar 21, 2012 Manny rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: science-fiction

I read this when I was about 11 and I can't remember a thing about it, except that Wells predicts atomic weapons and they finally turn out to be a good thing. I suddenly feel I should re-read it!
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Looking for something else, I just made a startling discovery. If we're to believe Leó Szilárd's Wikipedia page, Szilárd, a prominent nuclear physicist, read Wells's book in 1932 and was greatly affected by it.

In 1939, with WW II clearly about to start, Szilárd...more

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Nov 28, 2012 Christina rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: classics, general-fiction

I listened to the audio recording on Audible.com as I walked/jogged on weekdays at 5:30 in the morning. In the interest of full disclosure, I did tune out from time to time. I did not find The World Set Free to be a page turner.

Basically, man discovers nuclear power, then a nuclear war breaks out and finally, a new world order is set up and the world is a much better place.

This book seems to be largely remembered as a prediction of nuclear power and nuclear war, but it also addresses social issu...more I listened to the audio recording on Audible.com as I walked/jogged on weekdays at 5:30 in the morning. In the interest of full disclosure, I did tune out from time to time. I did not find The World Set Free to be a page turner.

Basically, man discovers nuclear power, then a nuclear war breaks out and finally, a new world order is set up and the world is a much better place.

This book seems to be largely remembered as a prediction of nuclear power and nuclear war, but it also addresses social issues. Since this review was written shortly after the whole 99% movement in 2012, the social commentary seems quite relevant right now. Indeed, a small portion of The World Set Free comments on the disparity between rich and poor.

Wells seems to predict several technological advances, societal ills and obviously, the nuclear issue and its possible aftermath to include a new world order. My problem with this book is that a lot of it reads like non-fiction- a narrator basically lecturing or reading from a history book. It is a book that I would expect to find on a high school or college reading list, one that would be trudged through and then discussed. Finally, each student would be required to turn in a paper drawing comparisons between the book, today's society and our possible future. Are we headed in that direction? What are the clues? During the most recent presidential election, which presidential candidate's platform would be more conducive to Wells' world order?

I think I may have to come back to this and read the actual, physical book. It was probably not a good idea to listen to this one. And I must have heard the story wrong, but the new, improved world society seems to have magically done away with religion and self-interest, or some mumbo jumbo of the sort. And there are a lot more problems I had with the book, but I definitely want to read it first to make sure I heard correctly and didn't doze off one too many times, because it seemed rather disjointed and not quite as ingenious as many reviewers have claimed. I must have missed quite a bit.

The end is what troubles me the most. I am going to have to do some research into this book and Wells to find if Wells is predicting this, believes it himself or both. The main character at the end encourages a more functional life, doing away with sexual love, individuality and gender identification. While I understand the argument as well as how it would do away with much conflict, I still think it is bologna. For example, Karenin states that women need to stop thinking of themselves as women but rather as intelligent beings. Last time I checked, I could do both. And just because I recognize myself as a woman, the opposite of a man obviously, doesn't mean I define myself in relation to a man. It is not my fault that was the word chosen for my gender. If men suddenly disappeared, I would still be a woman.

The World Set Free is not going to read like a regular fiction novel. Even in the parts that tell a story, a lot is narration rather than dialogue. When there is dialogue, it comes across more like grandiose speeches. I would have enjoyed reading this with someone who agreed with the points Wells argues in this book, so we could have an intelligent debate afterwards. Bottom line- don't expect a beach read.(less)

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Oct 03, 2012 Vivian rated it 5 of 5 stars

He books always as message and the future. In this book, he used a word for the first time in this this world "atom bomb" and we see this in the second world war where this thing was used.

Before writing and thinking the book he read a paper on radium and the energy it posses we lead to forword thinking something called called aton bomb which was unknown then , the radioactivity study before it was there simply blows away your mind, it was unbelievable.

Whatever he thought in that time has become...more

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Dec 09, 2011 John rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: nuclear-fiction

Like nearly everyone who has already reviewed this book, I found Wells’s prescience astonishing! Admittedly, this was my first H.G. Wells book and I expected the prose to be stronger. Nonetheless, one cannot help but suspect that all the prophetic aspects of the work (atomic energy and atomic weapons) were simply the frame wrapped around the driving force of his social commentary (calling for a World Government). Concerning this World Government, which could be bothersome for some readers, it s...more

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Jan 07, 2013 Randy Bunting rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: science-fiction

I enjoyed reading this book even though I was thoroughly aware of the predictions about nuclear weapons. In fact, that was some of the reason I picked the book up. I wanted to read this legendary story about humanity and nuclear warfare. What did surprise me were the predictions that are not discussed with the same regularity. For example, he discusses automation and how a great many people are not needed to produce products. There was a great disparity of wealth due to this decreased need for l...more

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Feb 06, 2012 James rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction

A scientist discovers artificial radioactivity in 1933 and by 1953 this new form of energy has revolutionized both transportation and industry -- and in 1956 the world is devastated by an atomic war. H.G. Wells delivers this picture of the future in his tale written in 1913. While the fifty-three years after he wrote the book saw much destruction from conventional war, his vision of unlocking the atom proved uncanny.
This early classic of Science Fiction uses realistic descriptions of the everyd...more

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Jun 04, 2007 Shannon rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

One of Wells lesser known works this is worth the read for those who enjoy the socio-political commentary of one of the worlds great writers. It's in the public domain for those who are interested...good stuff!

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May 02, 2013 Bob rated it 2 of 5 stars

This novel has been hailed for being very prophetic. And it was that. It has a lot of great concepts and confirms that Wells was knowledgable and visionary for his time. What it's lacking is a story and characters. It feels like Wells had all these warnings he wanted to give the future and, at the last minute, decided to write it in novel form instead of essay form, but didn't want to take the time to flesh it out. It was a struggle to get through it, especially compared to his other novels, whi...more

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Feb 24, 2008 John rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: novels

Remarkable sci-fi by H.G. Wells written in 1914 in which he imagines what will happen when the world obtains nuclear energy. Biplanes dropping A-bombs, for example.

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Sep 09, 2008 Peter Macinnis rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, military-war, sf, science

Well, what can you say about a book, published in 1913, which predicted the atomic bomb? OK, he had it being used on Berlin in 1956, but not bad, not bad ata all.

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Apr 05, 2013 Gsvg rated it 5 of 5 stars

This book has been mostly remembered for its close description of various events and discoveries of the twentieth century. In my opinion, the social commentary is as much important. I found in it a profound understanding of the primitive state of the human condition that correlates perfectly to todays society.
It was a wonderful book to read. Even if I didn't agree with many things expressed in it, it really got me thinking on a lot of issues our society faces today. It was like a voice from anot...more

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Dec 25, 2012 Akrabar rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: free-ebooks, science-fiction

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Nov 28, 2012 Mike Ogilvie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: classic-fiction

I was particularly intrigued by this book because of the subject matter, and because for a book written by such a famous author, H.G. Wells, I had never heard of it.

Written right before World War I in 1913, it primarily focuses on humans' folly for war and self destruction. It predicts a future in which a terrible new type of weapon has been developed based on the nuclear forces in material. Most often this book is said to have foretold the creation of nuclear weapons - which is mostly true. I c...more I was particularly intrigued by this book because of the subject matter, and because for a book written by such a famous author, H.G. Wells, I had never heard of it.

Written right before World War I in 1913, it primarily focuses on humans' folly for war and self destruction. It predicts a future in which a terrible new type of weapon has been developed based on the nuclear forces in material. Most often this book is said to have foretold the creation of nuclear weapons - which is mostly true. I can't decide whether the weapons described in this book are far more or less devastating than the nuclear bombs of reality. In the book the weapons are much more ubiquitous and are actually used on a wide scale, so right there it's much worse of course. They are used to such an extent that it forces the world into a tipping point of bringing everyone together under one government. So the book really deals with the questions of...
* How far will people go in destroying each other if given the chance?
* How far does it have to go before everyone is willing to scrap it all and start over?
* What would such a world (one "set free") look like?

In this interpretation the world is set free because it no longer has to deal with the innumerable problems that come with a multi-nation world. I think he's way off the mark - vastly optimistic - in humanity being able to come together, forgetting all their historic differences, and above all working together in a future without creating new reasons to kill each other on a massive scale. But my difference of opinion here really only moves the slider to a different spot in terms of "how bad does it have to get". There probably is a point at which it is that bad where humanity would come together to abolish all the governments and prejudices they had in the past.

The "predictions" of the book are almost completely all off the mark. But that's really not the book's intention, so it's not a disappointment.

I had a really hard time getting through a lot of it. This was in part because of the writing style. There wasn't really a consistent narrative, but a series of snippets of story-lines, philosophical narratives, and "historical" documentary-style explanations. The narrator didn't help.

It's a worthwhile read mostly for getting a perspective from a time before modernity on what terrible destruction is possible. And what awesome possibilities may lay beyond. He wasn't trying to say "this is what IS going to happen". He was trying to say "this is what MIGHT happen - or a thousand other possible similar scenarios." This message is both good and bad. And either fortunately or unfortunately it still holds true today. Nuclear weapons are here. Thankfully we haven't destroyed most of the cities of the world yet. But it's not out of the realm of possibilities yet. And we have also not yet achieved the near-nirvana of human growth as outlined in the latter half of the book. I wonder what future possible scenarios Mr. Wells could imagine forward of our current point in time.

[NARRATION: Shelly Frasier narrated this edition of the book. She has a wonderful voice with a slight British accent and handles the basic reading very well. But if you pull up above each individual sentence, the way she handles it overall is terrible. It's a continuous march with barely a breath between sentences, passages, and even chapters. There is no change in inflection between the various types of sections and paragraphs. It made the whole book quite hard to follow.]
(less)

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Oct 20, 2008 Barry Haworth rated it 3 of 5 stars

I've read this book just once before. Written before the outbreak of World War 1 in 1914, it is perhaps the first science fiction novel to realistically describe nuclear war. Not bad for thirty years before the Manhattan Project.

This book makes for an interesting read. On the one hand you have the nuclear technology. Wells imagines nuclear power as coming about through artificially triggered radioactivity. Radioactive decay is induced in a heavy metal and power produced. The device needed is sma...more

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Nov 18, 2012 Linda Slates rated it 4 of 5 stars

Writing in 1912, H. G. Wells, tells of the development of nuclear power and a nuclear war in 1957. The ideas expressed about the effect the war had on the nations of the time and what they foresee as the development of mankind are fascinating to read in 2012. I'll be remembering this science fiction tale for a long time. What kind of future are science fiction writers imagining today that will be fascinating 100 years from now?

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May 29, 2012 Tom rated it 3 of 5 stars

The prescience here is really quite amazing and is probably the most noteworthy aspect of this work. Nuclear power/energy is predicted (although Wells goes a bit far in its application). The normality of consuming high numbers of pills each day is touched upon. Great advances in psychology and neural physiology are predicted. Basically a lot of very keen, largely accurate, predictions.

The story, on the other hand, is somewhat disjointed and slow-moving. But there are some great speeches made by...more

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May 10, 2012 Warren rated it 2 of 5 stars

One of my least favorite of the Wells books I've read so far.

The plot moves very slow, and I have a hard time imagining people dropping "atomic bombs" from biplanes, knowing how powerful they truly are... not that the author could really be faulted for imagining bombs weaker than they really turned out to be.

It just really wasn't my bag. There are much better examples of Wells to enjoy, and I'm not just talking "War of the Worlds."

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Jul 07, 2011 Benjamin rated it 4 of 5 stars

I wavered between 3 and 4 stars for this one. There are many positives: Wells was frighteningly prescient on his predictions of nuclear war and on the many pitfalls which awaited human society in the 20th Century. His writing is as clear and as evocative as ever. But what tarnishes the story is the feeling he is lecturing at you. Characters in the book who oppose the World State are portrayed as selfish and stupid, and easily out-maneuvered by the forward seeing people who support it. Wells keep...more

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Oct 02, 2012 Daniel Lee rated it 5 of 5 stars

Pretty astounding book. An apt prediction of the atomic/nuclear age the communalism that required after such an apocalyptic period of war and then finally the response of world leaders wishing to hold on to the last vestiges of hierarchical government. And a pretty persuading argument as to why such structures when they are not based on demonstrated ability are harmful to mankind as a whole.

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Apr 28, 2011 Fil Correia rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: post-apocalyptic, science-fiction

Slow, pedantic, naive and disappointing. Despite a few prophetic ideas this book was underwhelming. The world government was a bit too Euro-centric for my taste and it was proclaimed with too much dispatch. The ex-King Egbert, the King of the Balkans, the American president and "Home Rule" Indians were instances of racial, or national, prejudices... more than just an annoyance.

I find Wells uneven in his writing, he could brilliant as in "The Time Machine" and "The Invisible Man" (and please for...more

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Jun 15, 2010 Giansar rated it 5 of 5 stars

This book is probably not the best piece of writing by H. G. Wells. I found it a little prolix in some aspects and superficial in others. The futurism of it though, especially in the scope of technology, is absolutely amazing. Atomic bombs, nuclear energy, global warfare, helicopters – definitely not your garden variety content of a book written before the World War One. If you are a science fiction fan, particularly the early kind, it is a must-read for you.

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Oct 03, 2012 Cantfind rated it 5 of 5 stars

This was a prediction of the first world war in a time when most people had thought that the last war was already fought.
He also predicts the atomic bomb - "In 1932, the physicist and conceiver of nuclear chain reaction Leó Szilárd read The World Set Free, a book which he said made a great impression on him." (quoted from wikipedia)

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Jul 25, 2012 Amblingbooks.com marked it as to-read

Shelves: audiobooks, classics, military, science-fiction

In this thought-provoking masterpiece, H. G. Wells predicts the invention of the atomic bomb, which inadvertently leads to mass destruction and forces the world to 'start over.'

Listen to The World Set Free on your smartphone, notebook or desktop computer.

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Sep 08, 2011 Toni rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: classics

Excellent classic sci-fi book with a story told only the way that H.G. Wells could. Very thought provoking. The kind of book that makes you think about life and the way we are living it. Even more remarkable were the ideas that Wells presented within the story that were well ahead of the times. This book is probably often overlooked, but it's a must read for any Wells fan.

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Nov 15, 2012 Emily rated it 3 of 5 stars

A reiteration if you will of Wells' classic theme: the price a country, culture, people has to pay as technology advances into the unknown future. I wouldn't really call this a novel, it's almost like Wells is writing-contemplating-focusing on the unleashed and unbridled use of science for war, without developing characters or a standard plot.

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Jul 14, 2011 Tom Hemry rated it 3 of 5 stars

Its on my kindle on my phone, so it gets attention while waiting places. Good book with some poignant philosphy to offer. I am about 65% through and will finish. We'll see if there is a big bang to the end.

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Jan 24, 2012 Rw rated it 2 of 5 stars Recommends it for: teenage science fiction or futuristic readers

The fantasy world of H,G, Wells. The book seemed to drag on forever and his technical inventions seemed silly today. However, his ultimate messages to the reader are timeless and very thought provoking. Good for a quick read.

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Mar 30, 2013 Faye Hollidaye rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: any HG Wells superfans

My mind wandered a lot while reading this book. It's kind of like detailed history for a parallel universe. It's prophetic, but there are more misses than hits. It's kind of outdated, but well-written and interesting in its own ways.

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Apr 21, 2013 Marcy rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction-macro, political, war, science, nuclear

The discussion of the atomic bombs was entertaining, however too much of the book went on political and social tangents.

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Jan 18, 2011 Judson Mitchell rated it 2 of 5 stars

H.G. Well's utopianism can be nauseating, but the book had vivid descriptions and prescient insights.

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About H.G. Wells

Herbert George Wells, better known as H. G. Wells, was the third son of a shopkeeper. After two years' apprenticeship in a draper's shop, he became a pupil-teacher at Midhurst Grammar School and won a scholarship to study under T. H. Huxley at the Normal School of Science, South Kensington. He taught biology before becoming a professional writer and journalist.

Wells is most famous today for his s...more

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“He blinked at the sun and dreamt that perhaps he might snare it and spare it as it went down to its resting place amidst the distant hills.” — 4 people liked it

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