H.G. Wells

by Norman MacKenzie, Norman Ian MacKenzie

This celebrated biography, based extensively on Well's private papers, is now revised to include Well's most recent revelations about his love life.

Genres: Biography

487 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1974

Reviews

[Richard · Rating 3 out of 5]

I recently reread "War of the Worlds" and listened to a podcast discussion about H.G Wells's undeniable importance to history of science fiction. This biography, which was more successful as a study of the subject's life than of his writing, reminded me of two contradictions in Wells' legacy. His serial adultery would make him an object of ridicule today, and his important SF works (War of the Worlds, Time Machine, Invisible Man) were published early. For another 40 years he wrote weaker, mostly forgotten non-SF works whose characters and plots were overwhelmed by his ideas. I will continue to reread his SF classics, and am curious about some of his lesser known novels, but apparently there is less gold to choose from than I thought.