Short Stories by H.G. Wells

by Mike Royston (Editor)

Herbert George Wells was perhaps best known as the author of such classic works of science fiction as The Time Machine and War of the Worlds. But it was in his short stories, written when he was a young man embarking on a literary career, that he first explored the enormous potential of the scientific discoveries of the day. He described his stories as "a miscellany of inventions," yet his enthusiasm for science was tempered by an awareness of its horrifying destructive powers and the threat it could pose to the human race. A consummate storyteller, he made fantastic creatures and machines entirely believable, and by placing ordinary men and women in extraordinary situations, he explored, with humor, what it means to be alive in a century of rapid scientific progress. At the dawn of a new millennium, Wells' singular vision is more compelling than ever.

Genres: Fiction, Short Stories

88 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 1997

Reviews

[Emma Joscelyne · Rating 5 out of 5]

This has got to be in the top 10 books I’ve read. Some of these stories, in particular ones of a more mechanical nature, were less interesting but all of the others were mind-bending. The Time Machine, The Door in the Wall, Under the Knife all caused me a sense of existential dread, especially The Time Machine, I had to spend a few days thinking about that. These stories had a Lovecraftian feel to it, a sense of terror caused by something too huge to comprehend, but the book didn’t focus on the horror but instead toyed more with the imagined physics of the 4D.