Fascinating Short Stories

by H.G. Wells

The famous author of the epochal The Time Machine, The Invisible Man and The War of the Worlds pours out bouts of unmatched imaginative spells in his shorter works. The specially selected stories in this volume represent the depth and wide range of the author's probing mind. They reveal his power to evoke both scene and atmosphere when he is presenting an engaging tale. Wells' theme in all eighteen short stories here mesmerize the reader while s/he is being treated to trance-like entertainment.

Short stories in this book:
1. The Man Who Could Work Miracles
2. The Country of the Blind
3. The Land Ironclads
4. The Door in the Wall
5. The Stolen Bacillus
6. The Diamond Maker
7. Aepyornis Island
8. The Lord of the Dynamos
9. The Cone
10. The Truth About Pyecraft
11. Jimmy Goggles the God
12. The New Accelerator
13. The Stolen Body
14. The Story of the Inexperienced Ghost
15. The Magic Shop
16. The Valley of Spiders
17. Mr. Brisher's Treasure
18. A Moonlight Fable

262 pages, Leather Bound

Published January 1, 2014

About the author

Herbert George Wells was born to a working class family in Kent, England. Young Wells received a spotty education, interrupted by several illnesses and family difficulties, and became a draper's apprentice as a teenager. The headmaster of Midhurst Grammar School, where he had spent a year, arranged for him to return as an "usher," or student teacher. Wells earned a government scholarship in 1884, to study biology under Thomas Henry Huxley at the Normal School of Science. Wells earned his bachelor of science and doctor of science degrees at the University of London. After marrying his cousin, Isabel, Wells began to supplement his teaching salary with short stories and freelance articles, then books, including The Time Machine (1895), The Island of Dr. Moreau (1896), The Invisible Man (1897), and The War of the Worlds (1898).

Wells created a mild scandal when he divorced his cousin to marry one of his best students, Amy Catherine Robbins. Although his second marriage was lasting and produced two sons, Wells was an unabashed advocate of free (as opposed to "indiscriminate") love. He continued to openly have extra-marital liaisons, most famously with Margaret Sanger, and a ten-year relationship with the author Rebecca West, who had one of his two out-of-wedlock children. A one-time member of the Fabian Society, Wells sought active change. His 100 books included many novels, as well as nonfiction, such as A Modern Utopia (1905), The Outline of History (1920), A Short History of the World (1922), The Shape of Things to Come (1933), and The Work, Wealth and Happiness of Mankind (1932). One of his booklets was Crux Ansata, An Indictment of the Roman Catholic Church. Although Wells toyed briefly with the idea of a "divine will" in his book, God the Invisible King (1917), it was a temporary aberration. Wells used his international fame to promote his favorite causes, including the prevention of war, and was received by government officials around the world. He is best-remembered as an early writer of science fiction and futurism.

He was also an outspoken socialist. Wells and Jules Verne are each sometimes referred to as "The Fathers of Science Fiction". D. 1946.

More: http://philosopedia.org/index.php/H._...

http://www.online-literature.com/well...

http://www.hgwellsusa.50megs.com/

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/t...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H._G._Wells

Reviews

[Budge Burgess · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, curate's egg, albeit scrambled. There were one or two interesting ideas, but the stories really feel dated, the language is certainly dated. The first story, "The man who could work miracles" was turned into quite an entertaining film in the 1930s, and maybe it's the best of the 18 short stories offered here. His ironclads story imagines the armoured warfare which would emerge a decade or so later. Interesting, entertaining stories follow ... but the language is so dated I struggled to maintain attention.