What do you think?
Rate this book
H.G. Wells Short Stories
H.G. Wells, one of the founding fathers of science fiction created a rich universe of short stories, many of which are collected here in this special deluxe edition. The Star, The Time Machine, The Land Ironclads and A Dream of Armageddon are amongst the many gems which have inspired generations of writers (including those who contribute to our own Gothic & Fantasy short story editions) to explore the world around us, its pasts, its complicated present, and its many futures.
480 pages, Hardcover
First published February 2, 2017
46 people are currently reading
549 people want to read
About the author
H.G. Wells
5,362 books11.1k followersHerbert 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
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
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
February 28, 2020
This particular version is very well-bound, sturdy but not heavy, and nice to look at. The font choice was odd (small and rounded), but I eventually grew accustomed to it. There were quite a few typos that I’m certain were introduced by the publisher — but it’s difficult to tell because in the 1890s some spelling and punctuation rules were interesting.
As for the stories themselves, there are 35 of them, of varying quality. I liked that they were chronological order, which allows the reader to see the development of the author.
In my longer review on my website, which includes mini-reviews of the individual stories, I gave Wells a one-point cushion for the dated nature (science fiction was in its infancy then), but many of the stories got automatic one-point reductions for the overt racism or other types of bigotry, so it mostly evened out.
July 2, 2024
Suverän samling med noveller från fadern av Science Fiction. Smått skruvade men briljanta berättelser.
August 7, 2022
Liked:
The time machine
The invisible man
The country of the blind (?)
Disliked:
Everything else
The time machine
The invisible man
The country of the blind (?)
Disliked:
Everything else
April 21, 2025
Some good, some bad.
Particulary enjoyed The country of the blind. Pyecraft was pretty good too.
Particulary enjoyed The country of the blind. Pyecraft was pretty good too.
October 26, 2018
The reason for rating so low is more to do with my prejudice for this style of literature rather than the work itself. I must say it has given me a small understanding of what is meant by "Gothic" literature.
However, some of the stories do not seem to quite fit that category. Would need to do a brief summary of each story.
1. The Stolen Bacillus - Yep, Gothic all right!
2. The Hammperpond Park Burglary - Can't see anything Gothic about this and it isn't a very good story either. Fairly lame.
3. The Flowering of the Strange Orchid - Yes, most definitely Gothic and quite a spinechiller!
4. In the Avu Observatory - Gothic. Left without definite conclusion of what sort of creature the astronomer encountered - Probably a supersized bat?
5. Aepyornis Island - Doesn't seem to be all that Gothic but shows the colonial opinion of racist prejudice as expressed: "Carrying them [eggs] down to the boat one of my nigger chaps dropped one on a rock and it smashed! How I lammed into the beggar!"
6. The Time Machine - Recognized as science fiction, I do not know why this work was included.
7. The Temptation of Harringay - Gothic, horrible and stupid story.
8. The Moth - Gothic. A very interesting psychological analysis.
9. The Remarkable Case of Davidson's Eyes - This doesn't seem very Gothic to me though it is unusual.
10. The Cone - Horrible!! Why this is considered Gothic, I don't know - just plain murderous.
11. The Reconciliation - Much the same as the above.
12. Under the Knife - Yes, Gothic - imagination of afterlife.
13. The Red Room - A ghost story so Gothic.
14. The Plattner Story - A kind of otherworldly story so yes, Gothic.
15. The Story of the Late Mr Elvesham - Definitely Gothic - Sort of kindred to Robert Louis Stevenson's Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde flavour.
16. In the Abyss - A bottom of the ocean adventure story and only a little Gothic.
17. The Apple - Rather a strange sort of story but I didn't really like it. Not sure if I'd call it Gothic.
18. The Sea Raiders - Nasty cephalopods - Need I say more?
19. The Crystal Egg - Yes, I suppose this is Gothic.
20. The Invisible Man - Another science fiction story - Don't know why it's included in this volume.
21. The Star - A bit like Herge's Tintin The Shooting Star prophecy adventure.
22. The Man Who Could Work Miracles - Gothic.
23. The Stolen Body - Definitely Gothic - Would compare this to 15 above.
24. A Story of the Days to Come - Now this one is not at all Gothic in my opinion. However, it treats of human society in the future only showing that it's no different to what it was in Wells' time. That a man is unwittingly brought down to the bottom rung of society seemingly because of his own fault only to discover another jealous man has been employed in plotting and effecting the doom of the downcast man is really horrible - and yet, how often does this type of thing happen every day?
25. A Dream of Armageddon - Weird sort of title but tells of a man's dreams of himself as another man in a higher position than his own neglecting his responsibility to continue to indulge in pleasure with his spouse regardless of the world changing consequences that could have been avoided.
26. The New Accelerator - Slightly science fiction - a good little ripper of a story.
27. The Story of the Inexperienced Ghost - Yep, a good Gothic ghost story with a dash of Freemasonry therein.
28. The Valley of Spiders - A peculiar story that made little sense involving, of course, an encounter with spiders.
29. The Magic Shop - Hmmm...More like an Enid Blyton fairytale story.
30. The Land Ironclads - Rather boring to me and of course, it is now updated but of course the idea of a tank must have been quite a futuristic notion to a person of the Victorian time.
31. The Country of the Blind - Borderline Gothic. I still find it hard to believe that anyone would think they were superior by thinking "In the Country of the Blind, the One Eyed Man is King" Well, he certainly fails in that notion anyway.
32. The Empire of the Ants - I was expecting them to be a bit more monstrous but they turn out to be just larger ants with an odd behaviour but threatening all the same.
33. The Door in the Wall - Yeah, Gothic.
34. The Story of the Last Trump - Mostly a stupid and quite made up story touching things which Wells shouldn't be flippant about. However, there was one point that was interesting as long as it held and that was a man being convicted that everything he did was under the eye of God. A pity he didn't hold to that conviction.
35. The Queer Story of Brownlow's Newspaper - Not exactly Gothic and of course, we are now past the year 1971 and the events he foretold have still not come to pass.
On the whole, Wells is a rather negative person showing at times deep despair so is a rather depressing read. Some of the short stories were interesting though
However, some of the stories do not seem to quite fit that category. Would need to do a brief summary of each story.
1. The Stolen Bacillus - Yep, Gothic all right!
2. The Hammperpond Park Burglary - Can't see anything Gothic about this and it isn't a very good story either. Fairly lame.
3. The Flowering of the Strange Orchid - Yes, most definitely Gothic and quite a spinechiller!
4. In the Avu Observatory - Gothic. Left without definite conclusion of what sort of creature the astronomer encountered - Probably a supersized bat?
5. Aepyornis Island - Doesn't seem to be all that Gothic but shows the colonial opinion of racist prejudice as expressed: "Carrying them [eggs] down to the boat one of my nigger chaps dropped one on a rock and it smashed! How I lammed into the beggar!"
6. The Time Machine - Recognized as science fiction, I do not know why this work was included.
7. The Temptation of Harringay - Gothic, horrible and stupid story.
8. The Moth - Gothic. A very interesting psychological analysis.
9. The Remarkable Case of Davidson's Eyes - This doesn't seem very Gothic to me though it is unusual.
10. The Cone - Horrible!! Why this is considered Gothic, I don't know - just plain murderous.
11. The Reconciliation - Much the same as the above.
12. Under the Knife - Yes, Gothic - imagination of afterlife.
13. The Red Room - A ghost story so Gothic.
14. The Plattner Story - A kind of otherworldly story so yes, Gothic.
15. The Story of the Late Mr Elvesham - Definitely Gothic - Sort of kindred to Robert Louis Stevenson's Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde flavour.
16. In the Abyss - A bottom of the ocean adventure story and only a little Gothic.
17. The Apple - Rather a strange sort of story but I didn't really like it. Not sure if I'd call it Gothic.
18. The Sea Raiders - Nasty cephalopods - Need I say more?
19. The Crystal Egg - Yes, I suppose this is Gothic.
20. The Invisible Man - Another science fiction story - Don't know why it's included in this volume.
21. The Star - A bit like Herge's Tintin The Shooting Star prophecy adventure.
22. The Man Who Could Work Miracles - Gothic.
23. The Stolen Body - Definitely Gothic - Would compare this to 15 above.
24. A Story of the Days to Come - Now this one is not at all Gothic in my opinion. However, it treats of human society in the future only showing that it's no different to what it was in Wells' time. That a man is unwittingly brought down to the bottom rung of society seemingly because of his own fault only to discover another jealous man has been employed in plotting and effecting the doom of the downcast man is really horrible - and yet, how often does this type of thing happen every day?
25. A Dream of Armageddon - Weird sort of title but tells of a man's dreams of himself as another man in a higher position than his own neglecting his responsibility to continue to indulge in pleasure with his spouse regardless of the world changing consequences that could have been avoided.
26. The New Accelerator - Slightly science fiction - a good little ripper of a story.
27. The Story of the Inexperienced Ghost - Yep, a good Gothic ghost story with a dash of Freemasonry therein.
28. The Valley of Spiders - A peculiar story that made little sense involving, of course, an encounter with spiders.
29. The Magic Shop - Hmmm...More like an Enid Blyton fairytale story.
30. The Land Ironclads - Rather boring to me and of course, it is now updated but of course the idea of a tank must have been quite a futuristic notion to a person of the Victorian time.
31. The Country of the Blind - Borderline Gothic. I still find it hard to believe that anyone would think they were superior by thinking "In the Country of the Blind, the One Eyed Man is King" Well, he certainly fails in that notion anyway.
32. The Empire of the Ants - I was expecting them to be a bit more monstrous but they turn out to be just larger ants with an odd behaviour but threatening all the same.
33. The Door in the Wall - Yeah, Gothic.
34. The Story of the Last Trump - Mostly a stupid and quite made up story touching things which Wells shouldn't be flippant about. However, there was one point that was interesting as long as it held and that was a man being convicted that everything he did was under the eye of God. A pity he didn't hold to that conviction.
35. The Queer Story of Brownlow's Newspaper - Not exactly Gothic and of course, we are now past the year 1971 and the events he foretold have still not come to pass.
On the whole, Wells is a rather negative person showing at times deep despair so is a rather depressing read. Some of the short stories were interesting though
April 15, 2020
I liked most of the stories in this book, I did find the writing a bit small, but there was a lot packed into it.
May 20, 2022
A classic--and a great escape from the reality of today.
April 21, 2024
Short stories? : ❌
Majority is short stories, with a few novels sprinkled in
Gothic Fantasy? : ❌
Sure, there are a fair few gothic stories in here, but H.G. Wells was famously a science fiction writer
Disregarding the misleading cover and title, the book is fine. Probably won't read it again, but there are some gems in there (Davidson's eyes, The late Mr Elvesham & The country of the blind to name a few). Few typos that I assume are from the publisher, absolutely gorgeous cover and further reading suggestions at the end of each story which is a nice touch.
Majority is short stories, with a few novels sprinkled in
Gothic Fantasy? : ❌
Sure, there are a fair few gothic stories in here, but H.G. Wells was famously a science fiction writer
Disregarding the misleading cover and title, the book is fine. Probably won't read it again, but there are some gems in there (Davidson's eyes, The late Mr Elvesham & The country of the blind to name a few). Few typos that I assume are from the publisher, absolutely gorgeous cover and further reading suggestions at the end of each story which is a nice touch.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews