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One of the most loved science fiction novels of all time, H. G. Wells’s “The Time Machine” is a novel that crafts a vivid and haunting picture of an earth some 800,000 years into the future. First published in 1895, it was one of the first novels to deal with the concept of time travel and due to its popularity has come to be regarded as one of the most impactful works on the development of the science fiction genre. “The Time Machine” was written at the beginning of a period of great technological advancement and it is evident in the author’s writings that this was an area of serious concern for him. Due to the author’s political leanings towards Socialism, he was highly skeptical of the value of technological developments in advancing the interests of society as a whole. The author poses the question within the framework of the novel: will technology ever go too far? The future world of the Eloi depicted within the novel warns of the dangerous consequences of unchecked technological advancements in a compelling, provocative, and timeless way. This edition includes a biographical afterword.

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Often referred to as a “father of science fiction”, H. G. Wells was one of the first authors to write a type of speculative fiction which referenced the advancements in science of his time. Characteristic of Wells’s work is their warning against the unintended consequences of technological development gone too far. First published in 1896, “The Island of Dr. Moreau” is the account of Edward Prendick, an Englishman who finds himself stranded on an island in the South Pacific after being shipwrecked. The island is home to Dr. Moreau, an eminent physiologist from London who has fled England when his gruesome experiments in vivisection had been publicly exposed. Prendick soon learns that Moreau has continued his experiments on the island transforming animals into human-like hybrids called beast folk. Worrying that he may be next on the list of subjects, Prendick flees into the jungle trying to escape whatever gruesome plan that Moreau may have in store for him. “The Island of Dr. Moreau”, which was meant as a commentary on Darwin’s theory of evolution, is a most uncanny prediction of the ethical issues raised by the science of genetic engineering in modern times and a cautionary tale of the potential dangers of science when left unchecked. This edition includes a biographical afterword.

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Often referred to as a “father of science fiction”, H. G. Wells was one of the first authors to write a type of speculative fiction which referenced the advancements in science of his time. Characteristic of Wells’ work is their cautionary tale nature which warned against the unintended consequences of technological development gone too far. First published serially in “Pearson's Weekly” in 1897, “The Invisible Man” is just such a story. At the beginning of the novel a mysterious man named Griffen appears in a snowstorm at the local inn of the English village of Iping in West Sussex. Rarely emerging from his room Griffen works continuously with a set of chemicals and laboratory apparatus. Soon it is revealed that Griffin is a former medical student who has invented a chemical process to render bodies invisible. Having impulsively tried the formula upon himself, Griffen is unfortunately unable to turn himself visible again. Running out of money and driven to the brink of madness by his condition, Griffen turns to crime to continue his experiments. As suspicion grows around the mysterious man the townsfolk begin to close in on Griffen as the novel races to its tragic conclusion. This edition includes a biographical afterword.

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First published serially in 1897, H. G. Wells’s “The War of the Worlds,” is one of the author’s most popular and enduring works. When explosions are observed on Mars at an astronomical observatory the interest of the scientific community is greatly aroused. It is soon discovered, when they land on Earth, that the explosions are rocket like projectiles that have been launched from Mars. An unnamed protagonist is one of the first to discover that these are actually spaceships carrying monstrous beings from the planet. The story centers on the unnamed narrator’s attempt to reunite with his wife after witnessing the devastating attacks that soon follow. The merciless Martians storm the countryside in three-legged fighting machines that fire deadly heat rays and spew poisonous black smoke. Thousands of refugees are sent fleeing in the chaos created by the invasion. Inspired by the English invasion literature of his area, Wells’s “The War of the Worlds” crafts a thrilling and foreboding narrative that helped to popularize and define an entire genre of literature. This edition is illustrated by Henrique Alvim Corrêa and includes a biographical afterword.

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What happens when science tampers with nature? A riveting, cautionary tale with disastrous results reveals the chilling answer.Hoping to create a new growth agent for food with beneficial uses to mankind, two scientists find that the spread of the material is uncontrollable. Giant chickens, rats, and insects run amok, and children given the food stuffs experience incredible growth–and serious illnesses. Over the years, people who have eaten these specially treated foods find themselves unable to fit into a society where ignorance and hypocrisy rule. These «giants,» with their extraordinary mental powers, find themselves shut away from an older, more traditional society. Intolerance and hatred increase as the line of distinction between ordinary people and giants is drawn across communities and families. One of H. G. Wells' lesser-known works, The Food of the Gods has been retold many times in many forms since it was first published in 1904. The gripping, newly relevant tale combines fast-paced entertainment with social commentary as it considers the ethics involved in genetic engineering.

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English novelist, historian and science writer Herbert George Wells (1866–1946) abandoned teaching and launched his literary career with a series of highly successful science-fiction novels. The Time Machine was the first of a number of these imaginative literary inventions. First published in 1895, the novel follows the adventures of a hypothetical Time Traveller who journeys into the future to find that humanity has evolved into two races: the peaceful Eloi — vegetarians who tire easily — and the carnivorous, predatory Morlocks.After narrowly escaping from the Morlocks, the Time Traveller undertakes another journey even further into the future where he finds the earth growing bitterly cold as the heat and energy of the sun wane. Horrified, he returns to the present, but soon departs again on his final journey.While the novel is underpinned with both Darwinian and Marxist theory and offers fascinating food for thought about the world of the future, it also succeeds as an exciting blend of adventure and pseudo-scientific romance. Sure to delight lovers of the fantastic and bizarre, The Time Machine is a book that belongs on the shelf of every science-fiction fan.

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Considered one of the fathers of science fiction, H. G. Wells (1866–1946) brought enormous inventiveness and an underlying social vision and moral concern to his strange tales and bizarre imaginings. A student of Darwinian biology, he formed his romantic conceptions of the scientific world at an early age.This novel, one of his first forays into the science fiction genre, concerns a mad surgeon-turned-vivisectionist who, in his laboratory on a remote island, performs ghoulish experiments in an attempt to transform animals into men, with monstrous results. It is one of Wells' earliest and most sinister personifications of the scientific quest to control and manipulate the natural world, and, ultimately, human nature itself.First published in 1896, The Island of Dr. Moreau has intrigued and horrified readers for generations. It will gain legions of new fans in this inexpensive Dover edition.

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First published in 1897, The Invisible Man ranks as one of the most famous scientific fantasies ever written. Part of a series of pseudoscientific romances written by H. G. Wells (1866–1946) early in his career, the novel helped establish the British author as one of the first and best writers of science fiction.Wells' years as a science student undoubtedly inspired a number of his early works, including this strikingly original novel. Set in turn-of-the-century England, the story focuses on Griffin, a scientist who has discovered the means to make himself invisible. His initial, almost comedic, adventures are soon overshadowed by the bizarre streak of terror he unleashes upon the inhabitants of a small village. Notable for its sheer invention, suspense, and psychological nuance, The Invisible Man continues to enthrall science-fiction fans today as it did the reading public nearly 100 years ago.

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Of the enormous body of work produced by H. G. Wells — more than a book a year over the course of half a century — the early science fiction novels that first made him famous have proved to be the most enduring and have earned him the sobriquet «the father of modern science fiction.»In the 1901 classic The First Men in the Moon, Wells reveals not only a fertile imagination at ease with biological and astronomical phenomena, but also a passionate concern for man and society. His «first men in the moon» prove to be the eccentric Mr. Cavor and his traveling companion, Mr. Bedford, who navigate a gravity-defying sphere through space before executing a rough landing on the moon. As castaways from earth, they practice lunar locomotion, get lost in the wilds of a moon jungle, and confront intelligent life forms living in lunar caverns. Through the adventures of these two earthlings, the author is able to look at mankind from a distance and, in his words, «burlesque the effects of specialization.» The result is a delightful tale filled with adventure, romance, and fantasy that is still capable of stirring the imagination of readers in the 21st century."[Wells's science-fiction novels] achieve a near poetry which makes them part of the popular mythology of their age … the best of his work has a vitality, a verve, an imaginative compulsion unsurpassed by any of his contemporaries." — N. C. Nicholson, author of H. G. Wells.

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Compiled in one book, the essential collection of books by H. G. Wells:<br><br>The Time Machine<br><br>War of the Worlds <br><br>The Island of Doctor Moreau <br><br>The First Men in the Moon <br><br>The Invisible Man <br><br>Country of the Blind <br><br>Door in the Wall and Others <br><br>Tono Bungay

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