What do you think?
Rate this book
The Empire of the Ants and Other Stories
‘His impression of them was of a crowd of large black ants, very like ordinary ants except for their size...” Venturing into the upper Amazon, a Brazilian ship’s-captain discovers a colony of giant ants... a colony which might lead to the end of man‘s dominance over the Earth... Contains ten classic short stories. The Empire of the Ants The Star A Dream of Armageddon The Obliterated Man A Slip Under the Microscope The Valley of Spiders The Story of the Inexperienced Ghost The Stolen Body The Story of the Late Mr Elvesham A Vision of Judgement A new printing containing several of of H.G. Wells’ most thought-provoking stories.
152 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1977
4 people are currently reading
104 people want to read
About the author
H.G. Wells
5,365 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 - 13 of 13 reviews
February 23, 2023
Empire of the Ants - 3/5 - A cool idea that is just not fleshed out enough for me to really like it a lot. Basically feels like it was the prelude to what could have been a very fun novel
The Crystal Egg - 3.5/5 - Feels very much like a prequel to The War of the Worlds. I wouldn't be surprised if this didn't spark the idea in his head
The Man Who Could Work Miracles - 4/5 - Fun fantasy about a man who can basically will anything into existence. Fairly lighthearted
The Plattner Story - 2/5 - Didn’t do much for me. Prose is dated and what could have been an interesting concept (accidentally visiting another dimension) just feels quite dull
A Dream of Armageddon - 3/5 - Mixes about 3 or 4 subgenres rather interestingly even though it's basically just a guy describing his vivid dreams to a stranger. Even though I generally dislike dream stuff in books I found this quite compelling
Æpyornis Island - 4/5 - It's like the movie Castaway only instead of a volleyball it's a prehistoric bird. My favorite of this collection so far
In the Abyss - 4/5 - A story of deep sea exploration written in 1896, 34 years before the first time humans actually made it to the deep sea in person. The short story has an impressive amount of foresight. The person basically goes down in a Bathysphere (exactly what we went down in in 1930 but it doesn't seem to have been in production until the 20s). Some of the creature descriptions seem pretty likely anatomically speaking as well. Then it abandons the realism to go full tilt science fiction but that's pretty great as well. Impressive stuff
The Sea Raiders - 3/5 - Attack of the Killer Squids
Filmer - 1.5/5 - Fairly dull and it feels it's age. I think it was trying to be funny at times but it just felt like a dud
The Crystal Egg - 3.5/5 - Feels very much like a prequel to The War of the Worlds. I wouldn't be surprised if this didn't spark the idea in his head
The Man Who Could Work Miracles - 4/5 - Fun fantasy about a man who can basically will anything into existence. Fairly lighthearted
The Plattner Story - 2/5 - Didn’t do much for me. Prose is dated and what could have been an interesting concept (accidentally visiting another dimension) just feels quite dull
A Dream of Armageddon - 3/5 - Mixes about 3 or 4 subgenres rather interestingly even though it's basically just a guy describing his vivid dreams to a stranger. Even though I generally dislike dream stuff in books I found this quite compelling
Æpyornis Island - 4/5 - It's like the movie Castaway only instead of a volleyball it's a prehistoric bird. My favorite of this collection so far
In the Abyss - 4/5 - A story of deep sea exploration written in 1896, 34 years before the first time humans actually made it to the deep sea in person. The short story has an impressive amount of foresight. The person basically goes down in a Bathysphere (exactly what we went down in in 1930 but it doesn't seem to have been in production until the 20s). Some of the creature descriptions seem pretty likely anatomically speaking as well. Then it abandons the realism to go full tilt science fiction but that's pretty great as well. Impressive stuff
The Sea Raiders - 3/5 - Attack of the Killer Squids
Filmer - 1.5/5 - Fairly dull and it feels it's age. I think it was trying to be funny at times but it just felt like a dud
Read
September 21, 2021PLACEHOLDER REVIEW:
Don't think this story was in my Scholastic edition, bought from the bookmobile when I was a wee kid, but it DOES appear to be in later editions (if I can trust the ISFDB, and why wouldn't I?), so, having "Filmer", here's a short review. "Filmer" is the story of the titular character, who really invented a flying machine, before the Wright Brothers, but of a slightly different kind (something like a self-collapsing and filling semi-rigid airship). But the story is less about that and more about how Filmer, a scruffy, milquetoast scientist without a head for promotion or funding concerns, is now forgotten by history because, although his science was right, the poor little man didn't realize until the last moment that what he was NOT, most in the world, was a courageous pilot. Surprisingly, it's all a nice little bit of dark comedy with steampunk gilding.
Don't think this story was in my Scholastic edition, bought from the bookmobile when I was a wee kid, but it DOES appear to be in later editions (if I can trust the ISFDB, and why wouldn't I?), so, having "Filmer", here's a short review. "Filmer" is the story of the titular character, who really invented a flying machine, before the Wright Brothers, but of a slightly different kind (something like a self-collapsing and filling semi-rigid airship). But the story is less about that and more about how Filmer, a scruffy, milquetoast scientist without a head for promotion or funding concerns, is now forgotten by history because, although his science was right, the poor little man didn't realize until the last moment that what he was NOT, most in the world, was a courageous pilot. Surprisingly, it's all a nice little bit of dark comedy with steampunk gilding.
June 28, 2023
In addition to his famous longer works like The War of the Worlds, Herbert George Wells also wrote a number of speculative fiction short stories. What I’m reviewing today is a collection published by Scholastic Book Services (and mostly sold at school book fairs) which has the subtitle “and Other Stories”.
“The Empire of the Ants” itself leads off the volume. A Brazilian gunboat manufactured in Britain (and sent with a British engineer to keep it running until locals are trained) is making a patrol up the Amazon River. Captain Gerilleau is told to investigate reports that an unusually aggressive species of ants is causing trouble upriver. Holroyd, the engineer, is initially skeptical that this is a real problem.
But unlike army ants, that eat everything in their path and then leave, these new ants seem to deliberately target humans, and don’t leave a place once it’s infested. As the gunboat gets closer to the site in question, more information is learned that advises that these ants are unusually well-organized and the tension mounts.
This story is basically the first third of a horror movie. But after the first onscreen death of one of the sailors, and confirming that the village they’ve come to investigate is silent and crawling with ants, Captain Gerilleau decides not to send his men ashore to die horribly. He fires the ship’s gun in a pointless formality, then turns the boat around to go report to headquarters. It’s a little disappointing as a climax, but the smart thing to do.
Holroyd closes by noting that at their current state of expansion, the Empire of the Ants should reach England about 1950. This story was turned into a movie in 1977, but very loosely adapted due to the needs of the screen.
“The Country of the Blind” is set in a remote valley of the Ecuadorian Andes. Centuries ago, refugees from a particularly cruel Spanish governor stumbled across the valley, which at first seemed paradisical. But over the following decades, the inhabitants slowly lost their sight, and their children and grandchildren were born blind. One of the inhabitants who was still able to see some managed to escape to seek help, but while he was gone an earthquake sealed off the already difficult approach, and the valley receded into myth.
Fifteen generations later, a mountaineer named Núñez fell from a nearby peak, thought dead by his companions, but somehow he survived the bouncing and sliding until he came to the lost valley. He is surprised to discover a blind civilization, and they’re surprised that their old legends about people spontaneously generated from the rocky slopes are “true.”
While Núñez initially remembers the proverb, “in the country of the blind, the one-eyed man is king”, he is soon disabused of this notion. The locals are quite competent at everything they need to do without the use of sight, and all words related to that concept have vanished from their version of Spanish. The mountaineer lost his outside technology in the fall, and repeatedly fails to prove that his so-called “sight” is anything but a delusion. Indeed, because he doesn’t share the keen hearing and spacial sense of the locals, they consider him clumsy and ill-formed. He’s relegated to the most menial of tasks.
Núñez falls in love with a local girl, as one does, one who enjoys his wild tales of the supposed “outside world.” But alas, because of his insanity they cannot marry. Then the valley’s most brilliant doctor realizes that the problem is the newcomer’s malformed eyes. If those are surgically removed, he should be restored to sanity. Will Núñez accept this solution?
I get the feeling that Mr. Wells started with the old saying, asked “but would he be king, actually?” then built the story’s world around the question. It works well with his habit of asking, “and just how would that work?”
“The Crystal Egg” is an artifact that allows someone who gazes into to see visions, probably of an area on the surface of Mars. Mr. Cave runs a curiosity store and stumbles on the crystal’s secret. Due to his wife learning there’s a potential customer for the egg, and insisting that he sell it, Mr. Cave stores it at a scientist’s apartment, and they explore the visions together. Most of the story is dedicated to describing the visions. The terminally ill Cave takes the crystal home with him, dies, and his wife promptly sells the item along with most of the other stock, with the egg then being sold to an untraceable third party. It’s suggested that the Martians may have sent other such crystals to Earth.
Two-way video connections are a thing in real life now, though at this time we still couldn’t watch things happening on Mars in “real time.”
“The Man Who Could Work Miracles” starts in a pub, when Mr. Fotheringay is having an argument on the nature of miracles, attempts a hypothetical example, and has it become real. At first, he doesn’t fully grasp what’s happening, but after a good night’s rest and some experimentation, learns that he can in fact perform miracles. The laws of physics still apply if he isn’t directly willing them not to, but other than that, if he can will a result, it will happen. Hilarity ensues, shortly followed by disaster. There’s a reset button at the end of the story, so it’s not clear how the narrator knows any of this happened.
“The Magic Shop” is a more hopeful story. The narrator and his young son Gip are out for a stroll when they come across a little shop that wasn’t there yesterday. Gip is entranced by the strange items in the window, and the pair enter. The shop is bigger on the inside, and the proprietor shows them many magic tricks. Or are they tricks? Certainly things seem to go more towards the impossible the deeper into the shop you are.
It’s noted that Gip is “the right sort of boy”, a spoiled brat finds the door locked for him, and it’s suggested that Gip may have a gift for magic himself. Several wondrous items are sold on credit.
When father and son arrive home, the boxes contain seemingly ordinary toy soldiers and a seemingly ordinary kitten, but Gip is not disappointed. After some time, after the father has searched for the magic shop and not finding it, he asks Gip about the soldiers. Gip affirms that the toy soldiers are magical, but the father never sees them move. He’s still waiting for the bill.
Of these, the strongest story is “The Country of the Blind” but I think I like “The Magic Shop” best for its lack of cynicism.
All of these stories are in the public domain, and often anthologized–this particular collection most recommended to people of a certain age who saw or bought it at a book fair once.
“The Empire of the Ants” itself leads off the volume. A Brazilian gunboat manufactured in Britain (and sent with a British engineer to keep it running until locals are trained) is making a patrol up the Amazon River. Captain Gerilleau is told to investigate reports that an unusually aggressive species of ants is causing trouble upriver. Holroyd, the engineer, is initially skeptical that this is a real problem.
But unlike army ants, that eat everything in their path and then leave, these new ants seem to deliberately target humans, and don’t leave a place once it’s infested. As the gunboat gets closer to the site in question, more information is learned that advises that these ants are unusually well-organized and the tension mounts.
This story is basically the first third of a horror movie. But after the first onscreen death of one of the sailors, and confirming that the village they’ve come to investigate is silent and crawling with ants, Captain Gerilleau decides not to send his men ashore to die horribly. He fires the ship’s gun in a pointless formality, then turns the boat around to go report to headquarters. It’s a little disappointing as a climax, but the smart thing to do.
Holroyd closes by noting that at their current state of expansion, the Empire of the Ants should reach England about 1950. This story was turned into a movie in 1977, but very loosely adapted due to the needs of the screen.
“The Country of the Blind” is set in a remote valley of the Ecuadorian Andes. Centuries ago, refugees from a particularly cruel Spanish governor stumbled across the valley, which at first seemed paradisical. But over the following decades, the inhabitants slowly lost their sight, and their children and grandchildren were born blind. One of the inhabitants who was still able to see some managed to escape to seek help, but while he was gone an earthquake sealed off the already difficult approach, and the valley receded into myth.
Fifteen generations later, a mountaineer named Núñez fell from a nearby peak, thought dead by his companions, but somehow he survived the bouncing and sliding until he came to the lost valley. He is surprised to discover a blind civilization, and they’re surprised that their old legends about people spontaneously generated from the rocky slopes are “true.”
While Núñez initially remembers the proverb, “in the country of the blind, the one-eyed man is king”, he is soon disabused of this notion. The locals are quite competent at everything they need to do without the use of sight, and all words related to that concept have vanished from their version of Spanish. The mountaineer lost his outside technology in the fall, and repeatedly fails to prove that his so-called “sight” is anything but a delusion. Indeed, because he doesn’t share the keen hearing and spacial sense of the locals, they consider him clumsy and ill-formed. He’s relegated to the most menial of tasks.
Núñez falls in love with a local girl, as one does, one who enjoys his wild tales of the supposed “outside world.” But alas, because of his insanity they cannot marry. Then the valley’s most brilliant doctor realizes that the problem is the newcomer’s malformed eyes. If those are surgically removed, he should be restored to sanity. Will Núñez accept this solution?
I get the feeling that Mr. Wells started with the old saying, asked “but would he be king, actually?” then built the story’s world around the question. It works well with his habit of asking, “and just how would that work?”
“The Crystal Egg” is an artifact that allows someone who gazes into to see visions, probably of an area on the surface of Mars. Mr. Cave runs a curiosity store and stumbles on the crystal’s secret. Due to his wife learning there’s a potential customer for the egg, and insisting that he sell it, Mr. Cave stores it at a scientist’s apartment, and they explore the visions together. Most of the story is dedicated to describing the visions. The terminally ill Cave takes the crystal home with him, dies, and his wife promptly sells the item along with most of the other stock, with the egg then being sold to an untraceable third party. It’s suggested that the Martians may have sent other such crystals to Earth.
Two-way video connections are a thing in real life now, though at this time we still couldn’t watch things happening on Mars in “real time.”
“The Man Who Could Work Miracles” starts in a pub, when Mr. Fotheringay is having an argument on the nature of miracles, attempts a hypothetical example, and has it become real. At first, he doesn’t fully grasp what’s happening, but after a good night’s rest and some experimentation, learns that he can in fact perform miracles. The laws of physics still apply if he isn’t directly willing them not to, but other than that, if he can will a result, it will happen. Hilarity ensues, shortly followed by disaster. There’s a reset button at the end of the story, so it’s not clear how the narrator knows any of this happened.
“The Magic Shop” is a more hopeful story. The narrator and his young son Gip are out for a stroll when they come across a little shop that wasn’t there yesterday. Gip is entranced by the strange items in the window, and the pair enter. The shop is bigger on the inside, and the proprietor shows them many magic tricks. Or are they tricks? Certainly things seem to go more towards the impossible the deeper into the shop you are.
It’s noted that Gip is “the right sort of boy”, a spoiled brat finds the door locked for him, and it’s suggested that Gip may have a gift for magic himself. Several wondrous items are sold on credit.
When father and son arrive home, the boxes contain seemingly ordinary toy soldiers and a seemingly ordinary kitten, but Gip is not disappointed. After some time, after the father has searched for the magic shop and not finding it, he asks Gip about the soldiers. Gip affirms that the toy soldiers are magical, but the father never sees them move. He’s still waiting for the bill.
Of these, the strongest story is “The Country of the Blind” but I think I like “The Magic Shop” best for its lack of cynicism.
All of these stories are in the public domain, and often anthologized–this particular collection most recommended to people of a certain age who saw or bought it at a book fair once.
January 9, 2015
It's an intriguing premise, and the introduction grabs your attention; however, it quickly becomes completely absurd, and then the book just stops like the author lost interest and didn't even try to finish. I don't think even an H.G. Wells fan will appreciate this book.
April 7, 2024
ในหนังสือจะประกอบไปด้วย เรื่องสั้น 2 เรื่อง คือเรื่องอาณาจักรมด กับ ดินแดนเกราะเหล็ก ผลงานของนักเขียนที่มีจิตนาการนำหน้ายุคสมัยที่สุดคนนึงจากปี 1900 เลย
*ต่อไปนี้อาจมีสปอย์
อาณาจักรมด จะพาเราไปยังดินแดนในลุ่มแม่น้ำแอมะซอน ในช่วงปี 1900 กว่าๆ ที่มีการร้องเรียนจากชาวบ้านว่า พวกเขาถูก "มด" เข้าเล่นงานจนอยู่ไม่ได้ ทางการเลยส่งทหารเข้ามาจัดการ
ก่อนที่จะพบว่า มดพวกนี้ไม่ใช่แค่มดธรรมดา แต่เป็นมดที่มีสติปัญญา มีการวางระบบกองทัพ และสามารถฆ่าคนได้ง่ายๆด้วยพิษที่แสนจะร้ายกาจ
อ่านตอนแรกก็งง ส่งทหารไปปราบมด นี่คิดได้ไงวุ้ย แต่พอเจอมดเข้าจริงๆ อย่าว่าแต่ทหารเลย พี่ส่งทั้งกองทัพมาก็เอาพวกมดนี่ไม่ลงอ่ะ โคตรน่ากลัว
ดินแดนเกราะเหล็ก ณ ดินแดนที่ไม่รู้ว่าที่ไหน เกิดสงครามขึ้นระหว่าง นักรบผู้ชำนาญการสู้ศึกมาแล้วทุกสถานการณ์ กับ พวกชาวบ้าน นักคิด นักวิทยาศาสตร์ นักบัญชี ซึ่งถ้าคิดตามความเป็นจริง ผลลัพธ์มันก็น่าจะพอรู้ๆกันอยู่ว่าฝั่งไหนน่าจะเป็นฝ่ายชนะมากกว่า จนกระทั่ง มี "สัตว์ประหลาดเหล็ก" โผล่เข้ามาในสนามรบ
อ่านตอนแรกก็ไม่ได้คิดอะไร ก็แค่รถถังธรรมดานี่หว่า จนคาใจว่าทำได้ถึงเขียนออกมาและสำนักพิมพ์เลือกที่จะเอามาใส่ำว้ในรวมเล่ม พอแต่ไปค้นข้อมูลเท่านั้นแหละ เรื่องนี้ปู่ เอช จี เวลล์ เขียนไว้ตั้งแต่ปี 1909 ซึ่งสมัยนั้น ยังไม่มีรถถัง รถถังมาเกิดขึ้นจริงๆช่วงสงครามโลกครั้งที่1 ซึ่งก็คืออีกเกือบ 30 ปีได้ ...โอเค จินตนาการปู่ล้ำเกินยุคสมัยอีกแล้วครับ
*ต่อไปนี้อาจมีสปอย์
อาณาจักรมด จะพาเราไปยังดินแดนในลุ่มแม่น้ำแอมะซอน ในช่วงปี 1900 กว่าๆ ที่มีการร้องเรียนจากชาวบ้านว่า พวกเขาถูก "มด" เข้าเล่นงานจนอยู่ไม่ได้ ทางการเลยส่งทหารเข้ามาจัดการ
ก่อนที่จะพบว่า มดพวกนี้ไม่ใช่แค่มดธรรมดา แต่เป็นมดที่มีสติปัญญา มีการวางระบบกองทัพ และสามารถฆ่าคนได้ง่ายๆด้วยพิษที่แสนจะร้ายกาจ
อ่านตอนแรกก็งง ส่งทหารไปปราบมด นี่คิดได้ไงวุ้ย แต่พอเจอมดเข้าจริงๆ อย่าว่าแต่ทหารเลย พี่ส่งทั้งกองทัพมาก็เอาพวกมดนี่ไม่ลงอ่ะ โคตรน่ากลัว
ดินแดนเกราะเหล็ก ณ ดินแดนที่ไม่รู้ว่าที่ไหน เกิดสงครามขึ้นระหว่าง นักรบผู้ชำนาญการสู้ศึกมาแล้วทุกสถานการณ์ กับ พวกชาวบ้าน นักคิด นักวิทยาศาสตร์ นักบัญชี ซึ่งถ้าคิดตามความเป็นจริง ผลลัพธ์มันก็น่าจะพอรู้ๆกันอยู่ว่าฝั่งไหนน่าจะเป็นฝ่ายชนะมากกว่า จนกระทั่ง มี "สัตว์ประหลาดเหล็ก" โผล่เข้ามาในสนามรบ
อ่านตอนแรกก็ไม่ได้คิดอะไร ก็แค่รถถังธรรมดานี่หว่า จนคาใจว่าทำได้ถึงเขียนออกมาและสำนักพิมพ์เลือกที่จะเอามาใส่ำว้ในรวมเล่ม พอแต่ไปค้นข้อมูลเท่านั้นแหละ เรื่องนี้ปู่ เอช จี เวลล์ เขียนไว้ตั้งแต่ปี 1909 ซึ่งสมัยนั้น ยังไม่มีรถถัง รถถังมาเกิดขึ้นจริงๆช่วงสงครามโลกครั้งที่1 ซึ่งก็คืออีกเกือบ 30 ปีได้ ...โอเค จินตนาการปู่ล้ำเกินยุคสมัยอีกแล้วครับ
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 8, 2020
I gave this little book 3 stars because I was unimpressed by the first three stories, but absolutely swept away by the last two. It’s an easy and enjoyable read overall, and gives interesting insight into what Victorian men felt were compelling and frightening supernatural (or in the case of “Country of the Blind,” evolutionary) oddities.
December 24, 2021
-Gregory Kerkman
March 2, 2023
I preferred the last two stories, but they were all pretty interesting. If lightly magical fiction is your thing, check it out!
March 28, 2024
read for a uni module. the idea of being eaten by ants makes me feel sick.
October 5, 2023
We can never know about the days to come. But we think about them anyway.
Anticipation, anticipation (Anticipation Lyrics by Carly Simon)
Long before I read the story, I bought the movie “Empire of the Ants” (1977) starring Joan Collins. There I was just sitting there reading the “HG Wells Huge Collection” on my Kindle when what do you think showed up? You guessed it the Empire of the Ants. Will this is not quite the movie but it is HG Wells at his best.
As with most of Wells's short stories, he put just enough information in there to get you to speculate and then it's over. Somehow, he makes each one of the short stories feel fresh and gives you something different to make you speculate "What if?”
“When Captain Gerilleau received instructions to take his new gunboat, the
_Benjamin Constant, _ to Badama on the Batemo arm of the Guaramadema
and there assist the inhabitants against a plague of ants…” HG Wells
In this story, Wells speculates on what made man excel and become the dominant species on earth, and could a similar evolution could create a rival.
“By 1920 they will be halfway down the Amazon. I fix 1950 or '60 at the latest for the discovery of Europe.”
For other stories, you will want to look up individual reviews.
The Crystal Egg
The Man Who Could Work Miracles
The Plattner Story
A Dream of Armageddon
Æpyornis Island
The Sea Raiders
Filmer
Anticipation, anticipation (Anticipation Lyrics by Carly Simon)
Long before I read the story, I bought the movie “Empire of the Ants” (1977) starring Joan Collins. There I was just sitting there reading the “HG Wells Huge Collection” on my Kindle when what do you think showed up? You guessed it the Empire of the Ants. Will this is not quite the movie but it is HG Wells at his best.
As with most of Wells's short stories, he put just enough information in there to get you to speculate and then it's over. Somehow, he makes each one of the short stories feel fresh and gives you something different to make you speculate "What if?”
“When Captain Gerilleau received instructions to take his new gunboat, the
_Benjamin Constant, _ to Badama on the Batemo arm of the Guaramadema
and there assist the inhabitants against a plague of ants…” HG Wells
In this story, Wells speculates on what made man excel and become the dominant species on earth, and could a similar evolution could create a rival.
“By 1920 they will be halfway down the Amazon. I fix 1950 or '60 at the latest for the discovery of Europe.”
For other stories, you will want to look up individual reviews.
The Crystal Egg
The Man Who Could Work Miracles
The Plattner Story
A Dream of Armageddon
Æpyornis Island
The Sea Raiders
Filmer
June 22, 2024
I’ve only read the titular short story online. A fun little piece of sci-fi.
Although written 30 years earlier, it felt like a kind of British analog to the thoroughly American “Leiningen versus the Ants.” Both unfortunately reek of white supremacy. Holroyd is content to passively observe how these “inferior” people are clueless in addressing the ants, yet offers no ideas of his own. Leiningen at least takes action, leading others despite not really knowing what he is doing. The latter could be salvaged as a kind of lesson in leadership.
Although written 30 years earlier, it felt like a kind of British analog to the thoroughly American “Leiningen versus the Ants.” Both unfortunately reek of white supremacy. Holroyd is content to passively observe how these “inferior” people are clueless in addressing the ants, yet offers no ideas of his own. Leiningen at least takes action, leading others despite not really knowing what he is doing. The latter could be salvaged as a kind of lesson in leadership.
March 30, 2016
fantastic little read
February 19, 2016
reread SOMETIME in 2010
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews