Science Fiction By the Rivals of H. G. Wells

by Alan K. Russell (Editor)

A compilation of 31 stories (6 of them constituting the "Stories of Other Worlds" by Griffith) originally published in English and American magazines between 1895 and 1906 by early writers treading the same scientific romance territory as H.G. Wells. Authors include George Griffith, Grant Allen and Cutliffe Hyne, whose novel "The Lost Continent" is presented here complete. The stories are printed in facsimile of the originals, illustrations included.

Genres: Science Fiction, Anthologies

506 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1979

Reviews

[Muzzlehatch · Rating 4 out of 5]

The stories and authors presented in this anthology have long since faded into obscurity; even the great writer that is noted in the title is now little more than a footnote in English literature, at least if one looks at American bookshelves. But if one is interested in the early history of the genre that Wells helped to popularize, it is probably worth looking out for this out-of-print volume, which contains much in the same vein that wells was mining, if little of bears anything like the stamp of his genius. Disaster and future-war stories are commonplace; the last few stories in the book are a whole cycle by Fred M White about different ways in which London might be destroyed. Lost worlds and undiscovered races are also present here, as are a few trips around a fanciful solar system. Little in the way of editorial comments here; virtually the whole volume is taken up by the stories, presented in close 2-column type with their original illustrations from the magazines that published them (mostly The Strand or Pearsons). A nice companion piece to Sam Moskowitz's "Science Fiction by Gaslight"; between the two books all but the most dedicated will probably be satiated on Victorian SF.

[Neil · Rating 3 out of 5]

Collection of short stories and one novel by a host of forgotten authors (with the exception of Jack London) who wrote similar short stories to H. G. Wells. They were written around the same time Wells wrote most of his short pieces, the earliest being from 1895 and the latest from 1906.
Most are undistinguished just showing what a great writer Wells was others are more in the vain of Rider Haggard than Wells. Some are deadly dull such as "The last stand of the decapods" some such as the six "stories of other worlds" by George Griffith silly, but "The monster of Lake Lametrie" undoubtedly wins the prize for most weird. However the highlights were the stories by Fred M. White which were really quite good!

I reviewed the full length novel "The Last continent" separately between June 22 to 30 2011 giving it three stars:

I read this as part of the large omnibus volume "the rivals of H. G. Wells" that I am slowly working my way through and will review in full eventually. This full length novel has very little to do with Wells and the type of books he wrote it is far more in the style of H. Rider Haggard. The destruction of Atlantis, a power mad queen, monsters, wars, betrayal and the mixing in of Greek mythology make up a book that should probably be better than it actually is.
The story centres around Deucalion (a figure actually from Greek mythology, in fact the Greek equivalent of Noah) But has him as an Atlantian priest.

[Robert Hepple · Rating 4 out of 5]

First published in 1979, 'Science Fiction by the Rivals of H. G. Wells' is an anthology of stories originally published over the years 1895-1906. The cover tells me that the book contains 31 complete stories; not strictly true as one has been significantly truncated. These are all short stories except for one novella. Also the 'Science Fiction' in the title might be a little anachronistic as the term had not been coined when these tales were first published, I think the term used was 'Scientific Romance' or some such variation, and often is far more apt in this case. Nowadays, SF writers have some pretence in the use of real science in order to maintain some suspension of disbelief, but none of that applies with these tales. Even by the standards of around 1900, the science element of most of the stories is totally daft. Most of the stories are written by British authors, and most of them are little known now. The only one that I had heard of was Jack London, but maybe I am not well read enough. The strong British element means that too many stories are about catastrophes affecting London, and too many of the main characters (even in the future) are upper class males who talk about 'the little woman' and the superiority of the white man in fluent upper class twit. Inspite of this, I really enjoyed it - it captures the style of pulp fiction in around 1900 admirably. But clearly, there is a reason why people don't write this way any more...

[Lulu]

1895 -

[Mark Speed · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow! I can't believe Goodreads had this in the system. I remember exactly where I was and what I was doing when I read this.

Some of it seemed drop-dead funny from the perspective of 1980, particularly when you compare it to Wells. For example, one author thought that a kind of light that would illuminate underwater would be a game-changer - not realising that you're still relying on reflected light to see whatever it is you're looking at. And then you think to yourself - change the medium and you've got active sonar there, pal. Very clever.

I'm sure in a century they'll laugh at the rubbish we're writing now. I think as writers we're being outdated ever more rapidly. I'm acutely aware that the sci-fi I'm writing now may become real in just a couple of decades.

[Khaled H.]

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