The Time Machine & Other Works

by H.G. Wells, Laurence Davies (Editor)

Contains: The Time Machine, When the Sleeper Awakes and The Chronic Argonauts.

With an Introduction and Notes by Laurence Davies, Honorary Senior Research Fellow at the University of Glasgow

In these 'scientific romances' H. G. Wells sees the present reflected in the future and the future in the present. His aim is to provoke rather than predict. The Sleeper falls into a trance, waking up two centuries later as the richest man in a world of new technologies, power-greedy leaders, sensual elites, and brutalised industrial slaves. Arriving in the year 802,701, the Time-Traveller finds that humanity has evolved into two drastically different species; going farther still, he witnesses the ultimate fate of the solar system. The Chronic Argonauts, the original version of The Time Machine, pits a scientist with daring views of time and space against superstitious villagers. In all three works Wells laces vivid adventure stories with the latest ideas in biology and physics.

Genres: Classics, Science Fiction, Fiction, Dystopia

343 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2017

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

[Kostas · Rating 4 out of 5]

*Review for ‘The Time Machine & Other Works’ by Wordsworth Editions

One of the most important books of H.G. Wells’s, young then, writing career is definitely ‘The Time Machine’; a book that not only managed to win its readers and remain, even today, famous for more than a century, but also changed the genre of what is today known as Science Fiction.
Along with ‘The Time Machine’ this collection, published by Wordsworth Editions, contains also: ‘When the Sleeper Wakes’, a quite different story that takes us to a distant, though not completely impossible, dystopian future; and, lastly, ‘The Chronic Argonauts’, a short story that shows Wells’s first ideas of the “Time Machine”.

The Time Machine
The much famed, and not unfairly, story of this novel follows the adventures of the Time Traveler as, we watch the events through an, unnamed, narrator, he shares through a dinner for friends and fellow scientists his ideas, and his desires for traveling into the unknown future.
However, the Time Traveler’s desires, as they will soon discover, are much closer to the reality than they would have ever believed as they're, not only is very plausible, but they have already become a fact as he has managed to build such a machine, and travel to the distant future. Only that the Time Traveler’s adventures, as he will recount them later, are something that they certainly did not expect as it will reveal to them of a future much different from what they would have imagined and could also change humankind’s fate forever.

It’s a simple and fast story though yet, despite its age, it still manages even today to win you with Wells showing his strong, and vivid imagination and his, wonderfully, enchanting writing as he describes us, and especially in the last chapters, of a truly unbelievable future.
It’s a book that could easily be characterized as a “landmark” for the genre of Science Fiction as it has affected not only future writers, but all the readers who managed to travel to these magical adventures of this story and love them. 8.5/10

When the Sleeper Wakes
The second novel follows Graham, a simple man that lives in London in the late 19th century that has been cursed with a disorder that no other human would have wanted: that of insomnia.
But, with the help of Isbister, a young artist who will meet him and invite him to his home, he will perhaps manage to find a solution and help him sleep. Only that this will come in the most bizarre way and when he finally wakes up, he will discover that this sleep has kept him under for much longer than he would have ever believed and - with his life now changed forever - he will find himself in a distant future, and in a different, and completely unknown world that he wouldn’t have dreamed even in his wildest dreams.
However, when the awakening of the mythical “Sleeper” gets released he will find himself against a new system that wants the world's power and it will put him in a great adventure that may well bring chaos and destruction to the entire humankind.

It’s a quite large story that takes a lot of elements that Wells created in ‘The Time Machine’. But nevertheless, this story, I believe, manages to stand out on its own way as, having now taken some experience in the late 19th century, Wells’s writing becomes even more beautiful and quite significantly stronger, that shows also and a much more matured, and even more loveable Wells.
On the other hand in this story also stands out and his incredible, and very prophetic, ideas that give, too, their own flavour in this world as he brings his first creations of the airplanes, and of his aeropiles; some - extremely - fantastic “insect-like” flying machines (as he develops also some other similarly imaginations later in ‘The War in the Air’).
Last but not least, it is worth to mention that the story was revised later by Wells in 1910, and changed its title to ‘The Sleeper Awakes’, however I believe that its original form is not only very good, but also shows the true H.G. Wells; the one we all love. 8.5/10

The Chronic Argonauts
The last story of this collection follows the adventures of Dr. Nebogipfel, an unusual inventor that after an “unfortunate” incident in a small Welsh town he reveals to Reverend Cook his, mysterious, creation of the “Time Machine”.

This story is split into two parts: the first two chapters follow an, unnamed, author as he tries to find out the events of Dr. Nebogipfel’s adventures that took place; while in the next two we see the events through flashbacks from Reverend Cook’s side as he is faced with the laboratory of this, unusual, scientist.
It's a pretty short story without giving a very considerable time to the development of the plot, or even to the characters themselves; but despite that the main idea - that led to the much loved “Time Machine” - is pretty good. It certainly doesn’t reach the same level with the other two stories, but I think it is worth a look for anyone who wants a glimpse of Wells’s first ideas of the “Time Machine”. 6.5/10

Overall, these three stories share the same theme but they’re, in the end, much more as they share the ideas that brought Wells much higher than anyone would have ever imagined and made all of us to love him.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Time Machine - 4/5 stars, When the Sleeper Wakes - 4.5/5 stars and The Chronic Argonauts - 3/5 stars.

[Joel Wall · Rating 3 out of 5]

'The Time Machine' - I forgot how much I enjoy these victorian style stories where the action is retold through another character. Some really interesting ideas, although it suffers, like many utopian novels, with a problematic relationship between the (often middle aged, male) time traveller, and whatever young, naively innocent girl he stumbles upon.

'When the Sleeper Wakes' - a fascinating conception of the future with a great Socialist revolutionary element, but it is harshly let down by Wells' inability to imagine a world untarred by his own racist views.

'The Chronic Argonauts' - A clear predecessor to 'The Time Machine', and much shorter (it does not actually take us to the times travelled to, but still a fun story.

Some really fascinating and important science fiction, although deeply problematic in some areas there is still certainly a lot to take from Wells' imaginings of the future.

[Jesse Simons · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Time Machine is a fascinating, fun, and quick read that plays with your imagination. The writer makes a captivating attempt to depict a future society where humans have evolved into two separate classes, living in a world that rigidly divides them. Interestingly, most of the book consists of a long monologue, yet the storyteller does a remarkable job of keeping the narrative engaging.

When the Sleeper Wakes takes a similar approach in portraying a future society, where the middle class has vanished and commercialism has not only become a means of trade but the very foundation of the political system. Happiness has turned into a manufactured illusion, dictated by corporate monopolies and mass entertainment. Compared to The Time Machine, H.G. Wells delves deeper into explaining the differences between the old and new world while maintaining an exciting pace filled with tension, cliffhangers, and unfulfilled desires.

[Adam · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great trio of stories from Wells. Individual ratings:
The Time Machine - 8/10
When the Sleeper Wakes - 9/10
The Chronic Argonauts - 7/10

If you picked this up purely for The Time Machine, two great stories are there waiting for you once you've finished.

[Will Johnson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Much like the Time Traveller’s Time Machine, this book nearly drove me insane. The Time Machine is a good story but The Sleeper Wakes was very dragged out.

[Abie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can appreciate that these are well-written and the stories are good, but I found it all a bit of a drag to read at times.

[Eirik Aarrestad · Rating 4 out of 5]

lidewally 2030

[JPCMarques · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Time Machine and Other Works contains three of the most emblematic Wells stories: The Time Machine (so unexpected), that even today is a hallmark of the science fiction genre, The Sleeper Wakes, which was a very pleasant surprise, as I did not expect to like it as much as I did (more than The Time Machine), and the short story The Chronic Argonauts, a predecessor to the The Time Machine.

The Time Machine

This was the title that brought me to this book, as it is perhaps the most famous work from Wells. The story (as are the next two) is meant to provoke discussion about the natural evolution of society and the evolution of Humanity as a whole. That, it does marvelously: it is told by a witness, that met the Time Traveler before he went on his journey to the future, and after he returned from it.

The story itself isn't so much about time travel, as it is about criticizing the gap between the working class and the aristocracy that ruled at the time. It shows the way that Wells sees society will evolve, if the class gap kept widening as time passed, creating two starkly contrasted species of human beings: the Eloi, whimsical, weak and pointless creatures that represent that natural evolution of the aristocrats, and the Morlock, predatorial albino creatures, that cannot bear the sunlight, the future of the working class.

Both have "devolved" into witless creatures, as a consequence of the evolution of the confort of high class, at the cost of disconfort of the working class.

Nature retook the earth, as humanity became stagnant, and the Time Traveler tells his account of what he saw, going even further into the future, and seeing the death, or the dying, of the Earth, with gigantic beings inhabiting the dying planet.

Wells tells this story, his vivid imagination clearly shown in this work, most of it in the direct account of the Time Traveler, keeping me enthralled in his work. However, the presence of Deus ex Machina is the only thing I can point out as wrong with the work.

Despite that, the work is meant to awaken the reader to the consequence of the socitety they live in, and what can happen should the class gap continue to grow, and it does that splendidly.

9/10

The Sleeper Wakes

To me, this was the best story of the three. It tells the story of a man that goes into an almost supernatural "hibernation", and awakes more than 200 years later, and owns more than half the Earth, being the Master. He is directly faced with the Council, a tyrannical group of people that ruled in his stead, crushing the working class to keep its wealth and lifestyle, that attempted to kill him to hold its power.

He is liberated at moment of his assassination attempt, joining a Revolution to attempt to overthrow the government, with Ostrog, the boss, as its leader.

This phase of the story shows how the masses became a single being, and compared the city itself as a living being, using the working class as its lifeblood, and the confusion of the Revolution, where he was lost in the maze that was the city.

It then goes on to criticize the greediness and falsehood of most human beings, as Ostrog himself quickly shows his tyrannical ideals and is now a new version of the Council, attempting to imprison the Master to maintain his power, who escapes and joins a second revolution to retake the Earth from Ostrog and restore equality to the society, culminating in his ultimate sacrifice, simultaneously saving the city from Ostrog and releasing his hold on the world, through is death.

This was a beatiful story, keeping me enthralled in it from start to its amazing ending.

9.5/10

The Chronic Argonauts

There is not much to be said of this short story, beyond being the initial presentation of the ideas that led to the Time Machine. Still, it is aesthetically a good story, and is a good read if you want to see how it evolved into better story that is more generally known from Wells.

7/10

[Anders · Rating 3 out of 5]

Three tales of science fiction featuring mole people, a police force exclusively of African origin and a time traveling reverend (respectively).

[Space Dragon · Rating 2 out of 5]

The last 12 pages of the time machine are exciting, for the most part it was boring and clumsy written.
I did not have the biggest expectations, but I maybe had expected something more.
The whole Morlochs and Eloi beings are an interesting idea, it was unfortunate delivered poorly. Another aspect was the last time traveling stuff to far out in the future. Again nice concept and awesome, but was over after 3 pages. I would definitely have read a whole book just about the time traveler traveling far put in the future.
Btw it is funny how Wells imagined the sun to burn out and the earth getting into an eternal winter.
The writing style can probably be explained by the time it was written in.

[Lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

'There are really four dimensions, three which we call the three planes of Space, and a fourth, Time.' - The Time Machine

The Time Machine (3)
Intriguing with brilliant world building and a clear strong basis for the Sci-Fi genre to have grown from.

When The Sleeper Awakes (3)
Interesting premise of a man awakening after 200 years to a very changed society. Thought-provoking and action-based.

The Chronic Argonaut (2.5)
A clear precessor to 'The Time Machine'. Exciting to see where the idea for the story may have stemmed from.

Overall a nice collection of stories for lovers of Sci-Fi.

[Rebecca D · Rating 2 out of 5]

I only read the time machine and I found it very hard to read at points. I like the build up to the travel and the final chapter where he realises what has happened but I found the explanation of the world and characters he encounters hard to imagine and sometime complicated to follow. This could be down to the when it was written.

As a classic I wanted to enjoy it and I am glad I have read it but equally glad that I have finished.

[M.K. Aston · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed these three stories very much but in a way, the greater pleasure comes from trying to imagine the impact on a reader at the time of their release. After all, they would've had far less ideas and imagery of futuristic possibilities than we do today. Perhaps that can be said of any fiction set in the future but I have to say, whilst drawing inspiration from the increasingly-changing world around him, Wells undoubtedly had a fantastic imagination.

[Ben · Rating 2 out of 5]

I only read the Time Machine and was mildly disappointed by it. While the mathematical curiosity of a fourth dimension might have sparked interested at that time, the novelty of the novel is outdated by now. The future vision is incredulous and very, very England-centered; the whole future world can be described from a few-day observation on a hill near the Thames.

[Risto Pakarinen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not the easiest book I've ever read, thanks to both language and style, but a fascinating read. Wells's prophesies are timeless -- but also a snapshot of the early 20th century outlook on the world and its social issues. Two very different time travelers here.

[Taylor Gillies · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read: 'the time machine'

[Jess · Rating 2 out of 5]

10/10 world building but i usually prefer when books have an actual plot

[Mollie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some parts were great but mostly it was not the one

[Justin Pratten · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some surprisingly modern utopian ideas from two centuries ago, driven by many of the same problems of today, that of plutocracy, power and corruption.