Delphi Complete Works of H.G. Wells

by H.G. Wells

Features:
* Over 40 novels and all with individual contents tables
* Illustrated with attractive images relating to Wells’ life and works
* Annotated with introductory paragraphs to many of the novels and other works
* Images from film adaptations of Wells’ work
* ALL the short story collections
* Rare novels, and all formatted for your enjoyment
* The Father of Science Fiction’s works are presented in a scholarly order
* INCLUDES rare early short stories, including Wells’ very first published story "A Family Elopement"
* ALSO includes 10 BONUS non-fiction texts, including the famous Little Wars, Floor Games and Wells’ renowned socialist essays
* Enjoy ours upon hours of reading original stories like The Time Machine, The War of the Worlds and The Invisible Man
* Features BONUS text of fellow sci-fi writer J.D. Beresford's essay on Wells' works
* UPDATED with A SHORT HISTORY OF THE WORLD

Please note: due to copyright restrictions, some of the later novels are not included. The Dream, Christina Alberta's Father, Mr Blettsworthy on Rampole Island, The Bulpington of Blup, Brynhild, The Camford Visitation , Apropos of Dolores, The Brothers, Babes in the Darkling Wood, All Aboard for Ararat, You Can't Be Too Careful, are not available. However, when they enter the public domain, they will be added as a free upgrade for customers who’ve purchased the eBook.

Contents:

The Novels
THE TIME MACHINE
THE CHRONIC ARGONAUTS
THE WONDERFUL VISIT
THE ISLAND OF DR MOREAU
THE WHEELS OF CHANCE
THE INVISIBLE MAN
THE WAR OF THE WORLDS
WHEN THE SLEEPER WAKES
LOVE AND MR LEWISHAM
THE FIRST MEN IN THE MOON
THE SEA LADY
THE FOOD OF THE GODS
KIPPS
A MODERN UTOPIA
IN THE DAYS OF THE COMET
THE WAR IN THE AIR
TONO-BUNGAY
ANN VERONICA
THE HISTORY OF MR POLLY
THE NEW MACHIAVELLI
MARRIAGE
THE PASSIONATE FRIENDS
THE WIFE OF SIR ISAAC HARMAN
THE WORLD SET FREE
THE PROPHETIC TRILOGY
BEALBY
THE RESEARCH MAGNIFICENT
MR. BRITLING SEES IT THROUGH
THE SOUL OF A BISHOP
JOAN AND PETER
THE UNDYING FIRE
THE SECRET PLACES OF THE HEART
MEN LIKE GODS
THE DREAM
MEANWHILE
THE KING WHO WAS A KING
THE AUTOCRACY OF MR PARHAM
THE SHAPE OF THINGS TO COME
THE CROQUET PLAYER
STAR-BEGOTTEN
THE HOLY TERROR

The Short Story Collections
THE EARLY SHORT STORIES
THE STOLEN BACILLUS AND OTHER INCIDENTS
THE PLATTNER STORY AND OTHERS
TALES OF SPACE AND TIME
TWELVE STORIES AND A DREAM
THE COUNTRY OF THE BLIND AND OTHER STORIES
UNCOLLECTED SHORT STORIES

The Short Stories
CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF SHORT STORIES
ALPHABETICAL LIST OF SHORT STORIES

Selected Non-Fiction
THE MISERY OF BOOTS
FLOOR GAMES
LITTLE WARS
NEW WORLDS FOR OLD
THE OUTLINE OF HISTORY
RUSSIA IN THE SHADOWS
MR. BELLOC OBJECTS TO “THE OUTLINE OF HISTORY”
THE OPEN CONSPIRACY
WHAT ARE WE TO DO WITH OUR LIVES?
THE NEW WORLD ORDER

The Criticism
H.G. WELLS By J.D. Beresford

The Biography
EXPERIMENT IN AUTOBIOGRAPHY

Genres: Classics, Fiction, Science Fiction, Literature, Short Stories, Fantasy, Horror

27011 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 21, 2011

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

[Roberta · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Time Machine: ***
A classic, even though it's not my favourite story.
The Wonderful Visit: ***
What a nice surprise, Wells can do humour, too. An angel arrives in a quiet, normal, decent village in England, and his behaviour it's a scandal.
The Island of Doctor Moreau: ****
Again, a classic masterpiece. But I like it more than the Time Machine, I think it digs deeper into the human hubris.
The Wheels of Chance: **
I get the humour... sometimes. I think that the satire in The Wonderful Visit is much better.
The Invisible Man: ***
Sadder than I remember, I read it many years ago in Italian. Again, a deranged scientist makes a discovery that could change the world, but it gets to his head and everything ends badly.
The War of the Worlds: ****
A classic, although some passages are heavy, a little too dense.

[Sam · Rating 3 out of 5]

While his longer novella are interesting, his early works feel dry and shallow. Perhaps this is to be expected of short stories originally submitted to magazines as well as the relatively tame premises of some of the novels (plant grows big and has poison that kills person) for example is also to be expected but most didn’t interest me today.

I most enjoyed (excluding his most famous work) the story based on the saying “In the valley of the blind then one eyed man is king”. I’d recommend this above all else.

[Tristan]

This is a massive collection and hence somewhat unwieldy, but what a treasury of influential works! Each of Wells’ novels is given a short anonymous introduction, which gives some of the context of the times, as well as a few illustrations, mainly images of first editions.

“The Time Machine” - A curious novella with two unnamed first person narrators. One bookends the other. The former has too little time to make an impression whilst he tells the reader the tale related to him, the latter, who relates his time travelling adventure to the former narrator, is deeply unsympathetic. The author’s imagination was grounded in the cutting edge science of the time (1895), but his social extrapolations reflect the prejudices of the time. An important seminal novel, but a merely adequate read. 3/5.

“The Wonderful Visit”

“The Island of Doctor Moreau”

“The Wheels of Chance”

“The Invisible Man” - I have separately read and commented on this novel.

“The War Of The Worlds” - What an iconic opening! This novel is very much of its time (serialised in 1897), but also strikingly modern in its unflinching and highly realistic description of chaos, which makes it a thrilling read to this day. It anticipates robotic machinery, mechanised warfare, chemical weapons, total war, and displaced populations. Such scenes are suggestive of the horrors of the first and second world wars, but imagined far beforehand. It establishes the trope of aliens as hideous predators and farmers of human cattle, and anticipates all post apocalyptic fiction published since with its plans for resistance and survival. It’s really interesting how the author comments on how slowly the realisation of the attack spreads in a Britain without modern communications (in remarkable contrast with every radio, film, and television adaptation since). Clearly he is aware this lack of communication is humanity’s greatest weakness at the time, and contrasts it with Martian telepathy. A work of genius. 5/5.

[P.S. Winn · Rating 4 out of 5]

The best of the best from an author who had to have been psychic and maybe a little crazy. Readers can find The Invisible Man, The Island of Doctor Moreau, The War of the Worlds, The Time Machine (My personal favorite), In the Days of the Comet, The First Men in the Moon, The War in the Air, and a half dozen more great stories in this collection.

[Neil Brunton · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've known most of these stories since I was still in primary school and I know that a lot of younger readers probably won't pick up a book of this time frame because they might think that it doesn't have all the action and aliens but it's got everything.
I look upon Wells as the father of modern sci-fi ,

[DavidO · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read some of the stories until they started getting bad. Not everything he wrote was a winner. When he's good, he's great. When he's not, well.... IMHO Wells starts very good at the beginning of his career but his later books are less interesting.

[David Kidd]

In The Days Of The Comet by H. G. Wells (1966)

[Behrooz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fan of H.G.Wells and enjoyed them all.

[Seth Lease · Rating 4 out of 5]

For the time period in which he wrote and lived, I found him to be most imaginative and edgy.