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Complete Short Story Omnibus
This collection of short stories by H. G. Wells is the most comprehensive yet, and showcases the hugely fertile imagination of the great author, whose ideas and storylines remain hugely relevant to this day.
959 pages, Hardcover
First published September 1, 1927
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About the author
H.G. Wells
5,184 books11.2k 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
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 67 reviews
December 1, 2010
'The Door in the Wall' is probably the most affecting, bitter sweet short story I have ever read.
It is full of yearning, for lost youth, for lost childhood, for lost love. The central character's fate is inevitable, from the moment he first spies the green door in the wall as an infant, and venturing inside, finds the radiant blonde girl that will haunt him for the rest of his life.
It is a story of obsession, of chances lost, and the self-defeating procrastination that comes with the dogged pursuit of success at the expense of beauty. It's not the only great story in this collection, but it is the best. Once read, never to be forgotten. I read it first as a child, and its legacy is lasting. We all have our doors in the wall.
It is full of yearning, for lost youth, for lost childhood, for lost love. The central character's fate is inevitable, from the moment he first spies the green door in the wall as an infant, and venturing inside, finds the radiant blonde girl that will haunt him for the rest of his life.
It is a story of obsession, of chances lost, and the self-defeating procrastination that comes with the dogged pursuit of success at the expense of beauty. It's not the only great story in this collection, but it is the best. Once read, never to be forgotten. I read it first as a child, and its legacy is lasting. We all have our doors in the wall.
June 11, 2021
Mi libro de la pandemia. Un año leyendo a H.G. Wells, en este verdadero tabique de mil y tantas páginas. Wells es un escritor que me impactó mucho en mi adolescencia cuando leí "El hombre invisible", la desconcertante "Los ojos de Davison", la hilarante "El bacilo robado" y que me sorprendería aún más con la belleza apabullante de uno de los mejores relatos cortos escritos: "El país de los ciegos", cuando encontré esta edición completa no dude mucho en adquirirla. Señor inglés que escribe como inglés, muy sarcástico, amargo en dosis pequeñas, humor de sombrilla y muchos pasajes lluviosos, húmedos, grises; crítico de la masculinidad violenta siendo el mismo misógino en sus andares por la vida y uno de los referentes clásicos de la ciencia ficción europea.
Creo que es mi deber advertir que no todas sus historias son de ciencia ficción o son fantásticas, muchas son estampas cotidianas, con ese humorcito sofisticado y medio cínico del que se enorgullecen sus coterráneos.
La edición de Valdemar también incluye, "La máquina del tiempo", uno de sus trabajos más famosos, del que no soy tan entusiasta pero es realmente entretenido de leer como lectura introductoria al género de la ciencia ficción y los viajes en el tiempo.
Independientemente de que no todas las historias brillan y varias son bastante regulares, vale la pena rescatar este libro como documento para todas las personas interesadas en la literatura de lo extraño, el autor brilla como nunca cuando se mete de lleno en el mundo del asombro y lo fantástico.
Y por favor, no dejen de leer "El país de los ciegos", a mi parecer el mejor trabajo de Wells y una de las historias más memorables de amor que he tenido el gusto de leer, belleza en estado puro.
Creo que es mi deber advertir que no todas sus historias son de ciencia ficción o son fantásticas, muchas son estampas cotidianas, con ese humorcito sofisticado y medio cínico del que se enorgullecen sus coterráneos.
La edición de Valdemar también incluye, "La máquina del tiempo", uno de sus trabajos más famosos, del que no soy tan entusiasta pero es realmente entretenido de leer como lectura introductoria al género de la ciencia ficción y los viajes en el tiempo.
Independientemente de que no todas las historias brillan y varias son bastante regulares, vale la pena rescatar este libro como documento para todas las personas interesadas en la literatura de lo extraño, el autor brilla como nunca cuando se mete de lleno en el mundo del asombro y lo fantástico.
Y por favor, no dejen de leer "El país de los ciegos", a mi parecer el mejor trabajo de Wells y una de las historias más memorables de amor que he tenido el gusto de leer, belleza en estado puro.
April 20, 2021
ENGLISH: In this collection of 66 stories, there are all kinds, not just sci-fi: thrillers, ghost stories, stories about normal life, such as "The jilting of Jane" and several more in the same line, and so forth. I liked especially 26 of them, 16 of which are sci-fi. I have reviewed separately 30 of those that have their own index card in Goodreads, especially those I most like. I'll mention here those of the others I have liked most:
1. "The stolen bacillus," 1894, about an original anarchist. At the beginning of the 20th century, anarchist were what we now call terrorists.
2. "Little Mother up the Morderberg," 1910, a hilarious story about an amazing mountaineer and his little mother.
3. "The story of the Last Trump," 1915, a story with surprising theological connotations for a writer who ended up being an atheist, although when he wrote this story he had still not gone all the way in that direction.
4. "The magic shop," 1903, a story about a mysterious shop where they sell... what? Prestidigitation? Imagination? Genuine magic?... Do they sell?
Comparing Wells with Verne, the other pioneer of sci-fi, I'd say that Verne predicts much better the development of science and technology, while Wells deals with great subjects that, even though they may never happen, attract human imagination: an invasion from Mars; the discovery of extra-terrestrial intelligence in the Moon; the dangers of future technology (as in "The Island of Dr. Moreau"); and so on. But when Wells deals with immediate advancements in technology (such as the conquest of the air), he proves to be a very bad prophet. Thus in "Filmer" (published in 1901) he predicts that the century-long discussion about lighter than the air (balloons) and heavier than the air (airplanes) would be solved by 1907 in favor of a hybrid solution (dirigible balloons or Zeppelins), which had actually been built since 1900. See also my review of "The Argonauts of the air".
Verne, on the other hand, never goes into super-themes of extra-terrestrial invasion or genetic modification via vivisection. In his novel "Around the Moon" he leaves the possible existence of Moon inhabitants open; and in his long journey around the solar system (Hector Servadac) the only extra-terrestrials in the novel are the British soldiers at the top of the rock of Gibraltar. On the other hand, his predictions about immediate technological advances (submarines, aircraft, and so) are sounder.
Wells uses at least four different literary procedures to tell us about the future: 1. Either the novel takes place directly in the future (as in "The World set Free" or "When the Sleeper Wakes"). 2. Or the characters travel in time (as in "The Time Machine" and "The Chronic Argonauts"). 3. Or one person dreams about the future (as in "A dream of Armageddon"). 4. Or one person is given by mistake a newspaper issue dated forty years later (as in "The Queer Story of Brownsley's Newspaper"). His prophetic predictions, however, are not very accurate, as when he predicted in 1913 that the First World War would start in 1956. And he uses these predictions to advance his ideas about future society: a world government, universal peace, and (curiously) a reform in the calendar, which has been discussed unsuccessfully since over a century ago, about which I wrote in my blog: Proposals for a reform of the calendar.
SPANISH: En esta colección de 66 cuentos, los hay de todo tipo, no solo de ciencia-ficción: cuentos de terror, de fantasmas, de la vida normal, como "The jilting of Jane" y varios más en la misma línea, etc. 26 de ellas me han gustado más; de ellas, 16 de las cuales son de ciencia-ficción. He revisado por separado 30 de los que tienen su propia ficha en Goodreads, especialmente los que más me gustan. Mencionaré aquí aquellos de los restantes que me han gustado más:
1. "El bacilo robado", que trata de un anarquista original. A principios del siglo XX, los anarquistas eran lo que ahora llamamos terroristas.
2. "La madrecita escalando el Morderberg", 1910, cuento muy divertido sobre un alpinista increíble y su madrecita.
3. "La historia de la última trompeta", de 1915, cuento con sorprendentes connotaciones teológicas para un escritor que acabó siendo ateo, aunque cuando escribió este cuento todavía no había llegado tan lejos en esa dirección.
4. "La tienda mágica", 1903, un cuento sobre una tienda misteriosa donde venden... ¿Qué venden? ¿Prestidigitación? ¿Imaginación? ¿Magia genuina?... ¿De verdad venden?
Comparando a Wells con Verne, el otro pionero de la ciencia ficción, yo diría que Verne predice mucho mejor el desarrollo de la ciencia y la tecnología, mientras que Wells trata grandes temas que, aunque no lleguen a ocurrir, atraen la imaginación humana: una invasión desde Marte; el descubrimiento de inteligencia extraterrestre en la Luna; los peligros de la tecnología del futuro (como en "La isla del Dr. Moreau"); etc. Pero cuando Wells habla de avances tecnológicos inmediatos (como la conquista del aire), demuestra ser muy mal profeta. Así, en "Filmer" (publicado en 1901) predice que la discusión, que ya duraba un siglo, sobre lo más ligero que el aire (globos) y lo más pesado que el aire (aviones) se resolvería en 1907 a favor de una solución híbrida (dirigibles o Zepelines), que en realidad ya estaban construidos desde 1900. Véase también mi reseña de "Los argonautas del aire".
Verne, por su parte, nunca se mete en super-temas de invasiones extraterrestres o modificación genética a través de vivisección. En su novela "Alrededor de la Luna" deja abierta la posible existencia de habitantes de la Luna; y en su largo viaje por el sistema solar (Héctor Servadac) los únicos extraterrestres de la novela son los soldados británicos en la cima del peñón de Gibraltar. Por otro lado, sus predicciones sobre avances tecnológicos inmediatos (submarinos, aviones, etc.) son más acertadas.
Wells utiliza al menos cuatro procedimientos literarios diferentes para informarnos sobre el futuro: 1. La novela se desarrolla directamente en el futuro (como en "El mundo en libertad" o "Cuando el durmiente despierta"). 2. Los personajes viajan en el tiempo (como en "La máquina del tiempo" y "Los argonautas crónicos"). 3. Una persona sueña con el futuro (como en "Un sueño de Armagedón"). 4. Una persona recibe por error un ejemplar de un periódico con fecha de cuarenta años después (como en "La historia queer del periódico de Brownsley"). Sin embargo, sus predicciones proféticas no son muy precisas, como cuando predijo en 1913 que la Primera Guerra Mundial comenzaría en 1956. Y usa estas predicciones para promover sus ideas sobre la sociedad futura: un gobierno mundial, paz universal y (curiosamente) una reforma del calendario, que viene debatiéndose sin éxito desde hace más de un siglo, sobre la que escribí en mi blog: Propuestas de reforma del calendario.
1. "The stolen bacillus," 1894, about an original anarchist. At the beginning of the 20th century, anarchist were what we now call terrorists.
2. "Little Mother up the Morderberg," 1910, a hilarious story about an amazing mountaineer and his little mother.
3. "The story of the Last Trump," 1915, a story with surprising theological connotations for a writer who ended up being an atheist, although when he wrote this story he had still not gone all the way in that direction.
4. "The magic shop," 1903, a story about a mysterious shop where they sell... what? Prestidigitation? Imagination? Genuine magic?... Do they sell?
Comparing Wells with Verne, the other pioneer of sci-fi, I'd say that Verne predicts much better the development of science and technology, while Wells deals with great subjects that, even though they may never happen, attract human imagination: an invasion from Mars; the discovery of extra-terrestrial intelligence in the Moon; the dangers of future technology (as in "The Island of Dr. Moreau"); and so on. But when Wells deals with immediate advancements in technology (such as the conquest of the air), he proves to be a very bad prophet. Thus in "Filmer" (published in 1901) he predicts that the century-long discussion about lighter than the air (balloons) and heavier than the air (airplanes) would be solved by 1907 in favor of a hybrid solution (dirigible balloons or Zeppelins), which had actually been built since 1900. See also my review of "The Argonauts of the air".
Verne, on the other hand, never goes into super-themes of extra-terrestrial invasion or genetic modification via vivisection. In his novel "Around the Moon" he leaves the possible existence of Moon inhabitants open; and in his long journey around the solar system (Hector Servadac) the only extra-terrestrials in the novel are the British soldiers at the top of the rock of Gibraltar. On the other hand, his predictions about immediate technological advances (submarines, aircraft, and so) are sounder.
Wells uses at least four different literary procedures to tell us about the future: 1. Either the novel takes place directly in the future (as in "The World set Free" or "When the Sleeper Wakes"). 2. Or the characters travel in time (as in "The Time Machine" and "The Chronic Argonauts"). 3. Or one person dreams about the future (as in "A dream of Armageddon"). 4. Or one person is given by mistake a newspaper issue dated forty years later (as in "The Queer Story of Brownsley's Newspaper"). His prophetic predictions, however, are not very accurate, as when he predicted in 1913 that the First World War would start in 1956. And he uses these predictions to advance his ideas about future society: a world government, universal peace, and (curiously) a reform in the calendar, which has been discussed unsuccessfully since over a century ago, about which I wrote in my blog: Proposals for a reform of the calendar.
SPANISH: En esta colección de 66 cuentos, los hay de todo tipo, no solo de ciencia-ficción: cuentos de terror, de fantasmas, de la vida normal, como "The jilting of Jane" y varios más en la misma línea, etc. 26 de ellas me han gustado más; de ellas, 16 de las cuales son de ciencia-ficción. He revisado por separado 30 de los que tienen su propia ficha en Goodreads, especialmente los que más me gustan. Mencionaré aquí aquellos de los restantes que me han gustado más:
1. "El bacilo robado", que trata de un anarquista original. A principios del siglo XX, los anarquistas eran lo que ahora llamamos terroristas.
2. "La madrecita escalando el Morderberg", 1910, cuento muy divertido sobre un alpinista increíble y su madrecita.
3. "La historia de la última trompeta", de 1915, cuento con sorprendentes connotaciones teológicas para un escritor que acabó siendo ateo, aunque cuando escribió este cuento todavía no había llegado tan lejos en esa dirección.
4. "La tienda mágica", 1903, un cuento sobre una tienda misteriosa donde venden... ¿Qué venden? ¿Prestidigitación? ¿Imaginación? ¿Magia genuina?... ¿De verdad venden?
Comparando a Wells con Verne, el otro pionero de la ciencia ficción, yo diría que Verne predice mucho mejor el desarrollo de la ciencia y la tecnología, mientras que Wells trata grandes temas que, aunque no lleguen a ocurrir, atraen la imaginación humana: una invasión desde Marte; el descubrimiento de inteligencia extraterrestre en la Luna; los peligros de la tecnología del futuro (como en "La isla del Dr. Moreau"); etc. Pero cuando Wells habla de avances tecnológicos inmediatos (como la conquista del aire), demuestra ser muy mal profeta. Así, en "Filmer" (publicado en 1901) predice que la discusión, que ya duraba un siglo, sobre lo más ligero que el aire (globos) y lo más pesado que el aire (aviones) se resolvería en 1907 a favor de una solución híbrida (dirigibles o Zepelines), que en realidad ya estaban construidos desde 1900. Véase también mi reseña de "Los argonautas del aire".
Verne, por su parte, nunca se mete en super-temas de invasiones extraterrestres o modificación genética a través de vivisección. En su novela "Alrededor de la Luna" deja abierta la posible existencia de habitantes de la Luna; y en su largo viaje por el sistema solar (Héctor Servadac) los únicos extraterrestres de la novela son los soldados británicos en la cima del peñón de Gibraltar. Por otro lado, sus predicciones sobre avances tecnológicos inmediatos (submarinos, aviones, etc.) son más acertadas.
Wells utiliza al menos cuatro procedimientos literarios diferentes para informarnos sobre el futuro: 1. La novela se desarrolla directamente en el futuro (como en "El mundo en libertad" o "Cuando el durmiente despierta"). 2. Los personajes viajan en el tiempo (como en "La máquina del tiempo" y "Los argonautas crónicos"). 3. Una persona sueña con el futuro (como en "Un sueño de Armagedón"). 4. Una persona recibe por error un ejemplar de un periódico con fecha de cuarenta años después (como en "La historia queer del periódico de Brownsley"). Sin embargo, sus predicciones proféticas no son muy precisas, como cuando predijo en 1913 que la Primera Guerra Mundial comenzaría en 1956. Y usa estas predicciones para promover sus ideas sobre la sociedad futura: un gobierno mundial, paz universal y (curiosamente) una reforma del calendario, que viene debatiéndose sin éxito desde hace más de un siglo, sobre la que escribí en mi blog: Propuestas de reforma del calendario.
July 25, 2023
H.G. Wells was a founding father of modern science fiction, but it was in his short stories, written when he was a young man embarking on a literary career, that he first explored the enormous potential of the scientific discoveries of his day. This volume contains all 84 of his short stories.
Introduction (The Complete Short Stories of H. G. Wells) • essay by J. R. Hammond [as by John Hammond] ✔
The Stolen Bacillus • (1894) 5⭐
The Flowering of the Strange Orchid • (1894) 4⭐
In the Avu Observatory • (1894) 3.25⭐
The Triumphs of a Taxidermist • (1894) 3.25⭐
A Deal in Ostriches • (1894) 4⭐
Through a Window • (1894) 4.5⭐
The Temptation of Harringay • (1895) 4⭐
The Flying Man • (1895) 4⭐
The Diamond Maker • (1894) 4.5⭐
Aepyornis Island • (1924) (variant of Æpyornis Island 1894) 4.5⭐
The Remarkable Case of Davidson's Eyes • (1895) 4⭐
The Lord of the Dynamos • non-genre • (1894) 4.25⭐
The Hammerpond Park Burglary • non-genre • (1894) 3⭐
The Moth • (1895) 4⭐
The Treasure in the Forest • (1894) 4.25⭐
The Plattner Story • (1896) 3.5⭐
The Argonauts of the Air • (1895) 3⭐
The Story of the Late Mr. Elvesham • (1896) 5⭐
In the Abyss • (1896) 3.25⭐
The Apple • (1896) 5⭐
Under the Knife • (1896) 3.25🌟
The Sea Raiders • (1896) 5🌟
Pollock and the Porroh Man • (1895) 5🌟
The Red Room • (1896) 5⭐
The Cone • non-genre • (1895) 5⭐
The Purple Pileus • (1896) 2.5⭐
The Jilting of Jane • (1894) 2⭐
In the Modern Vein: An Unsympathetic Love Story • (1894) 2.5⭐
A Catastrophe • (1895) 3⭐
The Lost Inheritance • (1896) 4⭐
The Sad Story of a Dramatic Critic • (1895) 3⭐
A Slip Under the Microscope • (1896) 3.5⭐
The Crystal Egg • (1897) 4.25⭐
The Star • (1897) 5⭐
A Story of the Stone Age • (1899) (variant of Stories of the Stone Age 1897) 4.5⭐
A Story of the Days to Come • (1899) 4.5⭐
The Man Who Could Work Miracles • (1898) 5⭐
Filmer • (1901) 2.75⭐
The Magic Shop • (1903) 3.5⭐
The Valley of Spiders • (1903) 4.25⭐
The Truth About Pyecraft • (1903) 3.5⭐
Mr. Skelmersdale in Fairyland • (1903) 3.5⭐
The Inexperienced Ghost • (1902) 4⭐
Jimmy Goggles the God • (1898) 4⭐
The New Accelerator • (1901) 5⭐
Mr. Ledbetter's Vacation • (1898) 5⭐
The Stolen Body • (1898) 5⭐
Mr. Brisher's Treasure • (1899) 4⭐
Miss Winchelsea's Heart • (1898) 3.5⭐
A Dream of Armageddon • (1901) 4⭐
The Door in the Wall • (1906) 5⭐
The Empire of the Ants • (1905) 5⭐
A Vision of Judgment • (1911) 4.5⭐
The Land Ironclads • (1903) 3.25⭐
The Beautiful Suit • non-genre • (1909) 4⭐
The Pearl of Love • (1925) 5⭐
The Country of the Blind • (1904) 5⭐
The Reconciliation • (1895) 5⭐
My First Aeroplane • (1910) 4⭐
Little Mother Up the Mörderberg • (1910) 3.5⭐
The Story of the Last Trump • (1915) 3.5⭐
The Grisly Folk • (1921) • essay 3.5⭐
A Tale of the Twentieth Century: For Advanced Thinkers • (1887) 2.5⭐
Walcote • (1898) 3⭐
The Devotee of Art • (1888) 4⭐
The Man with a Nose • (1894) 3⭐
A Perfect Gentleman on Wheels • (1897) 3.5⭐
Wayde's Essence • (1895) 4.25⭐
A Misunderstood Artist • (1894) 2.5⭐
Le Mari Terrible • (1895) 3⭐
The Rajah's Treasure • (1896) 4⭐
The Presence by the Fire • (1897) 5⭐
Mr. Marshall's Doppelganger • (1897) 4.5⭐
The Thing in No. 7 • (1894) 3⭐
The Thumbmark • (1894) 3⭐
A Family Elopement1 • (1894) 4.25⭐
Our Little Neighbour • (1895) 3⭐
How Gabriel Became Thompson • (1894) 5⭐
How Pingwill Was Routed • (1895) 3.25⭐
The Loyalty of Esau Common: A Fragment 4⭐
The Wild Asses of the Devil • (1915) 3.5⭐
Answer to Prayer • (1937) 5⭐
The Queer Story of Brownlow's Newspaper • (1932) 4⭐
The Country of the Blind (Revised Version) • (1939) (variant of The Country of the Blind (revised)) 5⭐
Introduction to The Country of the Blind and Other Stories • essay (variant of Introduction (The Country of the Blind and Other Stories) 1911) 5⭐
Introduction to Revised Version of "The Country of the Blind" • essay (variant of Introduction (The Country of the Blind) 1939) 5⭐
Introduction (The Complete Short Stories of H. G. Wells) • essay by J. R. Hammond [as by John Hammond] ✔
The Stolen Bacillus • (1894) 5⭐
The Flowering of the Strange Orchid • (1894) 4⭐
In the Avu Observatory • (1894) 3.25⭐
The Triumphs of a Taxidermist • (1894) 3.25⭐
A Deal in Ostriches • (1894) 4⭐
Through a Window • (1894) 4.5⭐
The Temptation of Harringay • (1895) 4⭐
The Flying Man • (1895) 4⭐
The Diamond Maker • (1894) 4.5⭐
Aepyornis Island • (1924) (variant of Æpyornis Island 1894) 4.5⭐
The Remarkable Case of Davidson's Eyes • (1895) 4⭐
The Lord of the Dynamos • non-genre • (1894) 4.25⭐
The Hammerpond Park Burglary • non-genre • (1894) 3⭐
The Moth • (1895) 4⭐
The Treasure in the Forest • (1894) 4.25⭐
The Plattner Story • (1896) 3.5⭐
The Argonauts of the Air • (1895) 3⭐
The Story of the Late Mr. Elvesham • (1896) 5⭐
In the Abyss • (1896) 3.25⭐
The Apple • (1896) 5⭐
Under the Knife • (1896) 3.25🌟
The Sea Raiders • (1896) 5🌟
Pollock and the Porroh Man • (1895) 5🌟
The Red Room • (1896) 5⭐
The Cone • non-genre • (1895) 5⭐
The Purple Pileus • (1896) 2.5⭐
The Jilting of Jane • (1894) 2⭐
In the Modern Vein: An Unsympathetic Love Story • (1894) 2.5⭐
A Catastrophe • (1895) 3⭐
The Lost Inheritance • (1896) 4⭐
The Sad Story of a Dramatic Critic • (1895) 3⭐
A Slip Under the Microscope • (1896) 3.5⭐
The Crystal Egg • (1897) 4.25⭐
The Star • (1897) 5⭐
A Story of the Stone Age • (1899) (variant of Stories of the Stone Age 1897) 4.5⭐
A Story of the Days to Come • (1899) 4.5⭐
The Man Who Could Work Miracles • (1898) 5⭐
Filmer • (1901) 2.75⭐
The Magic Shop • (1903) 3.5⭐
The Valley of Spiders • (1903) 4.25⭐
The Truth About Pyecraft • (1903) 3.5⭐
Mr. Skelmersdale in Fairyland • (1903) 3.5⭐
The Inexperienced Ghost • (1902) 4⭐
Jimmy Goggles the God • (1898) 4⭐
The New Accelerator • (1901) 5⭐
Mr. Ledbetter's Vacation • (1898) 5⭐
The Stolen Body • (1898) 5⭐
Mr. Brisher's Treasure • (1899) 4⭐
Miss Winchelsea's Heart • (1898) 3.5⭐
A Dream of Armageddon • (1901) 4⭐
The Door in the Wall • (1906) 5⭐
The Empire of the Ants • (1905) 5⭐
A Vision of Judgment • (1911) 4.5⭐
The Land Ironclads • (1903) 3.25⭐
The Beautiful Suit • non-genre • (1909) 4⭐
The Pearl of Love • (1925) 5⭐
The Country of the Blind • (1904) 5⭐
The Reconciliation • (1895) 5⭐
My First Aeroplane • (1910) 4⭐
Little Mother Up the Mörderberg • (1910) 3.5⭐
The Story of the Last Trump • (1915) 3.5⭐
The Grisly Folk • (1921) • essay 3.5⭐
A Tale of the Twentieth Century: For Advanced Thinkers • (1887) 2.5⭐
Walcote • (1898) 3⭐
The Devotee of Art • (1888) 4⭐
The Man with a Nose • (1894) 3⭐
A Perfect Gentleman on Wheels • (1897) 3.5⭐
Wayde's Essence • (1895) 4.25⭐
A Misunderstood Artist • (1894) 2.5⭐
Le Mari Terrible • (1895) 3⭐
The Rajah's Treasure • (1896) 4⭐
The Presence by the Fire • (1897) 5⭐
Mr. Marshall's Doppelganger • (1897) 4.5⭐
The Thing in No. 7 • (1894) 3⭐
The Thumbmark • (1894) 3⭐
A Family Elopement1 • (1894) 4.25⭐
Our Little Neighbour • (1895) 3⭐
How Gabriel Became Thompson • (1894) 5⭐
How Pingwill Was Routed • (1895) 3.25⭐
The Loyalty of Esau Common: A Fragment 4⭐
The Wild Asses of the Devil • (1915) 3.5⭐
Answer to Prayer • (1937) 5⭐
The Queer Story of Brownlow's Newspaper • (1932) 4⭐
The Country of the Blind (Revised Version) • (1939) (variant of The Country of the Blind (revised)) 5⭐
Introduction to The Country of the Blind and Other Stories • essay (variant of Introduction (The Country of the Blind and Other Stories) 1911) 5⭐
Introduction to Revised Version of "The Country of the Blind" • essay (variant of Introduction (The Country of the Blind) 1939) 5⭐
November 10, 2009
In 1927, Ernest Benn Ltd. Published “The Short Stories of H. G. Wells”, a collection of 63 works of short fiction and nearly 1150 pages of Wells at his best. The collection has a set of sections, which correspond to previously published collections of Wells’ stories. Some of these stories are clearly science fiction, others are more general fiction, but worth reading nonetheless.
The first section is titled “The Time Machine and Other Stories”. This section is not taken from the contents of another collection, but instead includes the novella “The Time Machine”, and seven other Wells stories. In addition to “The Time Machine”, this section includes several great works by Wells, including “The Empire of the Ants”, “The Door in the Wall”, and “The Country of the Blind”. There have been collections released under this title since the publication of this book, but they do not contain the same set of stories.
The second section is titled “The Stolen Bacillus and Other Stories” and it contains the entire collection of stories from a collection which was originally titled “The Stolen Bacillus and Other Incidents”. These 15 stories were all originally published between December of 1893 and March 28th of 1895. In addition to the title story, this section includes great pieces like “The Flowering of the Strange Orchid”, “The Triumphs of a Taxidermist”, and “The Lord of the Dynamos”.
The third section is titled “The Plattner Story and Others”. This section contains the stories from the collection of the same name, and in addition there are five additional stories bringing the total to 22 stories for the section. In addition to the title story, this section has stories like “The Argonauts of the Air”, “The Apple”, and “A Slip Under the Microscope”
The fourth section is titled “Tales of Time and Space”. It includes the 5 stories from collection of the same name. This section includes stories like “The Crystal Egg”, and longer works like “A Story of the Stone Age”, and “A Story of Days to Come”.
The last section is titled “Twelve Stories and a Dream”. This section contains the 13 stories from the collection of the same name. This section includes stories like “The Magic Shop”, and “The Inexperienced Ghost”. It also contains “A Dream of Armageddon”, the dream from the title.
One cannot go wrong with a collection of Wells short stories. The only flaw would be that this is not a complete collection of his short fiction, but it does contain about two thirds of his short fiction, and it certainly covers his most well-known works. This collection tied for 4th on the Arkham Survey for Basic SF titles with Healy and McComas’ “Adventures in Time and Space”, and behind “Seven Science Fiction Novels” by H. G. Wells (the winner), Aldous Huxley’s “Brave New World”, and Olaf stapledon’s “Last and First Men”. It also finished 19th on the 1952 Astounding/Analog All-Time Poll. If you don’t already have a collection of his works, and this one is available, you would do well to pick it up.
The first section is titled “The Time Machine and Other Stories”. This section is not taken from the contents of another collection, but instead includes the novella “The Time Machine”, and seven other Wells stories. In addition to “The Time Machine”, this section includes several great works by Wells, including “The Empire of the Ants”, “The Door in the Wall”, and “The Country of the Blind”. There have been collections released under this title since the publication of this book, but they do not contain the same set of stories.
The second section is titled “The Stolen Bacillus and Other Stories” and it contains the entire collection of stories from a collection which was originally titled “The Stolen Bacillus and Other Incidents”. These 15 stories were all originally published between December of 1893 and March 28th of 1895. In addition to the title story, this section includes great pieces like “The Flowering of the Strange Orchid”, “The Triumphs of a Taxidermist”, and “The Lord of the Dynamos”.
The third section is titled “The Plattner Story and Others”. This section contains the stories from the collection of the same name, and in addition there are five additional stories bringing the total to 22 stories for the section. In addition to the title story, this section has stories like “The Argonauts of the Air”, “The Apple”, and “A Slip Under the Microscope”
The fourth section is titled “Tales of Time and Space”. It includes the 5 stories from collection of the same name. This section includes stories like “The Crystal Egg”, and longer works like “A Story of the Stone Age”, and “A Story of Days to Come”.
The last section is titled “Twelve Stories and a Dream”. This section contains the 13 stories from the collection of the same name. This section includes stories like “The Magic Shop”, and “The Inexperienced Ghost”. It also contains “A Dream of Armageddon”, the dream from the title.
One cannot go wrong with a collection of Wells short stories. The only flaw would be that this is not a complete collection of his short fiction, but it does contain about two thirds of his short fiction, and it certainly covers his most well-known works. This collection tied for 4th on the Arkham Survey for Basic SF titles with Healy and McComas’ “Adventures in Time and Space”, and behind “Seven Science Fiction Novels” by H. G. Wells (the winner), Aldous Huxley’s “Brave New World”, and Olaf stapledon’s “Last and First Men”. It also finished 19th on the 1952 Astounding/Analog All-Time Poll. If you don’t already have a collection of his works, and this one is available, you would do well to pick it up.
July 26, 2019
H.G. Wells wrote quite a few excellent stories and some duds. He also embraced, enthusiastically, eugenics. So this tome is a mix of insightful science fiction, offensive racism and boring bits. It is also too thick and heavy to curl up with and enjoy.
August 17, 2018
As in any compilation, some stories are really good and some others really meh! Anyway Wells' creativity and inteligence is highly palpable in every single page I've read of his works, it doesn't matter if I ended liking them or not. A true sci-fi writter.
Me encantan las ideas Sci-Fi viejitas, entre más leo a los autores clásicos menos quiero leer a los nuevos. Y es que sus ideas mezclaban perfecto realidad y ciencia con ficción, al grado que no se leen ridículas o imposibles si no simplemente visionarias, cualidad que no todos los autores actuales poseen o que cambian por algo meramente ostentoso.
Lo que más disfrute de Wells este año y medio que leí mucho de su trabajo es precisamente eso, su visión tan única incluso en sus novelas que no me terminaban agradando mucho. En cada historia corta y en cada novela había algo que me impresionaba y definitivamente seguiré buscando sus demás trabajos.
Recomiendo mucho al autor para cualquier persona amante del género y de las largas descripciones.
Me encantan las ideas Sci-Fi viejitas, entre más leo a los autores clásicos menos quiero leer a los nuevos. Y es que sus ideas mezclaban perfecto realidad y ciencia con ficción, al grado que no se leen ridículas o imposibles si no simplemente visionarias, cualidad que no todos los autores actuales poseen o que cambian por algo meramente ostentoso.
Lo que más disfrute de Wells este año y medio que leí mucho de su trabajo es precisamente eso, su visión tan única incluso en sus novelas que no me terminaban agradando mucho. En cada historia corta y en cada novela había algo que me impresionaba y definitivamente seguiré buscando sus demás trabajos.
Recomiendo mucho al autor para cualquier persona amante del género y de las largas descripciones.
July 17, 2023
The Time Machine and Other Stories
The Time Machine 4⭐
The Empire of the Ants 5⭐
The Vision of Judgement 4.5⭐
The Land of Ironclads 3.25⭐
The Beautiful Suit 4⭐
The Door in the Wall 5⭐
The Pearl of Love 5⭐
The Country of the Blind 5⭐
The Stolen Bacillus and Other Incidents
The Stolen Bacillus 5⭐
The Flowering of the Strange Orchid 4⭐
In the Avu Observatory 3.25⭐
The Triumphs of a Taxidermist 3.25⭐
A Deal in Ostriches 4⭐
Through a Window 4.5⭐
The Temptation of Harringay 4⭐
The Flying Man 4⭐
The Diamond Maker 4.5⭐
AEpyornis Island 4.5⭐
The Remarkable Case of Davidson's Eye 4⭐
The Lord of the Dynamos 4.25⭐
The Hammerpond Park Burglary 3⭐
The Moth 4⭐
The Treasure in the Forest 4.25⭐
The Plattner Story and Others
The Plattner Story 3.5⭐
The Argonauts of the Air 3⭐
The Story of the Late Mr. Elvesham 5⭐
In the Abyss3.25⭐
The Apple 5⭐
Under the Knife 3.25⭐
The Sea Raiders 5⭐
Pollock and the Poroh Man 5⭐
The Red Room 5⭐
The Cone 4⭐
The Purple Pileus 2.5⭐
The Jilting of Jane 2⭐
In the Modern Vein: An Unsympathetic Love Story 2.5⭐
The Catastrophe 3⭐
The Lost Inheritance 4⭐
The Sad Story of a Dramatic Critic 3⭐
A Ship Under the Microscope 3.5⭐
My Reconciliation 5⭐
My First Aeroplane 4⭐
Little Mother Up the Morderberg 3.5⭐
The Story of the Last Trump 3.5⭐
The Grizzly Folk 3.5⭐
Tales of Space and Time
The Crystal Egg 4.25⭐
The Star 5⭐
The Story of the Stone Age 4.5⭐
The Story of Days to Come 4.5⭐
The Man Who Could Work Miracles 5⭐
Twelve Stories and a Dream
Filmer 2.75⭐
The Magic Shop 3.5⭐
The Valley of Spiders 4.25⭐
The Truth About Pyecraft 3.5⭐
Mr. Skelmersdale in Fairyland 3.5⭐
The Inexperienced Ghost 4⭐
Jimmy Googles the God 4⭐
The New Accelerator 5⭐
Mrs. Ledbetter's Vacation 5⭐
The Stolen Body 5⭐
Mr. Brisher's Treasure 4⭐
Miss Winchelsea's Heart 3.5⭐
A Dream of Armageddon 4⭐
The Time Machine 4⭐
The Empire of the Ants 5⭐
The Vision of Judgement 4.5⭐
The Land of Ironclads 3.25⭐
The Beautiful Suit 4⭐
The Door in the Wall 5⭐
The Pearl of Love 5⭐
The Country of the Blind 5⭐
The Stolen Bacillus and Other Incidents
The Stolen Bacillus 5⭐
The Flowering of the Strange Orchid 4⭐
In the Avu Observatory 3.25⭐
The Triumphs of a Taxidermist 3.25⭐
A Deal in Ostriches 4⭐
Through a Window 4.5⭐
The Temptation of Harringay 4⭐
The Flying Man 4⭐
The Diamond Maker 4.5⭐
AEpyornis Island 4.5⭐
The Remarkable Case of Davidson's Eye 4⭐
The Lord of the Dynamos 4.25⭐
The Hammerpond Park Burglary 3⭐
The Moth 4⭐
The Treasure in the Forest 4.25⭐
The Plattner Story and Others
The Plattner Story 3.5⭐
The Argonauts of the Air 3⭐
The Story of the Late Mr. Elvesham 5⭐
In the Abyss3.25⭐
The Apple 5⭐
Under the Knife 3.25⭐
The Sea Raiders 5⭐
Pollock and the Poroh Man 5⭐
The Red Room 5⭐
The Cone 4⭐
The Purple Pileus 2.5⭐
The Jilting of Jane 2⭐
In the Modern Vein: An Unsympathetic Love Story 2.5⭐
The Catastrophe 3⭐
The Lost Inheritance 4⭐
The Sad Story of a Dramatic Critic 3⭐
A Ship Under the Microscope 3.5⭐
My Reconciliation 5⭐
My First Aeroplane 4⭐
Little Mother Up the Morderberg 3.5⭐
The Story of the Last Trump 3.5⭐
The Grizzly Folk 3.5⭐
Tales of Space and Time
The Crystal Egg 4.25⭐
The Star 5⭐
The Story of the Stone Age 4.5⭐
The Story of Days to Come 4.5⭐
The Man Who Could Work Miracles 5⭐
Twelve Stories and a Dream
Filmer 2.75⭐
The Magic Shop 3.5⭐
The Valley of Spiders 4.25⭐
The Truth About Pyecraft 3.5⭐
Mr. Skelmersdale in Fairyland 3.5⭐
The Inexperienced Ghost 4⭐
Jimmy Googles the God 4⭐
The New Accelerator 5⭐
Mrs. Ledbetter's Vacation 5⭐
The Stolen Body 5⭐
Mr. Brisher's Treasure 4⭐
Miss Winchelsea's Heart 3.5⭐
A Dream of Armageddon 4⭐
April 1, 2025
“I stuffed a nigger once.”
September 3, 2015
High 3.
Difficult to rate something like this... It is the complete works of H.G. Wells and he was rather prolific. With more than 80 stories in this collection and even a few novellas, one can hardly expect each and every one to be amazing.
There are some fairly average stories, and a few that haven't aged particularly well or hold little for a reader of today, but the good stories are really good (some trumping any of his novels, in my opinion) and most of the collection is worth reading purely in terms of the ideas and how they have influenced film and literature.
Somewhere down the line (I've been working my way through this since December 2013) I started listing highlights. Below is a general list of what I consider to be the best of the collection, with what I consider to be the best of the best in bold:
The Remarkable Case of Davidson's Eyes - 4
The Story of The Late Mr Elvesham - 4
The Moth - 3.5
The Apple - 3.5
Under The Knife - 3
Pollock and the Porroh man - 3.5
The Red Room - 4.5
The Sad Story of a Dramatic Critic - 4
The Star - 3.5
A Story Of Days To Come - 3.5
The Man Who Could Work Miracles - 4
The Truth About Pyecraft - 3
Mr Skemersdale In Fairy Land - 4
The Door In The Wall - 3.5
Empire Of The Ants - 3.5
The Pearl Of Love - 5
The Country Of The Blind - 4.5
The Story Of The Last Trump - 4
The Devotee Of Art - 4
Wayde's Essence - 3.5
The Wild Asses Of The Devil - 3.5
The Presence By The Fire - 4
An Answer To Prayer - 4
The Queer Story of Brownlow's Newspaper - 3
I started making this list about half way through the collection, and it's quite possible that a few more would be added following a 2nd read. Therefore I have listed (as my memory vaguely serves me) some Honorable Mentions:
The Stolen Bacillus - Didn't stand out for me but I remember it being an amusing read.
The Flowering Of The Strange Orchid - Possibly influenced Invasion Of The Bodysnatchers.
The Triumphs of A Taxidermist/A Deal In Ostriches - An amusing read from what I recall.
Through A Window - Think Hitchcock's Rear Window.
The Temptation of Harringay - An early draft of The Devotee of Art. Decent enough but I preferred the revised version.
The Diamond Maker - I can't remember this one very well but I remember enjoying it.
A Slip Under The Microscope - I personally didn't think much of this story, but it is considered one of Wells finest, purely due to the questions it raises on certain moral issues.
The Man With The Nose - Short, amusing story about a man's dissatisfaction with his nose.
Our Little Neighbor - Tragic, mildly horrific little story. Reminded me of that episode of The Twilight Zone with the gremlin.
As I have already said, most of the stories are worth reading, if not for the purpose of entertainment then for the ideas they contain or for their uncanny prophetic nature (as Wells is often noted for).
The Land Ironclads, for example; I didn't particularly like it as a story, but it does predict what are essentially tanks, and in chilling detail. There are also plenty of stories concerning airplanes or similar contraptions which were written before such things had even been produced.
Other things of note:
The story "The Star" reads like an early version of In The Days of The Comet . Those who have read and enjoyed the novel may find that an interesting read.
Both The Last Trump and An Answer To Prayer contain similar themes to The Soul of A Bishop and were possibly early precursors to the writing of the novel.
A Story of The Days To Come is set in the same future society as The Sleeper Awakes .
This collection (2011 Gollancz edition) contains both the original and revised versions of The Country Of The Blind. I personally prefer the original and would recommend reading that first, but the revised is also worth a read.
All in all, a very worthwhile collection. If you are a fan like me, then you'll find the majority of this collections material a very worthwhile read. If you are merely interested in dipping in for a few gems, then I believe most of Well's most popular/famous stories should be either in my list of favorites or the honorable mentions.
Difficult to rate something like this... It is the complete works of H.G. Wells and he was rather prolific. With more than 80 stories in this collection and even a few novellas, one can hardly expect each and every one to be amazing.
There are some fairly average stories, and a few that haven't aged particularly well or hold little for a reader of today, but the good stories are really good (some trumping any of his novels, in my opinion) and most of the collection is worth reading purely in terms of the ideas and how they have influenced film and literature.
Somewhere down the line (I've been working my way through this since December 2013) I started listing highlights. Below is a general list of what I consider to be the best of the collection, with what I consider to be the best of the best in bold:
The Remarkable Case of Davidson's Eyes - 4
The Story of The Late Mr Elvesham - 4
The Moth - 3.5
The Apple - 3.5
Under The Knife - 3
Pollock and the Porroh man - 3.5
The Red Room - 4.5
The Sad Story of a Dramatic Critic - 4
The Star - 3.5
A Story Of Days To Come - 3.5
The Man Who Could Work Miracles - 4
The Truth About Pyecraft - 3
Mr Skemersdale In Fairy Land - 4
The Door In The Wall - 3.5
Empire Of The Ants - 3.5
The Pearl Of Love - 5
The Country Of The Blind - 4.5
The Story Of The Last Trump - 4
The Devotee Of Art - 4
Wayde's Essence - 3.5
The Wild Asses Of The Devil - 3.5
The Presence By The Fire - 4
An Answer To Prayer - 4
The Queer Story of Brownlow's Newspaper - 3
I started making this list about half way through the collection, and it's quite possible that a few more would be added following a 2nd read. Therefore I have listed (as my memory vaguely serves me) some Honorable Mentions:
The Stolen Bacillus - Didn't stand out for me but I remember it being an amusing read.
The Flowering Of The Strange Orchid - Possibly influenced Invasion Of The Bodysnatchers.
The Triumphs of A Taxidermist/A Deal In Ostriches - An amusing read from what I recall.
Through A Window - Think Hitchcock's Rear Window.
The Temptation of Harringay - An early draft of The Devotee of Art. Decent enough but I preferred the revised version.
The Diamond Maker - I can't remember this one very well but I remember enjoying it.
A Slip Under The Microscope - I personally didn't think much of this story, but it is considered one of Wells finest, purely due to the questions it raises on certain moral issues.
The Man With The Nose - Short, amusing story about a man's dissatisfaction with his nose.
Our Little Neighbor - Tragic, mildly horrific little story. Reminded me of that episode of The Twilight Zone with the gremlin.
As I have already said, most of the stories are worth reading, if not for the purpose of entertainment then for the ideas they contain or for their uncanny prophetic nature (as Wells is often noted for).
The Land Ironclads, for example; I didn't particularly like it as a story, but it does predict what are essentially tanks, and in chilling detail. There are also plenty of stories concerning airplanes or similar contraptions which were written before such things had even been produced.
Other things of note:
The story "The Star" reads like an early version of In The Days of The Comet . Those who have read and enjoyed the novel may find that an interesting read.
Both The Last Trump and An Answer To Prayer contain similar themes to The Soul of A Bishop and were possibly early precursors to the writing of the novel.
A Story of The Days To Come is set in the same future society as The Sleeper Awakes .
This collection (2011 Gollancz edition) contains both the original and revised versions of The Country Of The Blind. I personally prefer the original and would recommend reading that first, but the revised is also worth a read.
All in all, a very worthwhile collection. If you are a fan like me, then you'll find the majority of this collections material a very worthwhile read. If you are merely interested in dipping in for a few gems, then I believe most of Well's most popular/famous stories should be either in my list of favorites or the honorable mentions.
January 21, 2013
A great collection of short stories by H.G. Wells.
My favourites -
1) The Empire of the Ants - he comments on the sociobiology of ants. Anticipates the work of E.O. Wilson.
2) The Land Ironclads - he predicts tanks, how they will be constructed, what will be the temperament of tank commanders. Remarkably prescient. Also describes gunsights, conning towers and pedrails in amazing detail. Overall a beautiful pacifist piece.
3) The Country of the Blind - just a beautiful story
4) The Man who Could Work Miracles
5) The Truth about Pyecraft
6) The Star
7) The Valley of the Spiders
8) The Door in the Wall - a story for lost childhood
9) The Jilting of Jane - memorable quote - "We all have our sorrows, but I do not believe very much in the existence of sorrows that never heal"
10) The Star - "All the familiar continental markings and the masses of the seas remain intact, and indeed the only difference seems to be a shrinkage of the white discoloration (supposed to be frozen water) round either pole. Which only shows how small the vastest of human catastrophes may seem, at a distance of a few million miles."
11) The Valley of Spiders
My favourites -
1) The Empire of the Ants - he comments on the sociobiology of ants. Anticipates the work of E.O. Wilson.
2) The Land Ironclads - he predicts tanks, how they will be constructed, what will be the temperament of tank commanders. Remarkably prescient. Also describes gunsights, conning towers and pedrails in amazing detail. Overall a beautiful pacifist piece.
3) The Country of the Blind - just a beautiful story
4) The Man who Could Work Miracles
5) The Truth about Pyecraft
6) The Star
7) The Valley of the Spiders
8) The Door in the Wall - a story for lost childhood
9) The Jilting of Jane - memorable quote - "We all have our sorrows, but I do not believe very much in the existence of sorrows that never heal"
10) The Star - "All the familiar continental markings and the masses of the seas remain intact, and indeed the only difference seems to be a shrinkage of the white discoloration (supposed to be frozen water) round either pole. Which only shows how small the vastest of human catastrophes may seem, at a distance of a few million miles."
11) The Valley of Spiders
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 16, 2016
Two of the most curious aspects of science fiction are firstly that much of it is distinctly unscientific, and secondly that much of it is even sceptical about the very science that has inspired it. Even writers with a background in science (such as HG Wells) are obliged to abandon too rigid a commitment to scientific probability, or too great a faith in the wonders of science.
Of course there is science fiction in which science is allowed to save the day, or where there the writer lays a greater emphasis on making the science as factual as possible. However, for obvious reasons it behoves most science fiction writers to abandon too much focus on scientific fact. Also it makes for poor reading if science is only ever seen as an improving force in the world. The darker side of science is better material for exploration.
Indeed the virtue of the best science fiction is often to disconcert and discomfort the reader. It is perhaps appropriate that the genre arose at a time when old-fashioned views about the dignity and superiority of mankind were starting to be challenged.
The stories of H G Wells do a good job of challenging the special place in the universe that which mankind imagined that they held. His fiction constantly shows human beings at a disadvantage. With a decent understanding of evolution and human descent, Wells lowers us from the realm of the angels.
In two short stories here, mankind is seen as being a descendant from a more brutal prehistoric age in which early humans had to compete with animals and other human-like species to ruthlessly acquire their dominance. In another story, a man is engaged in an absurd fight over food with an extinct ancient bird that leads to him killing this valuable specimen.
The future holds out little hope for mankind either. Humans evolve into weaker specimens such as the Eloi and Morlocks before disappearing off the face of the earth. Future societies are unable to save themselves from the effects of war. Humans living in the future find themselves struggling with the same tawdry financial problems that undermine them in the present.
Indeed the future may not belong to us, but to another species. In one story, ants begin to evolve levels of intelligence that threaten to make humanity extinct. Humans are also assailed by spiders, underwater monsters and mysterious flying jungle creatures. Elsewhere a giant star nearly wipes out all life on the planet when it narrowly avoids collision with us, but this event is merely a matter of interest to observers on other planets, further downplaying the significance of the dwellers in our world.
Other worlds also threaten to impinge on our own. Characters have dreams of future worlds that cause them fear and confusion. Sometimes they catch glimpses of alternative worlds that seem better than ours, and which leave them dissatisfied with our own. Even finding a society that appears lesser than our own does not offer a guarantee of human superiority. Hence a man who finds a country of blind people soon discovers that far from dominating this world he will be treated as an idiot by a society of people who cannot understand his extra sense.
These other worlds may be those that lie on the other side of death. Men are taken outside of the earthly world into worlds of phantoms that harrow them. Ineffectual ghosts appear and have to be helped back into their own dimension.
There is little comfort of a heavenly afterlife in these stories, and religion offers little solace. Wells was not an atheist, but he does not present humans as being the special creatures under the special protection of a benevolent god. Rather we are just one more scurrying animal whose time on this planet is limited.
In one tale, God pronounces harsh judgments that send everyone to hell. In another, the last trump is mostly ignored by a sceptical population. Elsewhere one man acquires the ability to perform miracles, but instead destroys all life on the planet before hastily using his powers to undo all the harm he did, and indeed to remove his own ‘gift’. In another story, a worker from the East begins to revere the dynamos in his factory as a god, and sacrifices his employer to them.
Even human identity is under challenge, and there are a few stories here in which humans experience body swaps, sometimes reversible and sometimes not. Sanity too is no guarantee, and one man becomes obsessed with a dead rival that he believes is haunting him in the shape of a dead moth. Another man is haunted by the upside-down head of a Porrah man that he killed, and which he can only escape through suicide.
There is a curious blend of the remarkable and the unremarkable in Wells’ stories. While the events that Wells describes are remarkable, the heroes who experience them are not. Often they are comically ordinary in a way that dissipates some of the potential horror that the stories might evoke. While some stories may deal in the same subject matter as the stories of Poe or Lovecraft, they lack the overwrought and hypnotic prose of those writers. Wells was certainly a very imaginative writer, but his imagination went into his development of the stories. His prose is far more plain and matter-of-fact.
There are remarkable people here who show a curiosity and genius that raises them above the other characters, but they tend to be over-reachers. The Time Traveller insists on a second journey after his risky first one, and is never seen again. A similar fate awaits a scientist who discovers an underwater world though a submersible. Early pioneers of flight meet unhappy ends in crashes, or through suicide. Even a man who attempts to learn the trick of passing one’s soul into the next life only brings about his death.
Indeed science can be a dangerous business, producing armoured vehicles and planes for warfare, and a bacillus that could be used for germ warfare. It is not only the pioneers, but science itself that threatens to over-reach.
There are darker glimpses of human nature here too, with stories that involve jealousy, infidelity, murder, theft, suicide and forgery. Not to mention the lesser sins of snobbery, pettiness and vanity.
However, the more characteristic hero of a Wells short story is the Mr Polly type of character – the man whose life is utterly unremarkable, save for the extraordinary things that happen to him. This is also true of the non-science fiction short stories included in this volume. A timid teacher tries his hand at burglary and is spirited away to a distant island. A lady rejects a suitor because his surname is ridiculous and pines away when she learns that he willingly changed the name for a new wife.
It may be asked why Wells is so concerned with portraying the more commonplace and absurd side of human nature. Clearly this is partly for comical and satirical purposes, and partly as a way of easing off the potential horror contained in some of the stories. Whether this is a good idea or not is a matter for the reader’s tastes, but Wells was attempting to write fiction with speculative ideas, not to produce sensational potboilers.
I can’t help wondering though if Wells is drawn to the small-minded man because he saw a little bit of himself in those characters. Certainly a few of the heroes in these stories share letters in their names with Wells himself – Wallace, Wedderburn, Woodhouse, Watkins, Winslow etc.
In some respects, Wells was an advanced man for his time, with ideas that were new and progressive. He was an enthusiast for science, and also a socialist. However, in other respects, his attitudes were indeed rooted in the parochial attitudes of his time. For example, women rarely come to play a big part in any of the stories here. When we do see women, they are often shrewish wives, servants or silly girls who fail to marry for one reason or another.
In his attitude towards race too, Wells is rather deplorable by modern standards. The liberal use of the n-word will be uncomfortable for today’s readers, but not as much as his portrayal of black people. They are generally savages, and are often kicked around by white people. Admittedly this comes at a price, and the black servants often get to avenge themselves on their brutal masters. However, the black characters are generally superstitious, treacherous and murderous. None are ever treated with the same respect as the white characters.
There is a wide variety of stories here, showing the enormous sweep of Wells’ imagination. Five stars may seem a high rating, and the stories are not all consistently brilliant. However, every story has some point of interest, and Wells shows himself to be a surprisingly gifted short story writer. I tend to rate generously, as I recognise that writing a book of merit is not an easy thing to do, and I believe we should more clearly distinguish the classic work from the dross.
The book was given to me by a friend, and I began it with low expectations. However, I found the book more enjoyable than I ever imagined, and have no hesitation in recommending it to others.
*I don’t imagine anyone is interested in reading it, but I have reviewed The Time Machine separately, although it is included in my collection of short stories here.
Of course there is science fiction in which science is allowed to save the day, or where there the writer lays a greater emphasis on making the science as factual as possible. However, for obvious reasons it behoves most science fiction writers to abandon too much focus on scientific fact. Also it makes for poor reading if science is only ever seen as an improving force in the world. The darker side of science is better material for exploration.
Indeed the virtue of the best science fiction is often to disconcert and discomfort the reader. It is perhaps appropriate that the genre arose at a time when old-fashioned views about the dignity and superiority of mankind were starting to be challenged.
The stories of H G Wells do a good job of challenging the special place in the universe that which mankind imagined that they held. His fiction constantly shows human beings at a disadvantage. With a decent understanding of evolution and human descent, Wells lowers us from the realm of the angels.
In two short stories here, mankind is seen as being a descendant from a more brutal prehistoric age in which early humans had to compete with animals and other human-like species to ruthlessly acquire their dominance. In another story, a man is engaged in an absurd fight over food with an extinct ancient bird that leads to him killing this valuable specimen.
The future holds out little hope for mankind either. Humans evolve into weaker specimens such as the Eloi and Morlocks before disappearing off the face of the earth. Future societies are unable to save themselves from the effects of war. Humans living in the future find themselves struggling with the same tawdry financial problems that undermine them in the present.
Indeed the future may not belong to us, but to another species. In one story, ants begin to evolve levels of intelligence that threaten to make humanity extinct. Humans are also assailed by spiders, underwater monsters and mysterious flying jungle creatures. Elsewhere a giant star nearly wipes out all life on the planet when it narrowly avoids collision with us, but this event is merely a matter of interest to observers on other planets, further downplaying the significance of the dwellers in our world.
Other worlds also threaten to impinge on our own. Characters have dreams of future worlds that cause them fear and confusion. Sometimes they catch glimpses of alternative worlds that seem better than ours, and which leave them dissatisfied with our own. Even finding a society that appears lesser than our own does not offer a guarantee of human superiority. Hence a man who finds a country of blind people soon discovers that far from dominating this world he will be treated as an idiot by a society of people who cannot understand his extra sense.
These other worlds may be those that lie on the other side of death. Men are taken outside of the earthly world into worlds of phantoms that harrow them. Ineffectual ghosts appear and have to be helped back into their own dimension.
There is little comfort of a heavenly afterlife in these stories, and religion offers little solace. Wells was not an atheist, but he does not present humans as being the special creatures under the special protection of a benevolent god. Rather we are just one more scurrying animal whose time on this planet is limited.
In one tale, God pronounces harsh judgments that send everyone to hell. In another, the last trump is mostly ignored by a sceptical population. Elsewhere one man acquires the ability to perform miracles, but instead destroys all life on the planet before hastily using his powers to undo all the harm he did, and indeed to remove his own ‘gift’. In another story, a worker from the East begins to revere the dynamos in his factory as a god, and sacrifices his employer to them.
Even human identity is under challenge, and there are a few stories here in which humans experience body swaps, sometimes reversible and sometimes not. Sanity too is no guarantee, and one man becomes obsessed with a dead rival that he believes is haunting him in the shape of a dead moth. Another man is haunted by the upside-down head of a Porrah man that he killed, and which he can only escape through suicide.
There is a curious blend of the remarkable and the unremarkable in Wells’ stories. While the events that Wells describes are remarkable, the heroes who experience them are not. Often they are comically ordinary in a way that dissipates some of the potential horror that the stories might evoke. While some stories may deal in the same subject matter as the stories of Poe or Lovecraft, they lack the overwrought and hypnotic prose of those writers. Wells was certainly a very imaginative writer, but his imagination went into his development of the stories. His prose is far more plain and matter-of-fact.
There are remarkable people here who show a curiosity and genius that raises them above the other characters, but they tend to be over-reachers. The Time Traveller insists on a second journey after his risky first one, and is never seen again. A similar fate awaits a scientist who discovers an underwater world though a submersible. Early pioneers of flight meet unhappy ends in crashes, or through suicide. Even a man who attempts to learn the trick of passing one’s soul into the next life only brings about his death.
Indeed science can be a dangerous business, producing armoured vehicles and planes for warfare, and a bacillus that could be used for germ warfare. It is not only the pioneers, but science itself that threatens to over-reach.
There are darker glimpses of human nature here too, with stories that involve jealousy, infidelity, murder, theft, suicide and forgery. Not to mention the lesser sins of snobbery, pettiness and vanity.
However, the more characteristic hero of a Wells short story is the Mr Polly type of character – the man whose life is utterly unremarkable, save for the extraordinary things that happen to him. This is also true of the non-science fiction short stories included in this volume. A timid teacher tries his hand at burglary and is spirited away to a distant island. A lady rejects a suitor because his surname is ridiculous and pines away when she learns that he willingly changed the name for a new wife.
It may be asked why Wells is so concerned with portraying the more commonplace and absurd side of human nature. Clearly this is partly for comical and satirical purposes, and partly as a way of easing off the potential horror contained in some of the stories. Whether this is a good idea or not is a matter for the reader’s tastes, but Wells was attempting to write fiction with speculative ideas, not to produce sensational potboilers.
I can’t help wondering though if Wells is drawn to the small-minded man because he saw a little bit of himself in those characters. Certainly a few of the heroes in these stories share letters in their names with Wells himself – Wallace, Wedderburn, Woodhouse, Watkins, Winslow etc.
In some respects, Wells was an advanced man for his time, with ideas that were new and progressive. He was an enthusiast for science, and also a socialist. However, in other respects, his attitudes were indeed rooted in the parochial attitudes of his time. For example, women rarely come to play a big part in any of the stories here. When we do see women, they are often shrewish wives, servants or silly girls who fail to marry for one reason or another.
In his attitude towards race too, Wells is rather deplorable by modern standards. The liberal use of the n-word will be uncomfortable for today’s readers, but not as much as his portrayal of black people. They are generally savages, and are often kicked around by white people. Admittedly this comes at a price, and the black servants often get to avenge themselves on their brutal masters. However, the black characters are generally superstitious, treacherous and murderous. None are ever treated with the same respect as the white characters.
There is a wide variety of stories here, showing the enormous sweep of Wells’ imagination. Five stars may seem a high rating, and the stories are not all consistently brilliant. However, every story has some point of interest, and Wells shows himself to be a surprisingly gifted short story writer. I tend to rate generously, as I recognise that writing a book of merit is not an easy thing to do, and I believe we should more clearly distinguish the classic work from the dross.
The book was given to me by a friend, and I began it with low expectations. However, I found the book more enjoyable than I ever imagined, and have no hesitation in recommending it to others.
*I don’t imagine anyone is interested in reading it, but I have reviewed The Time Machine separately, although it is included in my collection of short stories here.
June 18, 2021
During the 1990s I became a member of the HG Wells Society and amassed a collection of over 100 of his books (almost all of them, in fact). I exchanged a few letters with the wonderful Mr Hammond (the editor of this volume) who was president of the Society at the time and I found him to be a fascinating and endearing man. There was nothing about Wells he didn't know.
This book I saw - on a rare trip to London - sitting in the window of a second hand shop on Charing Cross Road. I vividly recall running in to snap it up for £20. It was the hardback edition in the red dust jacket. It weighed a ton and I had to lug round with me all day long. I lent it to someone about ten years later and never got it back. Man, I hate it when that happens - don't you?
It's hard to love every single piece in this book. You will have your favourites, for sure. But there is nothing in here that is entirely without merit, the wonderful Mr Hammond sees to that. I myself have a special affection for "The Man Who Could Work Miracles", probably because I loved the old film so much as a boy.
This book I saw - on a rare trip to London - sitting in the window of a second hand shop on Charing Cross Road. I vividly recall running in to snap it up for £20. It was the hardback edition in the red dust jacket. It weighed a ton and I had to lug round with me all day long. I lent it to someone about ten years later and never got it back. Man, I hate it when that happens - don't you?
It's hard to love every single piece in this book. You will have your favourites, for sure. But there is nothing in here that is entirely without merit, the wonderful Mr Hammond sees to that. I myself have a special affection for "The Man Who Could Work Miracles", probably because I loved the old film so much as a boy.
December 2, 2022
Read across the course of the last few months. While Wells’s novels are superior to his short fictions, there’s no arguing that his visionary brilliance and wit shines like a fiesta of floodlights across this enormous volume. I reviewed some of the highlights here. The later pieces are less engaging, so I have bookmarked the following for my future self to read at a later date. Here you are, future me:
Unread (for future reference):
‘A Story of the Stone Age’
‘A Story of the Days to Come’
‘Mr Skelmersdale in Fairyland’
‘The Inexperienced Ghost’
‘Mr. Ledbetter’s Vacation’
‘The Stolen Body’
‘Mr Brisher’s Treasure’
‘Miss Winchelsea’s Heart’
‘A Dream of Armageddon’
Unread (for future reference):
‘A Story of the Stone Age’
‘A Story of the Days to Come’
‘Mr Skelmersdale in Fairyland’
‘The Inexperienced Ghost’
‘Mr. Ledbetter’s Vacation’
‘The Stolen Body’
‘Mr Brisher’s Treasure’
‘Miss Winchelsea’s Heart’
‘A Dream of Armageddon’
April 7, 2025
Stories, and that's it
Stories, and that's it... Arranged alphabetically, with no navigation other than the Basic pull down (ie. No table page, back navigation, or publication info. You do get what's promised, but you can get same plus the other bits in other publications
Stories, and that's it... Arranged alphabetically, with no navigation other than the Basic pull down (ie. No table page, back navigation, or publication info. You do get what's promised, but you can get same plus the other bits in other publications
March 15, 2025
Still excellent a hundred years after they were written (3.5 stars)
For a guy who lived almost half his life in the 19th century, it's amazing how well the fiction of H.G. Wells (1866-1946) has stood the test of time, and can still be enjoyed and appreciated by readers today. An early pioneer of the science fiction genre, he's especially known for his novels, and four in particular stand out: The Time Machine (1895), The Island of Doctor Moreau (1896), The Invisible Man (1897), and The War of the Worlds (1898). But it's not his novels, but his short stories that are the subject of this review. He wrote over eighty of them in the course of his life, and I've read well over half of them. These are my personal favourites which I enjoyed the most:
⁃ "The Story of the Late Mr Elvesham" (5 stars): A brilliant premise in which a young man's mind ends up in old man’s body. Is this where Tim Powers got the idea for his book Anubis Gates from?
⁃ "The Country of the Blind" (5 stars): Apparently a one-eyed man isn't king among the blind after all; at least that's what a man who ends up in an isolated region full of blind people discovers. It's a brilliant reversal of perceptions and of what is normal, and shows the power of the collective against the individual.
⁃ "The Apple" (4.5 stars): More of a literary story, in which a schoolmaster is given an apple from the Tree of Knowledge by a stranger on a train. While some biblical inaccuracies detract from the storyline, this more literary story has interesting things to say about knowledge and about sin.
⁃ "The New Accelerator" (4 stars): Suppose your inventor friend comes up with a drug that lets you speed up your actions to a thousand times those of everyone else, so you can move about them as if they're frozen? It's a great concept.
⁃ "The Treasure in the Forest" (3.5 stars): More of an adventure story, this tells the tale of two men who hike into a secret forest to find a hidden treasure. It's really the ending that made this for me, but it's a story that warns against the allure of wealth and unchecked greed.
⁃ "The Stolen Bacillus" (3.5 stars): Another story with a fun twist at the end, this is about a deadly cholera bacterium that apparently gets stolen by an anarchist.
⁃ "The Man Who Could Work Miracles" (3.5 stars): A man makes a strong argument against miracles, when he accidentally performs one. What will he do next with his amazing power?
⁃ "Mr Ledbetter's Vacation" (3.5 stars): A vicar gets more than he bargained when he decides on a whim to step out of his usual calm character and seek adventure by performing a burglary. Light, whimsical, and entertaining.
⁃ "The Magic Shop" (3 stars): A son pulls his father into a magic shop for a demonstration of magic tricks, but things take a sinister turn when the tricks become increasingly powerful. The ending is somewhat ambiguous, and raises questions about what is real versus what is an illusion. And is the point merely to highlight a need for protecting the innocence of children, or is there a deeper meaning about how we lose our sense of innocence and wonder as we get older?
⁃ "The Truth about Pyecraft" (3 stars): A lesser known but humorous and light story about a fat man who loses weight - literally!
- "Answer to Prayer" (3 stars): A less popular story, but for me it made a strong impression in light of my religious beliefs. What happens if a religious man who frequently goes through the motions of prayer actually prays from the heart, and gets an immediate answer?
Besides "Answer to Prayer", all of the above titles are well-known and popular stories in the H.G. Wells' canon. But there are plenty of other highly regarded stories Wells has written that deserve mention too. While these wouldn't make the cut for me personally as personal favourites, clearly others respect and admire them very highly, and many of them are still decent stories worth taking a look at.
⁃ "The Door in the Wall": This is more literary in nature, and often considered by many as Wells' best short story. A man tells the story of a magical world he visited as a child but has never been able to return to. Is it real or is it a dream?
⁃ "Dream of Armageddon": Another common favourite for many. A man dreams of a terrible future world war he could have prevented by choosing duty over love. Again it raises questions about what is real and what is a dream, and about why we have a craving for pleasure and beauty.
⁃ "The Pearl of Love": A prince who has lost his love resolves to build a glorious monument for her. There's a shocking ending as he forgets his original intent. The point is somewhat ambiguous, but some have interpreted this as a warning about how we can often make an idol of our loved ones and eventually forget them altogether in our worship of them.
- "The Star": An apocalyptic scenario as a star appears in the sky, and gets increasingly larger since it is on a collision course with earth.
⁃ "The Empire of the Ants": Humanity is threatened by an ant that has evolved in an aggressive and intelligent way. It's another story with an open ending, which to me felt unfinished and begged for more, although the concept is good.
⁃ "The Flowering of the Strange Orchid": A rather decent story bordering on sci-fi horror, about an attacking orchid; but for me the ending was too abrupt.
- "The Sea Raiders": Another decent story that borders on sci-fi and horror, this time featuring giant squid-like creatures that attack people from the sea.
⁃ "Valley of Spiders": More gothic horror, with giant spiders being the source of terror; really not my thing.
⁃ "The Cone": A man takes terrible revenge on another man who was having affair with his wife. Too gory for me, unfortunately.
⁃ "The Crystal Egg": An unusual crystal egg proves to be a portal that enables remote viewing onto Mars.
⁃ "Aepyornis Island": Suppose a castaway comes across a prehistoric egg ... and manages to hatch it?! Quite a decent story.
⁃ "The Red Room": A ghost story about a skeptical man who experiences the fear of meeting a ghost in a haunted house. It's one of Wells' more popular stories, but just didn't interest me much.
⁃ "The Inexperienced Ghost": Another ghost story, this time about a man meets a ghost so pathetic that it can’t get back to the spirit world. But a surprise is in store when the man tries to replicate the moves the ghost did to pass back into the vale of shades.
⁃ "The Triumphs of a Taxidermist": An interesting idea about a man who commits taxidermy fraud by forging existing birds and inventing new ones, but it feels more like a concept and isn't long enough for a story. Also worth a look is the follow-up, "A Deal in Ostriches".
⁃ "Miss Winchelsea’s Heart": This story shows how Wells was capable of a wide range of different types of story. It's about a pretentious woman who falls in love with a stranger, but her later regret after she first rejects him when she finds out his name is the undesirable "Snooks".
⁃ "A Slip Under the Microscope": A student confesses to accidental cheating and gets thrown out of university - but I was left wondering what the point of the story is.
- "The Stolen Body": Another "out-of-body experience" story, as a man has his body taken over by demon-like creature. It's a clever concept, but a bit dark and not my favourite.
⁃ "Mr. Skelmersdale in Fairyland": This is about someone's impossible obsession for a perfect woman, but like some of Wells' other stories, just didn't sustain my interest.
Nearly all of the above stories are quite short and easy to read, which is remarkable considering how long ago they were written. They also show that H.G. Wells was capable of a wide range of different types of fiction. While the genre is predominantly science-fiction, some feel more like horror stories, others adventure stories, and others again are quite literary in nature. Some of his speculative fiction anticipated later inventions that would be used in war such as aircraft ("The Argonauts of the Air"), and tanks ("The Land Ironclads"). I especially enjoyed his stories about fantastic inventions and concepts, as well as his more whimsical or humorous stories, and those with unexpected twists. To lend authenticity to his tales and make them more believable, Wells often uses a framing device, by having the story told by a character in the tale. And while Wells was not a Christian and at times his atheist presuppositions show, he does sometimes work with Christian ideas and themes.
But they're not all good. For the most part his stories communicate remarkably well to modern audiences, but occasionally they do feel dated. What was normal behaviour and within the daily experience of 19th century people can at times feel obscure to modern readers, e.g. some methods of transport. At other times his stories end too quickly, and feel more like an exploration of a concept rather than a narrative tale. The point of some of them is ambiguous and unclear, and while this may be an intentional stylistic choice on his part, it can sometimes be frustrating for the reader. But because they're all so short, it's worth wading through them to find the gems - and there are enough of them to make reading H.G. Wells short stories a rewarding exercise.
For a guy who lived almost half his life in the 19th century, it's amazing how well the fiction of H.G. Wells (1866-1946) has stood the test of time, and can still be enjoyed and appreciated by readers today. An early pioneer of the science fiction genre, he's especially known for his novels, and four in particular stand out: The Time Machine (1895), The Island of Doctor Moreau (1896), The Invisible Man (1897), and The War of the Worlds (1898). But it's not his novels, but his short stories that are the subject of this review. He wrote over eighty of them in the course of his life, and I've read well over half of them. These are my personal favourites which I enjoyed the most:
⁃ "The Story of the Late Mr Elvesham" (5 stars): A brilliant premise in which a young man's mind ends up in old man’s body. Is this where Tim Powers got the idea for his book Anubis Gates from?
⁃ "The Country of the Blind" (5 stars): Apparently a one-eyed man isn't king among the blind after all; at least that's what a man who ends up in an isolated region full of blind people discovers. It's a brilliant reversal of perceptions and of what is normal, and shows the power of the collective against the individual.
⁃ "The Apple" (4.5 stars): More of a literary story, in which a schoolmaster is given an apple from the Tree of Knowledge by a stranger on a train. While some biblical inaccuracies detract from the storyline, this more literary story has interesting things to say about knowledge and about sin.
⁃ "The New Accelerator" (4 stars): Suppose your inventor friend comes up with a drug that lets you speed up your actions to a thousand times those of everyone else, so you can move about them as if they're frozen? It's a great concept.
⁃ "The Treasure in the Forest" (3.5 stars): More of an adventure story, this tells the tale of two men who hike into a secret forest to find a hidden treasure. It's really the ending that made this for me, but it's a story that warns against the allure of wealth and unchecked greed.
⁃ "The Stolen Bacillus" (3.5 stars): Another story with a fun twist at the end, this is about a deadly cholera bacterium that apparently gets stolen by an anarchist.
⁃ "The Man Who Could Work Miracles" (3.5 stars): A man makes a strong argument against miracles, when he accidentally performs one. What will he do next with his amazing power?
⁃ "Mr Ledbetter's Vacation" (3.5 stars): A vicar gets more than he bargained when he decides on a whim to step out of his usual calm character and seek adventure by performing a burglary. Light, whimsical, and entertaining.
⁃ "The Magic Shop" (3 stars): A son pulls his father into a magic shop for a demonstration of magic tricks, but things take a sinister turn when the tricks become increasingly powerful. The ending is somewhat ambiguous, and raises questions about what is real versus what is an illusion. And is the point merely to highlight a need for protecting the innocence of children, or is there a deeper meaning about how we lose our sense of innocence and wonder as we get older?
⁃ "The Truth about Pyecraft" (3 stars): A lesser known but humorous and light story about a fat man who loses weight - literally!
- "Answer to Prayer" (3 stars): A less popular story, but for me it made a strong impression in light of my religious beliefs. What happens if a religious man who frequently goes through the motions of prayer actually prays from the heart, and gets an immediate answer?
Besides "Answer to Prayer", all of the above titles are well-known and popular stories in the H.G. Wells' canon. But there are plenty of other highly regarded stories Wells has written that deserve mention too. While these wouldn't make the cut for me personally as personal favourites, clearly others respect and admire them very highly, and many of them are still decent stories worth taking a look at.
⁃ "The Door in the Wall": This is more literary in nature, and often considered by many as Wells' best short story. A man tells the story of a magical world he visited as a child but has never been able to return to. Is it real or is it a dream?
⁃ "Dream of Armageddon": Another common favourite for many. A man dreams of a terrible future world war he could have prevented by choosing duty over love. Again it raises questions about what is real and what is a dream, and about why we have a craving for pleasure and beauty.
⁃ "The Pearl of Love": A prince who has lost his love resolves to build a glorious monument for her. There's a shocking ending as he forgets his original intent. The point is somewhat ambiguous, but some have interpreted this as a warning about how we can often make an idol of our loved ones and eventually forget them altogether in our worship of them.
- "The Star": An apocalyptic scenario as a star appears in the sky, and gets increasingly larger since it is on a collision course with earth.
⁃ "The Empire of the Ants": Humanity is threatened by an ant that has evolved in an aggressive and intelligent way. It's another story with an open ending, which to me felt unfinished and begged for more, although the concept is good.
⁃ "The Flowering of the Strange Orchid": A rather decent story bordering on sci-fi horror, about an attacking orchid; but for me the ending was too abrupt.
- "The Sea Raiders": Another decent story that borders on sci-fi and horror, this time featuring giant squid-like creatures that attack people from the sea.
⁃ "Valley of Spiders": More gothic horror, with giant spiders being the source of terror; really not my thing.
⁃ "The Cone": A man takes terrible revenge on another man who was having affair with his wife. Too gory for me, unfortunately.
⁃ "The Crystal Egg": An unusual crystal egg proves to be a portal that enables remote viewing onto Mars.
⁃ "Aepyornis Island": Suppose a castaway comes across a prehistoric egg ... and manages to hatch it?! Quite a decent story.
⁃ "The Red Room": A ghost story about a skeptical man who experiences the fear of meeting a ghost in a haunted house. It's one of Wells' more popular stories, but just didn't interest me much.
⁃ "The Inexperienced Ghost": Another ghost story, this time about a man meets a ghost so pathetic that it can’t get back to the spirit world. But a surprise is in store when the man tries to replicate the moves the ghost did to pass back into the vale of shades.
⁃ "The Triumphs of a Taxidermist": An interesting idea about a man who commits taxidermy fraud by forging existing birds and inventing new ones, but it feels more like a concept and isn't long enough for a story. Also worth a look is the follow-up, "A Deal in Ostriches".
⁃ "Miss Winchelsea’s Heart": This story shows how Wells was capable of a wide range of different types of story. It's about a pretentious woman who falls in love with a stranger, but her later regret after she first rejects him when she finds out his name is the undesirable "Snooks".
⁃ "A Slip Under the Microscope": A student confesses to accidental cheating and gets thrown out of university - but I was left wondering what the point of the story is.
- "The Stolen Body": Another "out-of-body experience" story, as a man has his body taken over by demon-like creature. It's a clever concept, but a bit dark and not my favourite.
⁃ "Mr. Skelmersdale in Fairyland": This is about someone's impossible obsession for a perfect woman, but like some of Wells' other stories, just didn't sustain my interest.
Nearly all of the above stories are quite short and easy to read, which is remarkable considering how long ago they were written. They also show that H.G. Wells was capable of a wide range of different types of fiction. While the genre is predominantly science-fiction, some feel more like horror stories, others adventure stories, and others again are quite literary in nature. Some of his speculative fiction anticipated later inventions that would be used in war such as aircraft ("The Argonauts of the Air"), and tanks ("The Land Ironclads"). I especially enjoyed his stories about fantastic inventions and concepts, as well as his more whimsical or humorous stories, and those with unexpected twists. To lend authenticity to his tales and make them more believable, Wells often uses a framing device, by having the story told by a character in the tale. And while Wells was not a Christian and at times his atheist presuppositions show, he does sometimes work with Christian ideas and themes.
But they're not all good. For the most part his stories communicate remarkably well to modern audiences, but occasionally they do feel dated. What was normal behaviour and within the daily experience of 19th century people can at times feel obscure to modern readers, e.g. some methods of transport. At other times his stories end too quickly, and feel more like an exploration of a concept rather than a narrative tale. The point of some of them is ambiguous and unclear, and while this may be an intentional stylistic choice on his part, it can sometimes be frustrating for the reader. But because they're all so short, it's worth wading through them to find the gems - and there are enough of them to make reading H.G. Wells short stories a rewarding exercise.
March 7, 2013
This gets a 5 star not because I loved every story, but for "The Truth about Pyecraft." Had all his other stories been wretched, the rating would have been the same as this story would redeem them all.
December 14, 2007
As a young man, I loved Wells. As a disaffected kid who thought he could find truth hidden somewhere inside a book, Wells' novels and stories were some of my favorite places to look.
December 5, 2017
Wells' prose is a delight to read: clear, simple, often beautiful.
July 13, 2019
My copy of this volume is a low-priced hardover reprint from 1970 of a 1927 original. There were many impressions over the years; this one is the 21st impression. Ernest Benn in London and St. Martins in New York apparently put out identical editions; like the Modern Library Giants this is well-bound with very thin, very white and acid-free pages and a quite readable typeface - all in all, an excellent physical book for years of joy.
As to the stories - this is more-or-less every piece of short fiction Wells ever published. I say more-or-less because there are some small pieces of ephemera that were at one time published in papers or magazines that the author chose not to collect; some of these were later published in the 2001 Orion Publishing "Complete Short Stories" which is itself out of print and fetching very high prices. For all but the really hardcore Wellsian or academic, this Benn/St. Martins edition, or the Phoenix, or any other popular-priced edition will probably do just fine.
There are 63 stories in all; not every one of them is technically a "short story"; the book includes, as many Wells collections do, his first, short novel of 1895, THE TIME MACHINE, which made his name and remains his most famous and conceivably greatest work of science fiction. Also included are the near-novel-length A STORY OF THE STONE AGE and A STORY OF THE DAYS TO COME (both 1897) - the latter almost an alternate version of WHEN THE SLEEPER AWAKES published a couple of years later.
Of course it is for his flights of fantasy and scientific imagination that Wells was, and is, best known for, and certainly a great many of the best stories here fall into those categories; my personal favorites are probably "The Country of the Blind", "The New Accelerator", "The Red Room" (a creepy Poe-like horror tale), "The Man Who Could Work Miracles", "The Star", "The Magic Shop", and especially "The Door in the Wall" which I would rank among the greatest of all short stories in English. But there are a number of realistic stories too, most dealing with life among the lower and lower middle classes, and many of these are quite striking as well - I challenge anyone not to be unnerved by story of the jealous lover and his vengeance in "The Cone", for example.
Nothing but the stories here - no preface, no introduction, no information on original publications, footnotes - just these great, timeless works that have sadly fallen into neglect but are highly deserving of rediscovery.
As to the stories - this is more-or-less every piece of short fiction Wells ever published. I say more-or-less because there are some small pieces of ephemera that were at one time published in papers or magazines that the author chose not to collect; some of these were later published in the 2001 Orion Publishing "Complete Short Stories" which is itself out of print and fetching very high prices. For all but the really hardcore Wellsian or academic, this Benn/St. Martins edition, or the Phoenix, or any other popular-priced edition will probably do just fine.
There are 63 stories in all; not every one of them is technically a "short story"; the book includes, as many Wells collections do, his first, short novel of 1895, THE TIME MACHINE, which made his name and remains his most famous and conceivably greatest work of science fiction. Also included are the near-novel-length A STORY OF THE STONE AGE and A STORY OF THE DAYS TO COME (both 1897) - the latter almost an alternate version of WHEN THE SLEEPER AWAKES published a couple of years later.
Of course it is for his flights of fantasy and scientific imagination that Wells was, and is, best known for, and certainly a great many of the best stories here fall into those categories; my personal favorites are probably "The Country of the Blind", "The New Accelerator", "The Red Room" (a creepy Poe-like horror tale), "The Man Who Could Work Miracles", "The Star", "The Magic Shop", and especially "The Door in the Wall" which I would rank among the greatest of all short stories in English. But there are a number of realistic stories too, most dealing with life among the lower and lower middle classes, and many of these are quite striking as well - I challenge anyone not to be unnerved by story of the jealous lover and his vengeance in "The Cone", for example.
Nothing but the stories here - no preface, no introduction, no information on original publications, footnotes - just these great, timeless works that have sadly fallen into neglect but are highly deserving of rediscovery.
Currently reading
January 21, 2026This volume is a collection of collections, presumably re-edited and extended to include the Uncollected Stories” which now contains two previously unpublished stories. The collections seem ordered as originally published, showing Wells’ development as a writer.
Now that I'm in to the third set (collection), I’ve decided to review each set as I finish before the stories fade from memory after the first two below
At this point, the range of stories is incredible, from a simple love story, to voodoo, to alternate dimensions, to bizarre speculations on the future (currently reading) and covering Speculative Fiction, Horror and General Fiction.
However, published late in the last millennium, this text isn't political sanitized. Characters are class conscious, and often treat servants, slaves, and women badly.
set 1 The Stolen Bacillus & (14) Other Stories. (read 9/9-21/9)
Some are so short I read two during my morning coffee break. The first surprise was so many horror stories, (a man-eating plant), and comedy in .The stolen Bacillus as well as his trademark speculations, The Diamond Maker in which something that should be a bonus, as in The Invisible Man, and The Country of the Blind, backfires tragically.
But the standout for me was Through a Window, Think Hitchcock’s Rear Window except what our hero sees is “Malay” chased along a canal, shot at, and eventually killed by his employer in our laid up hero room, seemingly with impunity. "I didn't mean to kill him."
set 2 The Plattner Story and (17) Others (read 22/9-15/10)
This, and the previous collection, have Victorian mores, it has a character stab a woman “as though he had been a mere low-class Italian.” That said, The Red Room is a ghost story with an interesting twist. Add to that a scattering of ordinary stories: a love story, a brutal revenge murder by a cuckold, a deep-sea dive in a submersible, an exam cheat at university, immortality by stealing other people’s lives, and in what must be the seed for War of the Worlds; “The Star” has astronomer Ogilvy and Mars. All told with a keen insight into human behaviour.
My standout is the Argonauts of the Air, flying machines, launched from cart running along a two-mile-long rail line, built atop a trestle ending in a ski jump. “…, the flying machine flew out of its five years’ cage like a bolt from a crossbow … and soared in the direction of Wimbledon Common." Sadly his intrepid argonauts die plunging into the solid masonry of “… the Royal College of Science.” Wells has a wry sense of humour.
set 3 (5) Tales of Space and Time (read 16/10-10/11
“The Crytal Egg” has the Martians watching us, and “The Star” continues the theme in what may be the seed for War of the Worlds; The star even has Ogilvy the astronomer from later novel.
And then for contrast “A Story of the Stone Age” and “A Story of the Days to Come” Both are heading toward novella length (they have chapters.) I liked the both - the first is brutal adventure with a love story ala Clan of the Cave Bear - but the second, a fascinating Victorian vision of the twenty second century, is my standout for this collection.
Star crossed lovers from opposite sides the class divide fall from luxury to poverty, trying to escape from a high-tech, high-rise London. Essentially their story is a vehicle to explore his vision of the future. Comparing the lives of the elite on the seventieth floor to workers deep underground not hard to extrapolate to “The Time Machine’s” Eloi and Morlock
Forecasts: ‘The steady rise in rents and land values,’ :>) ‘wind wheels’ as a major power source, his ‘phonograph machine’ calls you with breaking news, (smart-phone?) flying stages (think helipad), advertising beamed onto people’s back as the walk down the street, and in preview of Heinlein’s “The Roads Must Roll he has roads replaced by patent tracks. Outer “track” on either side for speeds up to 25mph(40kph) middle up to 100mph(160kph) and the inner track rising towards 200 mph (320kph) for vehicles with wheels 20 and 30 feet in diameter.
Set 4 Twelve Stories and a Dream (read 16/11-5/12)
And we’re back to several short stories readable in a sitting or two, with the same breadth of imagination. A pleasant story young boy and his father in a Magic shop, is immediately followed by the horror of The valley of the Spiders my favourite but not a standout, for me there wasn’t a standout in this collection, simply a wealth of good reading.
There’s a man who wanted to be lighter and was but not the way he expected, another returning from a trip to fairyland, wanted to go back, yet another who learns a ghostly secret, and becomes one, a treasure seeker in an old diving outfit becomes a Papuan god, a biological concoction that speeds up metabolism (think the Flash), a comic crime story, a horror where the ghost steals a body, making the incumbent a ghost and an ordinary but tragic love story. The final story, A Dream of Armageddon, is a much darker exploration of the future,
At this stage I'm seeing patterns that I’ll address in a summary of the entire volume.
Set 5 The Door in the Wall and (11) Other Stories (read 23/12- 16/1)
One might think The Country of the Blind would be the standout of this collection, and I admit I was looking forward to reading it again. Sadly, I was disappointed, not by the elements that make it an exceptional story: i.e. the description of the blind populations: country, houses (no windows), organisation, and beliefs. That hasn’t changed but the 2-to-3-page preamble to set it up, now feels forced simply to explore the phrase “In the Country of the Blind the One-Eyed man is King" a 4th-5th century proverb.
Overall, this collection made it hard to pick a standout. Contenders were: The Door in the Wall which portrays a life of missed opportunity to return to a private paradise, The Empire of the Ants a compelling horror story; they're coming to mound near you, and the The Land Ironclads a future vision (from his point of view) of tank warfare. Tanks 80-100 feet long and 10 foot high (28x3 metres) a pattern of interlaced portals each side for the riflemen inside, crawling at 6mph (10kmh) putting down stumpy elephant-like pads one after the other - attached to the rims of wheels. Delightfully imaginative, compelling visceral.
I chuckled at the title The story of the Last Trump "Trump" here meant the great brazen Trumpet god will blow on judgement day and its missing. I found the trump/trumpet subterfuge as silly as the story. Make of that what you will.
However, my standout is the comic My first Aeroplane (like the movie “Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machine”). Home built, paper and string planes, no lessons required, and absolute mayhem ensues, a thoroughly enjoyable read. As I keep saying H.G.’s range is incredible. Surprisingly the very next story, a sequel of sorts, same tone, same two characters, (a son & his mother) doesn’t really work.
… to be continued.
Now that I'm in to the third set (collection), I’ve decided to review each set as I finish before the stories fade from memory after the first two below
At this point, the range of stories is incredible, from a simple love story, to voodoo, to alternate dimensions, to bizarre speculations on the future (currently reading) and covering Speculative Fiction, Horror and General Fiction.
However, published late in the last millennium, this text isn't political sanitized. Characters are class conscious, and often treat servants, slaves, and women badly.
set 1 The Stolen Bacillus & (14) Other Stories. (read 9/9-21/9)
Some are so short I read two during my morning coffee break. The first surprise was so many horror stories, (a man-eating plant), and comedy in .The stolen Bacillus as well as his trademark speculations, The Diamond Maker in which something that should be a bonus, as in The Invisible Man, and The Country of the Blind, backfires tragically.
But the standout for me was Through a Window, Think Hitchcock’s Rear Window except what our hero sees is “Malay” chased along a canal, shot at, and eventually killed by his employer in our laid up hero room, seemingly with impunity. "I didn't mean to kill him."
set 2 The Plattner Story and (17) Others (read 22/9-15/10)
This, and the previous collection, have Victorian mores, it has a character stab a woman “as though he had been a mere low-class Italian.” That said, The Red Room is a ghost story with an interesting twist. Add to that a scattering of ordinary stories: a love story, a brutal revenge murder by a cuckold, a deep-sea dive in a submersible, an exam cheat at university, immortality by stealing other people’s lives, and in what must be the seed for War of the Worlds; “The Star” has astronomer Ogilvy and Mars. All told with a keen insight into human behaviour.
My standout is the Argonauts of the Air, flying machines, launched from cart running along a two-mile-long rail line, built atop a trestle ending in a ski jump. “…, the flying machine flew out of its five years’ cage like a bolt from a crossbow … and soared in the direction of Wimbledon Common." Sadly his intrepid argonauts die plunging into the solid masonry of “… the Royal College of Science.” Wells has a wry sense of humour.
set 3 (5) Tales of Space and Time (read 16/10-10/11
“The Crytal Egg” has the Martians watching us, and “The Star” continues the theme in what may be the seed for War of the Worlds; The star even has Ogilvy the astronomer from later novel.
And then for contrast “A Story of the Stone Age” and “A Story of the Days to Come” Both are heading toward novella length (they have chapters.) I liked the both - the first is brutal adventure with a love story ala Clan of the Cave Bear - but the second, a fascinating Victorian vision of the twenty second century, is my standout for this collection.
Star crossed lovers from opposite sides the class divide fall from luxury to poverty, trying to escape from a high-tech, high-rise London. Essentially their story is a vehicle to explore his vision of the future. Comparing the lives of the elite on the seventieth floor to workers deep underground not hard to extrapolate to “The Time Machine’s” Eloi and Morlock
Forecasts: ‘The steady rise in rents and land values,’ :>) ‘wind wheels’ as a major power source, his ‘phonograph machine’ calls you with breaking news, (smart-phone?) flying stages (think helipad), advertising beamed onto people’s back as the walk down the street, and in preview of Heinlein’s “The Roads Must Roll he has roads replaced by patent tracks. Outer “track” on either side for speeds up to 25mph(40kph) middle up to 100mph(160kph) and the inner track rising towards 200 mph (320kph) for vehicles with wheels 20 and 30 feet in diameter.
Set 4 Twelve Stories and a Dream (read 16/11-5/12)
And we’re back to several short stories readable in a sitting or two, with the same breadth of imagination. A pleasant story young boy and his father in a Magic shop, is immediately followed by the horror of The valley of the Spiders my favourite but not a standout, for me there wasn’t a standout in this collection, simply a wealth of good reading.
There’s a man who wanted to be lighter and was but not the way he expected, another returning from a trip to fairyland, wanted to go back, yet another who learns a ghostly secret, and becomes one, a treasure seeker in an old diving outfit becomes a Papuan god, a biological concoction that speeds up metabolism (think the Flash), a comic crime story, a horror where the ghost steals a body, making the incumbent a ghost and an ordinary but tragic love story. The final story, A Dream of Armageddon, is a much darker exploration of the future,
At this stage I'm seeing patterns that I’ll address in a summary of the entire volume.
Set 5 The Door in the Wall and (11) Other Stories (read 23/12- 16/1)
One might think The Country of the Blind would be the standout of this collection, and I admit I was looking forward to reading it again. Sadly, I was disappointed, not by the elements that make it an exceptional story: i.e. the description of the blind populations: country, houses (no windows), organisation, and beliefs. That hasn’t changed but the 2-to-3-page preamble to set it up, now feels forced simply to explore the phrase “In the Country of the Blind the One-Eyed man is King" a 4th-5th century proverb.
Overall, this collection made it hard to pick a standout. Contenders were: The Door in the Wall which portrays a life of missed opportunity to return to a private paradise, The Empire of the Ants a compelling horror story; they're coming to mound near you, and the The Land Ironclads a future vision (from his point of view) of tank warfare. Tanks 80-100 feet long and 10 foot high (28x3 metres) a pattern of interlaced portals each side for the riflemen inside, crawling at 6mph (10kmh) putting down stumpy elephant-like pads one after the other - attached to the rims of wheels. Delightfully imaginative, compelling visceral.
I chuckled at the title The story of the Last Trump "Trump" here meant the great brazen Trumpet god will blow on judgement day and its missing. I found the trump/trumpet subterfuge as silly as the story. Make of that what you will.
However, my standout is the comic My first Aeroplane (like the movie “Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machine”). Home built, paper and string planes, no lessons required, and absolute mayhem ensues, a thoroughly enjoyable read. As I keep saying H.G.’s range is incredible. Surprisingly the very next story, a sequel of sorts, same tone, same two characters, (a son & his mother) doesn’t really work.
… to be continued.
April 22, 2023
A surprisingly varied collection, this. There’s some very good comedy and horror, some nicely allusive fables and some decent speculative fiction. Of course there are stories that are not to my taste – I don’t, as a rule, enjoy a pre-historic setting and Wells’ efforts here seem particularly plodding and didactic – but the proportion of good to bad is unusually high.
When it comes to Wells’ science fiction it has to be said he’s a very good and very bad prophet. Nothing dates faster than the future and on a technical level he’s pretty dreadful. Even when he gets the drift of technological progress broadly right, the details are badly off. That’s a natural consequence of extrapolating from Victorian/Edwardian science. Worst: he sometimes lets the dry description of a cool piece of tech obliterate his plot. This is not uncommon in science fiction but does lead to what C. S. Lewis rather sniffily described as engineer’s science fiction.
On the other hand, if treating him as Mystic Meg is a hiding to nothing, it’s worth considering some of his stories as a warning of what might happen. Just as Orwell’s 1984 tells us more about the preoccupations of the mid-twentieth century than the late, Wells’ future says more about the late Victorian world (and the Fabian Society) than it does about the far future. He looks at the consequences of unrestrained capitalism and pushes those to a logical extreme. On a social level where he’s wrong he is at least interestingly wrong, particularly when he remembers he’s writing story rather than essay.
I’m going to rate this as a three because I had to drag myself through some of it, but if I could tear a few pages out it would have a much higher rating.
When it comes to Wells’ science fiction it has to be said he’s a very good and very bad prophet. Nothing dates faster than the future and on a technical level he’s pretty dreadful. Even when he gets the drift of technological progress broadly right, the details are badly off. That’s a natural consequence of extrapolating from Victorian/Edwardian science. Worst: he sometimes lets the dry description of a cool piece of tech obliterate his plot. This is not uncommon in science fiction but does lead to what C. S. Lewis rather sniffily described as engineer’s science fiction.
On the other hand, if treating him as Mystic Meg is a hiding to nothing, it’s worth considering some of his stories as a warning of what might happen. Just as Orwell’s 1984 tells us more about the preoccupations of the mid-twentieth century than the late, Wells’ future says more about the late Victorian world (and the Fabian Society) than it does about the far future. He looks at the consequences of unrestrained capitalism and pushes those to a logical extreme. On a social level where he’s wrong he is at least interestingly wrong, particularly when he remembers he’s writing story rather than essay.
I’m going to rate this as a three because I had to drag myself through some of it, but if I could tear a few pages out it would have a much higher rating.
June 1, 2020
If you think H. G. Wells and what we called as science fiction only talks about machine and machine, you should revise that and try to read this collection. It is suggested to be the complete short stories of H. G. Wells and interestingly it contains both versions of one revised short story of H. G. Wells: "The Country of the Blind". Well, revising a story after its publication is not something common, but an apology written by Wells in the end of the book (it appears as an introduction to the revised version) is a valuable resource to be considered: how if the story is composed in the better way....?
Okay, that is interesting enough to be discussed, but i also wants to reveal one interesting point for Indonesian reader: several short stories contains (or minimally mentions like Moby Dick) Indonesian region. "In the Avu Observatory" for example use the setting in Borneo, there is the story about Dyak (Dayak) and something called as Big Colugo or Klangutang. Maybe it is only my personal interest but i think it is always interesting to know that several great writers have used their available knowledge to use Indonesian region for their inspiration: Edgar Allan Poe, Joseph Conrad (of course, 😋), Balzac, and now even H. G. Wells. From their view we can reconstruct "something" about our history, maybe.
Okay, that is interesting enough to be discussed, but i also wants to reveal one interesting point for Indonesian reader: several short stories contains (or minimally mentions like Moby Dick) Indonesian region. "In the Avu Observatory" for example use the setting in Borneo, there is the story about Dyak (Dayak) and something called as Big Colugo or Klangutang. Maybe it is only my personal interest but i think it is always interesting to know that several great writers have used their available knowledge to use Indonesian region for their inspiration: Edgar Allan Poe, Joseph Conrad (of course, 😋), Balzac, and now even H. G. Wells. From their view we can reconstruct "something" about our history, maybe.
August 20, 2022
I read a slightly different edition, so this may not apply to the exact stories in this collection. As someone who loved the science fiction novels of Wells as a child, I found myself mostly disappointed by these short works. Light, mostly devoid of the deeper themes or social commentary Wells put in to his longer works, one has the definite sense that these were the 'paycheck' stories put out to fill copy while he worked on other things.
Wells is still a gifted writer and his prose still shines through, but I found the short story collection easy to put down.
(I read the British edition of this title, which is slightly over 1000 pages, was first published 1927, and so may have a different story selection)
Wells is still a gifted writer and his prose still shines through, but I found the short story collection easy to put down.
(I read the British edition of this title, which is slightly over 1000 pages, was first published 1927, and so may have a different story selection)
July 14, 2022
First published in 1927, 'HG Wells Complete Short Stories' contains 63 stories, mostly quite short but also including some novellas including the well-known 'The Time Machine' and the less well-known 'A Story of the Days to Come'. The title is misleading - this is nowhere near all of the authors short stories, but they are very good, barring a couple of duds. My copy is the 1970 21st edition, and contains five collections of short stories plus five other stories. The stories are products of their time, so you must expect numerous instances of casual racism, sexism and crazy science. A terrific snapshot of fiction from another age.
October 16, 2017
A veritable Jules Verne, H. G. Wells works still put most of modern science fiction to shame. Particularly interesting are his attempts at creating alien life and his constant lampooning of human condition. As a fan of Borges, I can´t but marvel at Well´s mastery of world building. The Door in the Wall is now one of my favorite stories ever.
September 19, 2025
a few of the stories portray nice psychology and a few are enjoyable reads as concepts... but when you're committing yourself for the entire thing, well it gets boring and very old fashioned, predictable and many of them can't even be categorised as science fiction either. you will appreciate contemporary more though.
February 21, 2019
5/10. No me gusta como trató el paso del tiempo a los relatos de Wells, ni por el estilo ni por contenidos. Vale lo de la retrasnmisión de "La guerra de los mundos" y que fue un innovador en su tiempo, pero no me encanta el Sr. Wells.
April 6, 2019
It is useful to have a collected edition of H G Wells' short stories as he was quite prolific in this genre and a collection shows the development of the writer as well as the way he explores ideas which later are reworked as full length novels.
November 19, 2017
A truly amazing collection of works showing many varying styles by H G Wells, covering a plethora of none science fiction books that will truly astound you Wells wrote them.
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