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Selected Short Stories
These twenty-one stories by H.G. Wells represents the variety of his imagination and reveal his power to evoke both scene and atmosphere. They include the scientific reconstruction of prehistoric life in THE GRISLY FOLD, the exciting futuristic fantasy of THE TIME MACHINE, and such vivid cosmic parables as THE COUNTRY OF THE BLIND.
352 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1927
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About the author
H.G. Wells
5,317 books11.1k followersHerbert George Wells was born to a working class family in Kent, England. Young Wells received a spotty education, interrupted by several illnesses and family difficulties, and became a draper's apprentice as a teenager. The headmaster of Midhurst Grammar School, where he had spent a year, arranged for him to return as an "usher," or student teacher. Wells earned a government scholarship in 1884, to study biology under Thomas Henry Huxley at the Normal School of Science. Wells earned his bachelor of science and doctor of science degrees at the University of London. After marrying his cousin, Isabel, Wells began to supplement his teaching salary with short stories and freelance articles, then books, including The Time Machine (1895), The Island of Dr. Moreau (1896), The Invisible Man (1897), and The War of the Worlds (1898).
Wells created a mild scandal when he divorced his cousin to marry one of his best students, Amy Catherine Robbins. Although his second marriage was lasting and produced two sons, Wells was an unabashed advocate of free (as opposed to "indiscriminate") love. He continued to openly have extra-marital liaisons, most famously with Margaret Sanger, and a ten-year relationship with the author Rebecca West, who had one of his two out-of-wedlock children. A one-time member of the Fabian Society, Wells sought active change. His 100 books included many novels, as well as nonfiction, such as A Modern Utopia (1905), The Outline of History (1920), A Short History of the World (1922), The Shape of Things to Come (1933), and The Work, Wealth and Happiness of Mankind (1932). One of his booklets was Crux Ansata, An Indictment of the Roman Catholic Church. Although Wells toyed briefly with the idea of a "divine will" in his book, God the Invisible King (1917), it was a temporary aberration. Wells used his international fame to promote his favorite causes, including the prevention of war, and was received by government officials around the world. He is best-remembered as an early writer of science fiction and futurism.
He was also an outspoken socialist. Wells and Jules Verne are each sometimes referred to as "The Fathers of Science Fiction". D. 1946.
More: http://philosopedia.org/index.php/H._...
http://www.online-literature.com/well...
http://www.hgwellsusa.50megs.com/
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/t...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H._G._Wells
Wells created a mild scandal when he divorced his cousin to marry one of his best students, Amy Catherine Robbins. Although his second marriage was lasting and produced two sons, Wells was an unabashed advocate of free (as opposed to "indiscriminate") love. He continued to openly have extra-marital liaisons, most famously with Margaret Sanger, and a ten-year relationship with the author Rebecca West, who had one of his two out-of-wedlock children. A one-time member of the Fabian Society, Wells sought active change. His 100 books included many novels, as well as nonfiction, such as A Modern Utopia (1905), The Outline of History (1920), A Short History of the World (1922), The Shape of Things to Come (1933), and The Work, Wealth and Happiness of Mankind (1932). One of his booklets was Crux Ansata, An Indictment of the Roman Catholic Church. Although Wells toyed briefly with the idea of a "divine will" in his book, God the Invisible King (1917), it was a temporary aberration. Wells used his international fame to promote his favorite causes, including the prevention of war, and was received by government officials around the world. He is best-remembered as an early writer of science fiction and futurism.
He was also an outspoken socialist. Wells and Jules Verne are each sometimes referred to as "The Fathers of Science Fiction". D. 1946.
More: http://philosopedia.org/index.php/H._...
http://www.online-literature.com/well...
http://www.hgwellsusa.50megs.com/
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/t...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H._G._Wells
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
September 29, 2020
Mining similar territory to The War in the Air, The Island of Doctor Moreau, and The Invisible Man, these short stories are fantastical Wellsian romps in speculative fiction, from the terrifying metal Godzillas in ‘The Land Ironclads’, to the power-mad mechanised man in ‘The Lord of the Dynamos’, and the sightless Amazonian tribe in ‘The Country of the Blind’. The best stories are the funniest, such as the missing plague germ in ‘The Stolen Bacillus’, the tubby chap seeking an easy weight cure in ‘The Truth About Pyecraft’, and the mishap with a lunar cycle in ‘The Man Who Could Work Miracles’. There are several howlers, like the overly racist ‘Jimmy Goggles the God’ (this collection freely uses the n-word), the rambling mehfest ‘The Plattner Story’, and the strange description of Neolithic man in ‘The Grisly Folk’. The pearls vastly outweigh the foetid clams, making this batch a must for Wells enthusiasts. (Although many other collections are available, including a Complete one, so you do the work).
March 26, 2025
This book was multiple-stories-with-a-plot-of-“dark-skinned-savage-mistakes-piece-of-metal-for-a-God, kills-white-person-as-human-sacrifice-the-end” level racist. Would not recommend outside of a postcolonial studies classroom.
November 3, 2018
NOPE. probably a case of wrong book at the wrong time, but even if it had been the right book at the right time, I was not expecting such frequent employment of the n-word. So there's that.
September 17, 2023
I read this collection over fifteen years ago and although I found them fascinating I also found them deeply flawed not simply because of the use of the 'n' word and unrecognised but blatantly racist viewpoints but because the stories are not very compelling and they aren't compelling because Wells' viewpoint is so trapped in a Edwardian/Fabian optimism over the perfectibility of man through science and technology that is not simply out of date but ridiculously optimistic for its time.
H G Wells is SF's great founding father the main support to give a literary apostolic blessing to the genre's relevance. I would never deny sf relevance, importance or interest, but I have my doubts about Wells. He was an idealist, but just having ideals isn't enough. He believed in science and technology and scientists and technocrats as good and the potential creators and managers of a new world. I find that belief in technocrats as mankind's saviour as ridiculous as the idea of the Virgin of Loretto and her flying house or any other manifestation or name for the so-called mother of god saving us. In the 19th century scientists, inventors and technocrats had created vastly more efficient ways of killing people - why they should hold the key to salvation is as mysterious as the belief, far stronger and more persistent, that amongst an all male catholic priesthood no one ever cast a lecherous eye over their numerous young male charges.
But Wells did believe and was associated happily with Fabians like Sidney and Beatrice Wells* and happily joined them in finding in Stalin's Soviet hell an example of enlightened despotism creating a a better world guided wise scientists/technocratic administers.
Wells believed machines would be the new gods, but why did he imagine they would be better gods?
I find these stories to be curiosities, they largely bored me, maybe a si-fi obsessive will enjoy them, or at least one with a taste for the antique. I give it two stars in kindness because there are so many worse books out there.
*I could believe in karma if I knew that Beatrice Webb had to return and spend a lifetime in the Soviet paradise she so happily condemned the people's of the Soviet Union too in the belief that its failures and their sufferings were good for them because they were creating a new 'Soviet Man' (excuse the sexism it of its time).
H G Wells is SF's great founding father the main support to give a literary apostolic blessing to the genre's relevance. I would never deny sf relevance, importance or interest, but I have my doubts about Wells. He was an idealist, but just having ideals isn't enough. He believed in science and technology and scientists and technocrats as good and the potential creators and managers of a new world. I find that belief in technocrats as mankind's saviour as ridiculous as the idea of the Virgin of Loretto and her flying house or any other manifestation or name for the so-called mother of god saving us. In the 19th century scientists, inventors and technocrats had created vastly more efficient ways of killing people - why they should hold the key to salvation is as mysterious as the belief, far stronger and more persistent, that amongst an all male catholic priesthood no one ever cast a lecherous eye over their numerous young male charges.
But Wells did believe and was associated happily with Fabians like Sidney and Beatrice Wells* and happily joined them in finding in Stalin's Soviet hell an example of enlightened despotism creating a a better world guided wise scientists/technocratic administers.
Wells believed machines would be the new gods, but why did he imagine they would be better gods?
I find these stories to be curiosities, they largely bored me, maybe a si-fi obsessive will enjoy them, or at least one with a taste for the antique. I give it two stars in kindness because there are so many worse books out there.
*I could believe in karma if I knew that Beatrice Webb had to return and spend a lifetime in the Soviet paradise she so happily condemned the people's of the Soviet Union too in the belief that its failures and their sufferings were good for them because they were creating a new 'Soviet Man' (excuse the sexism it of its time).
February 12, 2012
Worth reading for the hard social truths, fantastic situations and eerily accurate imaginings, though this volume made me wonder quite how I'd managed to miss how incredibly racist H.G. Wells was when reading his more famous stories in my youth...
October 12, 2020
Kipling was the better short story writer and didn't have Wells's bad habit of dressing up a lecture as a story.
February 12, 2023
DNF - i had high hopes for these because the Invisible Man and The Time Machine were so good. i read a sampling of these and they were consistently disappointing.
November 1, 2025
very good holiday companion. Varied genre short stories.
October 4, 2014
Also posted on my book blog Captivated by Books.
I have wanted to read The Time Machine by H. G. Wells for quite some time so when I saw it on my shelf at my parents I had to pick it up. The book I have is actually a selection of Wells’ short stories, all of which are science-fiction.
To be honest I wasn’t overly impressed by The Time Machine, though I have a feeling that was largely due to having seen a film adaptation of it a few years ago. However, all the other stories in the book blew me away. I have never been particularly drawn to science-fiction; it’s not that I won’t read it, simply that I’ll usually choose something else. After read this collection by Wells, I am now desperate to get my hands on anything science-fiction that can give me the same feelings of awe and inspiration.
Not only are his stories incredibly well thought out, they are also impeccably written. It isn’t often I find books that make me want to write because of the beauty of the language, so needless to say I will be looking into reading more of Wells’ work. One thing I found interesting was that in almost every story the narrator was someone retelling a story told to him by the protagonist. I am fairly certain trying this now would be shot down, but for the kind of stories Wells tells it works incredibly well and suspends the disbelief so it’s hard to remember it is just a story and not something that actually happened.
Admittedly sometimes the descriptions are a little long-winded, and occasionally pulls the reader out of the story, which is what happens with The Time Machine, however, the stories are usually worth getting through that. One thing I really loved about the stories is that many (all?) of them don’t have a purpose – they are not written for moral influence, in fact often they seem to have no point at all beyond simply telling a story. Usually this can work against a book, but as these are short stories it was actually pleasant to read without concerning ourselves with the ‘point’ of a book. It does make you wonder what kind of mind H. G. Wells had to come up with such incredible stories, especially given the time they were written, and I would give almost anything to have seen inside that mind, but at least we have many stories which undoubtedly cover a large range of ideas and concepts.
I hate that it took me so long to try H. G. Wells as he is one of the most inspiring and imaginative storytellers I’ve ever read. Yes, I will be reading everything else he’s written, and yes, I recommend his work to everyone. It may seem strange for me to say I recommend his work based on one collection of short stories, but the writing and imagination shown in them is so consistent I have a hard time believing he could have written something unenjoyable. Therefore I feel it’s safe to say H. G. Wells has earned his place as one of my favourite authors.
I have wanted to read The Time Machine by H. G. Wells for quite some time so when I saw it on my shelf at my parents I had to pick it up. The book I have is actually a selection of Wells’ short stories, all of which are science-fiction.
To be honest I wasn’t overly impressed by The Time Machine, though I have a feeling that was largely due to having seen a film adaptation of it a few years ago. However, all the other stories in the book blew me away. I have never been particularly drawn to science-fiction; it’s not that I won’t read it, simply that I’ll usually choose something else. After read this collection by Wells, I am now desperate to get my hands on anything science-fiction that can give me the same feelings of awe and inspiration.
Not only are his stories incredibly well thought out, they are also impeccably written. It isn’t often I find books that make me want to write because of the beauty of the language, so needless to say I will be looking into reading more of Wells’ work. One thing I found interesting was that in almost every story the narrator was someone retelling a story told to him by the protagonist. I am fairly certain trying this now would be shot down, but for the kind of stories Wells tells it works incredibly well and suspends the disbelief so it’s hard to remember it is just a story and not something that actually happened.
Admittedly sometimes the descriptions are a little long-winded, and occasionally pulls the reader out of the story, which is what happens with The Time Machine, however, the stories are usually worth getting through that. One thing I really loved about the stories is that many (all?) of them don’t have a purpose – they are not written for moral influence, in fact often they seem to have no point at all beyond simply telling a story. Usually this can work against a book, but as these are short stories it was actually pleasant to read without concerning ourselves with the ‘point’ of a book. It does make you wonder what kind of mind H. G. Wells had to come up with such incredible stories, especially given the time they were written, and I would give almost anything to have seen inside that mind, but at least we have many stories which undoubtedly cover a large range of ideas and concepts.
I hate that it took me so long to try H. G. Wells as he is one of the most inspiring and imaginative storytellers I’ve ever read. Yes, I will be reading everything else he’s written, and yes, I recommend his work to everyone. It may seem strange for me to say I recommend his work based on one collection of short stories, but the writing and imagination shown in them is so consistent I have a hard time believing he could have written something unenjoyable. Therefore I feel it’s safe to say H. G. Wells has earned his place as one of my favourite authors.
May 31, 2021
The Time Machine
The science of time travel is left largely unexplained in Wells' novella. Wells simply extrapolates the real-world commentary of Professor Simon Newcomb (an American Polymath) into an understanding of Time as a form of Space and builds the narrative around that. It is less about the science and more about the telos of man. I interpreted it as a warning against the popular 'crystal palace' utopianism of his day (something he championed but also cautioned about). Here he is concerned about the widening gap between the "overland" ruling class and the "underling" industrial class- a dichotomy which would eventually bifurcate humanity to the extreme into two distinct post-human species. There is obviously a warning against the Laissez-faire unrestricted industrial capitalism of the day, but it also contains a warning about the Utopian ideals within the Socialism of his own intellectual circles.
The Phoenician-like Eloi who, in living in a perfectly balanced 'conquered' natural world have lost all ability to create art or take care of themselves; while the Morlocks of the White Sphinx who have dominated 'both nature and mankind' have lost their humanity entirely. The Morlocks are a warning against unfettered Capitalism; the Eloi a warning against Socialism because both are Tautological in their conception of growth/ progress. The faceless Time Traveler warns his listeners "It is a law of nature we overlook, that intellectual versatility is the compensation for change, danger, and trouble...Man had been content to live in ease and delight upon the labours of his fellow man, had taken Necessity as his watchword and excuse, and in the fullness of time Necessity had come home to him."
After his foray through 2701 he skims all the way to the last twilight creatures- giant crab-like animals roaming a empty badlands under a Red Giant and then forward to a dead earth with only a nondescript creature in the water left alive. He stops short before the sun goes supernova/nebular and returns back through the eons. The experience of the desolation of the sterile earth weighs down on the Traveler on the purpose of life in relation to the Eternal Return- which, I think explains why he abandons his present-day work and returns to his travels.
Jimmy Goggles the God & The Lord of the Dynamos
The racism in these two stories shouldn't be a surprise if you know anything about his biography. He spent his life largely in service to the Cult of Progress: he was married to his Cousin for a while, and then 'married' an underaged student in an open marriage (big advocate of 'free love') while having dozens of 'affairs', including with the open Nazi-sympathizer and Eugenicist Margaret Sanger. Likewise Wells was also a big fan of Social Darwinism and weeding out the 'undesirables' from society. Hence the reason his criticism of Christianity and his Racism are packaged together- the Catholic church's dogmatic condemnation of Eugenics/ "genetic progress" he viewed as anti-Humanist and anti-progressive; part of a life-long Quixote-esch rage against religion in general but specifically Catholicism. All of his Ethical and Moral commentaries are submissive to his Social Darwinism and desire for a "genetically pure" future. His advocation for Socialism was based on his recognition that the free market would not produce a centralized society that could be controlled and culled by an enlightened, progressive and genetically advanced elite who could make the "hard choices" for the betterment of society (read: murder the weak, unwanted and unproductive). You don't read Wells for the morals- you read him for the brilliant sci-fi writing and predictions on the development of western society which are strikingly accurate.
Looking past the overt racism in The Lord of the Dynamos, it is an interesting picture of the post-religious society's reliance on the comforts of modern life- the replacement of the supernatural with technical progress. I think Jung would have loved it, because it's Holroyd's flippant disregard to the power of mystical experience which gives him a character of violent, abusive cynicism ending in his death. The 'ghost in the machine' becomes a new god of sorts. Azuma-zi might be the only one who is actually sane in the story.
The Country of the Blind
I'm not sure how to read this: is it a self-serving diatribe of the woes of being a high-IQ and enlightened individual in a society of idiots, or is it a tale about frustration stemming from feeling helpless to help those around him?
The Land Ironclads
It's a really bland story until you realize he wrote this 13 years before Tanks were first introduced to the battlefield. And it's obviously a precursor to the mechanical monstrosities of War of the Worlds. Its specifically about Tanks and war machines in battles... but more broadly the crushing future of mechanical entities stripping the humanity from their creators.
The Plattner Story
An exploration of the Absurdity or material imprisonment of the human experience: that life is defined by what comes before it, and is powerless to shape or influence anything that comes out of it. A kind of secular, hopeless, resurrection-less necrology; the 'helpless disembodiments' of people who shadow the living. Of course, in Christian Necrology the dead are not gone- they are mystically connected (the 'great cloud of witnesses') to the living Christians and participate in their spiritual lives.
The Abyss
This one didn't age well- it's a bit Sponge Bob-esch. Same issue the Aquaman movie had when it came out- a society of Humanoid ocean-people at the bottom of the abyss is a hard sell.
The Door in the Wall
Like nearly all of his stories, this is a frame narrative that talks about the enchantment of youth and the corresponding nostalgia. I did not find anything here to interesting... except maybe you can interpret it as an early example of inter-dimensional sci fi story.
The Truth About Pyecraft
Not really about health or obesity at all... I read it as an inability to distinguish between one's own desires; the misalignment of internal and external motivations and the displacement of character shortcomings onto immediate physical needs.
The science of time travel is left largely unexplained in Wells' novella. Wells simply extrapolates the real-world commentary of Professor Simon Newcomb (an American Polymath) into an understanding of Time as a form of Space and builds the narrative around that. It is less about the science and more about the telos of man. I interpreted it as a warning against the popular 'crystal palace' utopianism of his day (something he championed but also cautioned about). Here he is concerned about the widening gap between the "overland" ruling class and the "underling" industrial class- a dichotomy which would eventually bifurcate humanity to the extreme into two distinct post-human species. There is obviously a warning against the Laissez-faire unrestricted industrial capitalism of the day, but it also contains a warning about the Utopian ideals within the Socialism of his own intellectual circles.
The Phoenician-like Eloi who, in living in a perfectly balanced 'conquered' natural world have lost all ability to create art or take care of themselves; while the Morlocks of the White Sphinx who have dominated 'both nature and mankind' have lost their humanity entirely. The Morlocks are a warning against unfettered Capitalism; the Eloi a warning against Socialism because both are Tautological in their conception of growth/ progress. The faceless Time Traveler warns his listeners "It is a law of nature we overlook, that intellectual versatility is the compensation for change, danger, and trouble...Man had been content to live in ease and delight upon the labours of his fellow man, had taken Necessity as his watchword and excuse, and in the fullness of time Necessity had come home to him."
After his foray through 2701 he skims all the way to the last twilight creatures- giant crab-like animals roaming a empty badlands under a Red Giant and then forward to a dead earth with only a nondescript creature in the water left alive. He stops short before the sun goes supernova/nebular and returns back through the eons. The experience of the desolation of the sterile earth weighs down on the Traveler on the purpose of life in relation to the Eternal Return- which, I think explains why he abandons his present-day work and returns to his travels.
Jimmy Goggles the God & The Lord of the Dynamos
The racism in these two stories shouldn't be a surprise if you know anything about his biography. He spent his life largely in service to the Cult of Progress: he was married to his Cousin for a while, and then 'married' an underaged student in an open marriage (big advocate of 'free love') while having dozens of 'affairs', including with the open Nazi-sympathizer and Eugenicist Margaret Sanger. Likewise Wells was also a big fan of Social Darwinism and weeding out the 'undesirables' from society. Hence the reason his criticism of Christianity and his Racism are packaged together- the Catholic church's dogmatic condemnation of Eugenics/ "genetic progress" he viewed as anti-Humanist and anti-progressive; part of a life-long Quixote-esch rage against religion in general but specifically Catholicism. All of his Ethical and Moral commentaries are submissive to his Social Darwinism and desire for a "genetically pure" future. His advocation for Socialism was based on his recognition that the free market would not produce a centralized society that could be controlled and culled by an enlightened, progressive and genetically advanced elite who could make the "hard choices" for the betterment of society (read: murder the weak, unwanted and unproductive). You don't read Wells for the morals- you read him for the brilliant sci-fi writing and predictions on the development of western society which are strikingly accurate.
Looking past the overt racism in The Lord of the Dynamos, it is an interesting picture of the post-religious society's reliance on the comforts of modern life- the replacement of the supernatural with technical progress. I think Jung would have loved it, because it's Holroyd's flippant disregard to the power of mystical experience which gives him a character of violent, abusive cynicism ending in his death. The 'ghost in the machine' becomes a new god of sorts. Azuma-zi might be the only one who is actually sane in the story.
The Country of the Blind
I'm not sure how to read this: is it a self-serving diatribe of the woes of being a high-IQ and enlightened individual in a society of idiots, or is it a tale about frustration stemming from feeling helpless to help those around him?
The Land Ironclads
It's a really bland story until you realize he wrote this 13 years before Tanks were first introduced to the battlefield. And it's obviously a precursor to the mechanical monstrosities of War of the Worlds. Its specifically about Tanks and war machines in battles... but more broadly the crushing future of mechanical entities stripping the humanity from their creators.
The Plattner Story
An exploration of the Absurdity or material imprisonment of the human experience: that life is defined by what comes before it, and is powerless to shape or influence anything that comes out of it. A kind of secular, hopeless, resurrection-less necrology; the 'helpless disembodiments' of people who shadow the living. Of course, in Christian Necrology the dead are not gone- they are mystically connected (the 'great cloud of witnesses') to the living Christians and participate in their spiritual lives.
The Abyss
This one didn't age well- it's a bit Sponge Bob-esch. Same issue the Aquaman movie had when it came out- a society of Humanoid ocean-people at the bottom of the abyss is a hard sell.
The Door in the Wall
Like nearly all of his stories, this is a frame narrative that talks about the enchantment of youth and the corresponding nostalgia. I did not find anything here to interesting... except maybe you can interpret it as an early example of inter-dimensional sci fi story.
The Truth About Pyecraft
Not really about health or obesity at all... I read it as an inability to distinguish between one's own desires; the misalignment of internal and external motivations and the displacement of character shortcomings onto immediate physical needs.
August 29, 2024
A Wellsian Short Story:
1. Middle aged white scientist is experimenting a bit too crazily
2. Scientist gets transported through time/ space to another dimension
3. Meets race of people who are disturbingly altered versions of humans
4. Racist stereotypes and racist slurs abound to describe said people/ scientific assistants/ random people on the street
5. Travels back to own time/ space and is met with disbelief.
Confidence began high, ended low, after I read 10 stories that were carbon copies of each other, and 10 stories that were preaching highly problematic messages. The Time Machine, the classic that the others seemed to be ripped off of, was good. But it was also the first. And only.
1. Middle aged white scientist is experimenting a bit too crazily
2. Scientist gets transported through time/ space to another dimension
3. Meets race of people who are disturbingly altered versions of humans
4. Racist stereotypes and racist slurs abound to describe said people/ scientific assistants/ random people on the street
5. Travels back to own time/ space and is met with disbelief.
Confidence began high, ended low, after I read 10 stories that were carbon copies of each other, and 10 stories that were preaching highly problematic messages. The Time Machine, the classic that the others seemed to be ripped off of, was good. But it was also the first. And only.
August 11, 2016
Имам много сантименти към книгата, преди доста години точно тя ме спечели за тази литература.
Открих си изданието от 1971-ва и го препрочетох със същото удоволствие. Част от историите са сред най-хубавото, което е писал. Някои звучат като приказки, други - като предупреждения, без да оставят мрачни и тягостни чувства - освен поуките, е вплел в тях хумор и ирония.
Открих си изданието от 1971-ва и го препрочетох със същото удоволствие. Част от историите са сред най-хубавото, което е писал. Някои звучат като приказки, други - като предупреждения, без да оставят мрачни и тягостни чувства - освен поуките, е вплел в тях хумор и ирония.
November 7, 2024
While some of these are sort of twee or trite, and all of them are very very English for better or worse, Wells' constant inventiveness is great fun. You never know whether the next story will take you to the bottom of the sea, to the edge of space, to times and places completely unknown to humankind. All of them have the same sort of tactic applied, where he's had the initial idea but then thought it through to the nth degree.
Highlights include: the ingenious and actually quite scary 'The Remarkable Case of Davidson's Eyes', where a man's body remains in one place while his eyes see elsewhere; the cephalopod-based squeamishness of 'The Sea Raiders'; the industrial hellscape of 'The Cone', which contains nothing supernatural but may be the most nightmarish vision in the book; and 'The Country of the Blind', perhaps the most emotionally resonant story here, chilling and powerful.
Highlights include: the ingenious and actually quite scary 'The Remarkable Case of Davidson's Eyes', where a man's body remains in one place while his eyes see elsewhere; the cephalopod-based squeamishness of 'The Sea Raiders'; the industrial hellscape of 'The Cone', which contains nothing supernatural but may be the most nightmarish vision in the book; and 'The Country of the Blind', perhaps the most emotionally resonant story here, chilling and powerful.
February 28, 2025
Interesting time capsule, in terms of not only the attitudes (read: racism) of the era, but also what a vivid Sci-Fi/Fantasy imagination of the time could look like.
This is certainly one of the more eclectic short story collections I’ve read. The stories generally fall within Adventure, Science Fiction and/or Fantasy, often comedic, and the level of storytelling is typically strong.
Several stories are indeed marred by Wells’ racial prejudices. If one can look past that, bearing in mind the world at the time they were written, one is bound to marvel at his ingenuity and how ahead of his time some of his ideas were: He postulated an early hypothesis for a wormhole, basically invented “The Flash” and conjured up terrifying visions of the distant future.
Recommended for fans of short stories, genre fiction and late 19th/ early 20th century literature.
This is certainly one of the more eclectic short story collections I’ve read. The stories generally fall within Adventure, Science Fiction and/or Fantasy, often comedic, and the level of storytelling is typically strong.
Several stories are indeed marred by Wells’ racial prejudices. If one can look past that, bearing in mind the world at the time they were written, one is bound to marvel at his ingenuity and how ahead of his time some of his ideas were: He postulated an early hypothesis for a wormhole, basically invented “The Flash” and conjured up terrifying visions of the distant future.
Recommended for fans of short stories, genre fiction and late 19th/ early 20th century literature.
February 22, 2018
I was only able to read the first three or four before I had to return it.
When considering the time frame in which some of these were written, it's really quite incredible. Some of the stories I really enjoyed, others just bored me. Someday I'd like to finish reading the others.
When considering the time frame in which some of these were written, it's really quite incredible. Some of the stories I really enjoyed, others just bored me. Someday I'd like to finish reading the others.
April 7, 2025
This book was multiple-stories-with-a-plot-of-“dark-skinned-savage-mistakes-piece-of-metal-for-a-God, kills-white-person-as-human-sacrifice-the-end” level racist. Would not recommend outside of a postcolonial studies classroom.
October 7, 2021
Generally, not my favourite period HG Wells but The Time Machine always flies.
November 5, 2021
Fantastic stories that predict many modern inventions, from airplanes to amphetamines.
Want to read
May 15, 2023Will definitely get around to reading this one...
April 30, 2025
Mostly just for historical interest.
June 6, 2017
Although I'm not sure if this is the exact collection of short stories I have (my copy is extremely old, and I cannot find a matching cover), I can conclude that in general, H.G. Wells was extremely ahead of his time.
Throughout the stories, I had to keep reminding myself that they were written before the majority of these scientific discoveries had been discovered. Time travel, worm holes, fourth dimensions, and acceleration before Einstein came up with his Special and General Theories of Relativity; He thought up the Wright Brothers before they thought up themselves; He imagined the view of our pale blue dot 80 years before Sagan and Voyager; He takes his reader to the depth of the ocean 64 years before Jacques Piccard and Don Walsh made their journey to the depths of the Mariana Trench; and of course, he tackles evolution within years of Darwin's 'Origin of Species' in which he not only concurs with Darwin in what must have been a controversial time, but he also highlights the strength of women in what I interpret as a first step towards gender equality.
All in all, I highly recommend these stories to everyone.
Throughout the stories, I had to keep reminding myself that they were written before the majority of these scientific discoveries had been discovered. Time travel, worm holes, fourth dimensions, and acceleration before Einstein came up with his Special and General Theories of Relativity; He thought up the Wright Brothers before they thought up themselves; He imagined the view of our pale blue dot 80 years before Sagan and Voyager; He takes his reader to the depth of the ocean 64 years before Jacques Piccard and Don Walsh made their journey to the depths of the Mariana Trench; and of course, he tackles evolution within years of Darwin's 'Origin of Species' in which he not only concurs with Darwin in what must have been a controversial time, but he also highlights the strength of women in what I interpret as a first step towards gender equality.
All in all, I highly recommend these stories to everyone.
April 25, 2024
This was a mixed bag for sure. I gotta leave it to the author, he had a lot of really cool ideas and many of the concepts he came up with as early as the late 19th and early 20th centuries are plain ingenious for their time. There are a handful of surprisingly good short stories in here, but also a few that were quite bad. Most of them, however, were neither, and left me feeling slightly bored...
However, as technologically engaging as they might be, they are often less intriguing from a personal or, maybe I should call it social, viewpoint. Very many of these short stories are full of racist, sexist, and misogynistic slurs as well as just generally and very consistently offensive to every and all minorities that are mentioned. Of course, the author is a child of his time, but reading all this still reduced my enjoyment of his short fiction considerably.
Read this if you're already a fan of HG Wells and have enjoyed some of his full length novel. Otherwise, you won't miss anything if you steer clear of this collection.
However, as technologically engaging as they might be, they are often less intriguing from a personal or, maybe I should call it social, viewpoint. Very many of these short stories are full of racist, sexist, and misogynistic slurs as well as just generally and very consistently offensive to every and all minorities that are mentioned. Of course, the author is a child of his time, but reading all this still reduced my enjoyment of his short fiction considerably.
Read this if you're already a fan of HG Wells and have enjoyed some of his full length novel. Otherwise, you won't miss anything if you steer clear of this collection.
December 10, 2012
Inspired by recently reading 'A Man of Parts' by David Lodge, I dug this collection out from my bookshelves, last read in my 20s.
I now find that I enjoy novels much more than short stories, but these have a bit of the novel's ability to be good company for a while, as they share a sort of cosy fireside mood. It may be the limitations of my reading, but a lot of Edwardian stories seem to be framed by an after dinner, fireside conversation settings!
Best of the bunch is 'The Door in the Wall'. Was this the inspiration for Evelyn Waugh's poetic description of Charles Ryder finding 'that low door in the wall that opens on an enchanted garden' (or something like that)? Its always struck me as a lovely image.
I was sometimes jarred by the casual racism of some of the stories, strange to come across given that Wells was a very liberal thinker for his time.
I now find that I enjoy novels much more than short stories, but these have a bit of the novel's ability to be good company for a while, as they share a sort of cosy fireside mood. It may be the limitations of my reading, but a lot of Edwardian stories seem to be framed by an after dinner, fireside conversation settings!
Best of the bunch is 'The Door in the Wall'. Was this the inspiration for Evelyn Waugh's poetic description of Charles Ryder finding 'that low door in the wall that opens on an enchanted garden' (or something like that)? Its always struck me as a lovely image.
I was sometimes jarred by the casual racism of some of the stories, strange to come across given that Wells was a very liberal thinker for his time.
March 18, 2021
4* 21 short stories in this collection. Well crafted and another considered 20th century classic read.
A Dystopian science Fiction book I was introduced to was during my O level syllabus with HG Wells Selected Short Stories which included The Time Machine, The Island of Dr Moreau, The Man Who Could Work Miracles, The Invisible Man, The Shape of Things to Come, The Country of the Blind etc. A great introduction to the Science Fiction genre in my teens.
A Dystopian science Fiction book I was introduced to was during my O level syllabus with HG Wells Selected Short Stories which included The Time Machine, The Island of Dr Moreau, The Man Who Could Work Miracles, The Invisible Man, The Shape of Things to Come, The Country of the Blind etc. A great introduction to the Science Fiction genre in my teens.
January 21, 2011
Some of his short stories are his best work, in my opinion.
May 20, 2015
Couldn't finish it. I probably would have enjoyed it more in Orwell's time, before we knew that fish people DO NOT live on the ocean floor.
December 20, 2020
3 stars because it took me 3 months to read. Some stories were golden, some were just olden.
December 14, 2023
If you're not big on sci fi you won't like this. I think the best story in this book was probably the Time Machine, the rest were just kinda weird thought experiments.
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