The War of the Worlds / The Time Machine

Among H. G. Wells early science fiction novels this is perhaps the most remarkable. It is a tour de force and remains relevant more than a century after its appearance. It contains an early (perhaps the first) description of mechanized warfare and its impact on urban society. We should remember that Wells wrote this not only before the First World War but even prior to the Boer War. The account of refugees must have amazed readers in the 1890s, but unfortunately is almost a commonplace today. There are other ways that this novel broke new ground, but the description of remote-controlled devices used by the Martians seems uncannily similar to mobile robots and drones used today. And then there is the ultimate weapon used by the Martians. show more This novel needs to be read and reread by each generation of those who admire and appreciate the ability of creative genius to imagine alternative futures. show less

It is still amazing to me how many classic and highly influential science fiction authors and stories I have managed to miss in 30+ years of reading. I never read any Asimov or Clarke until my late twenties and thirties. My exposure to Heinlein and Bradbury are still very limited. And until I picked up this book, I had never read any Wells.

This little volume includes an introduction written by Isaac Asimov, which is quite well done. He discusses the origins of science fiction as a genre, the seminal roles of Jules Verne and H. G. Wells in its establishment, and the general cultural context that inspired their works.

I was vaguely familiar with The Time Machine; I think I've seen fragments of at least one movie version. I hadn't quite show more realized the impact of this story (beyond the exploration of time travel) on pop culture. For example, I knew that the Morlocks of X-Men fame were named for *something*, but until I read this story I did not make the connection. In this story, the scientist who invents his time machine shares his experiences to invited guests at a dinner party, which include the narrator. The intrepid explorer travels to the far distant future (hundreds of thousands of years) and discovers the ultimate fate of mankind--divergence into two distinct species, the Eloi and the Morlocks, and ultimately extinction thousands of years beyond that.

In contrast, The War of the Worlds is quite well known, given my familiarity with the various productions over the decades in radio and on screen. It is the inspiration for endless stories of hostile first contact by marauding aliens: Invasion of the Bodysnatchers, V, Independence Day, etc.

Both stories are quite imaginative and predicated on late-nineteenth century understanding of science in terms of evolution, astrophysics, etc. They are quite well written, with elegant prose and evocative imagery. Wells does not bog down by avoiding either endless exposition or minute descriptions. The writing style is definitely dated to our modern eyes, and may be difficult to digest for some modern readers, but I found it very accessible.

The other interesting aspect of these stories are his social premises, which also reflect the thinking of the day to some extent. His supposed mechanism for the development and coexistence of the Eloi and Morlocks is founded on class differences extrapolated along a distant trajectory and seasoned with some poetic justice. Kind of like what happens when the exact opposite of Marxist model of social dynamics ensues. Likewise, Asimov suggests that Wells consciously drew many parallels with the colonialism of the British Empire for The War of the Worlds. In the latter case, Wells spends a great deal of the story exploring how individuals and society as a whole react to overwhelming and unimaginable crisis. In both cases, Wells does not appear to be optimistic, but he is nowhere near as dark as Philip K. Dick, whose works as a rule appear to be quite pessimistic. Admittedly, I have not read *many* of Dick's works, but they are in a league of their own in terms of the feel of his prognostications on future society.

So end result, I enjoyed both stories and I am glad I finally repaired this gap in my coverage of science fiction. I will doubtless seek out other works by Wells. show less

H.G. Wells pisses me off.

I know these stories are classic, and I know he was writing in the 1890s, but does the narrator have to spend half of his time talking about how he's better than everyone else, and the other half fretting about humankind becoming less "manly"?

Some of the short stories at the end (the "Connections") are clever, though. (They're also by other people.)

Personally, I enjoyed The Time Machine better than The War of the Worlds. I found that often Wells would divert the story onto a tangent more in War of the Worlds. The Time Machine was more straightforward and any tangents were more directly related to the main story. The War of the Worlds took entire chapters away from the main character to focus on a brother whose fate is never revealed.

Deservedly classics. I'd never read either of these before, and it was fascinating to realise how many echoes they've had throughout literature and pop culture ever since. Also interesting to me was the level of scientific knowledge evinced by the author. On top of that, they were really enjoyable stories, and I look forward to reading more of Wells' works.

I wasn't the biggest fan of The Time Machine, I felt like there was only one bit that I enjoyed. The War of the Worlds is what saved this for me, I enjoyed quite a bit more. I think it was the little bit of horror elements in The War of the Worlds that made me like that one.

Brilliant novels packaged with brilliant contextualizing scholarship. Mark Hillegas' essay was particularly enlightening.