Community Reviews

Rating(3.9 / 5.0, 27 votes)
5 stars
8(30%)
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3 stars
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27 reviews
April 26,2025
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If you're a syfy fan, you're gonna get around to a Wells novel. I've reviewed all six novels elsewhere, here's a summary:
Island of Dr. Moreau - 4 stars and my fav Wells, the one I'll revisit.
War of the Worlds - 4, very good also.
Invisible Man - 3
Time Machine - 3
Food of the Gods - 2
First Men on Moon - 2, the weakest
Summary - 3 stars
April 26,2025
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I've unfortunately lost the well loved edition I had as a kid, but between H.G. Wells and Edgar Allen Poe, it's a tight tie to say which was my favorite as a child. I reread their stories feverishly. These stories are classic.
April 26,2025
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As an avid Sci-Fi reader and follower, I've loved H. G. Wells, Isaac Asimov, Jules Vern, Edgar Allen Poe, and many of the greats as far back as the day that I began to pick up books!

This particular edition is an excellent addition to my collection. I would recommend that you make it yours as well. These stories are time encompassing classics that will never die.

Till next time...

Greg.
"Twitter"
https://twitter.com/#!/AuthorBoulwareG
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April 26,2025
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H.G. Wells. What is there to say? Adulterer, plagiarist, one of the fathers of science fiction, father of wargaming, and a brilliant author.

This collects six of his stories. I'd read The Time Machine, The Invisible Man, and The War of the Worlds before, but the other three were new to me. They were, as with the rest of his stories, very, very good. Somewhat dated, but no less fun to read.

I'd recommend this for anybody who likes science fiction. These books are classics, and for a very good reason. And if you aren't familiar with his work already, for shame. You must correct this as soon as possible.
April 26,2025
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H. G. Wells weaves science fiction that is always thought-provoking, often delightful, and occasionally disturbing or ridiculous. In many places Wells uses his stories to promote a socialist agenda. This is most clear in "The First Men in the Moon," and less clear (or perhaps more subtle) in his other stories. The stories in this collection, ranked from my favorite to my least favorite, would be as follows:
1) The War of the Worlds
2) The Time Machine
3) The Invisible Man
4) The First Men in the Moon
5) The Island of Dr. Moreau
5) The Food of the Gods
April 26,2025
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My book also included "In the Days of the Comet". All these are excellent short stories.
April 26,2025
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It is apparent after reading this collection why H.G. Wells is revered as one of the founding fathers of science fiction. However, as with any short story collection, some stories are more successful than others.

The Time Machine: As a short story, this is probably the most complete. It captures well HG Wells' concerns about humanity, commercialism, knowledge, etc. through a thoroughly engaging story.

The Island of Dr. Moreau: The worst story in the collection by far, this builds off the hubbub surrounding Darwin's theories and foreshadows genetic engineering. However, the science is so faulty that it is hard to get past the ridiculousness.

War of the Worlds: The first half the story is much more successful than the second, and it has a bit of Dickensian miraculousness at the end, but the aliens he creates in the story are surprisingly non-humanoid, and he does get into the challenges of an alien invasion. The invasion is a pretty stupendous read - I just didn't feel like it kept the momentum going very well.

First Men in the Moon: This is the flip side of War of the Worlds for me, telling the story of a human invasion. The science behind how they achieve space travel is absolutely unusual and fascinating, and while physically it doesn't really make sense, it is just a conceptually elegant and wacky idea...in some ways, science fiction at its best. The aliens are in many ways less interesting to me than those of War of the Worlds, but the concepts of communication are expanded upon much more. He also really goes after some of the consumerism/scientism battles that feature in The Time Machine and Food of the Gods. The multiple, episodic endings wore on me a bit, but it was still a fun read.

Food of the Gods: This foretells the challenges of genetically modified foods or synthetic biology and, in general, what happens when technology can get ahead of the scientists who create it. It also deals with government intervention, how scientists differ from both engineers and the human race (although a bit of a narrow, cliche look), and all sorts of other social stuff in addition to the sci-fi angle. Unfortunately, the implications of the technology aren't that great (kind of as bad as Dr. Moreau), but all of the stuff around it is interesting.

Overall, I definitely recommend reading some of his works, especially First Men in the Moon and The Time Machine. It's fascinating to see how forward-thinking some of this stuff really was.
April 26,2025
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An interesting idea for a book. Herakleophorbia a new kind of food given to things that still are in the growing process, that let the object grow constantly rather than in spurts. In human letting the grow to be 40 ft tall. Its got to be one of the most unique books i've read. A more thoughtout BFG.
April 26,2025
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Great compilation of HG Wells science fiction. Thoroughly enjoyed it.
April 26,2025
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This set was how I was introduced to H.G. Wells. I believe my parents bought it in a discount bin, or something of that matter. These are by far his greatest works! All are a must read!
April 26,2025
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The Time Machine (Pending)
The Island of Dr. Moreau (read 6/25/16-6/26/16) ★★★✰✰
The Invisible Man (Pending)
The War of the Worlds (Pending)
The First Men in the Moon (Pending)
The Food of the Gods (Pending)
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