The Time Machine and The War of the Worlds [Mass Market Paperback]

This book gives you two of the very best Wells's classics ... plus a bonus ... all at a very reasonable price. "War of the Worlds" and "Time Machine" are generally agreed upon as the best of Wells's works. But what sets this book really apart is the introduction by the great Isaac Asimov. What a treasure! I can say this even though I don't agree with Asimov on certain points.
Asimov argues that Wells is superior to Jules Verne as a science fiction writer precisely because he does not deal with gadgetry for its own sake, but deals with man's response to new technology. While I agree that Wells is the superior writer, I think the reason is just that: he is a superior writer! Verne's style borders on dry, journalistic, "just the facts, ma'am". Wells gets into your head more.
But one must remember that Verne's paved the way. His task was to convince readers that: 1) science and technology are here to stay; 2) gadgets and technology would revolutionize the way we live; 3) that science and technology were sufficiently developed so that plausible, and even likely, predictions could be made. By Wells time this was largely matter-of-fact. Let us look at "Time Machine" and "Invisible Man." These are not gadgets we need to prepare for. As far as we know, a time machine is impossible, and Wells's invisible man is only slightly less so. Much the same can be said of the "cavorite" in "First Men in the Moon". And while we are at it, Wells did not prepare us for the realities of the Moon landing: we didn't find any Selenites, moon cows, nor gold in abundance.
Yet, in a larger sense Asimov is correct: Wells helps us deal with our anxieties regarding change gone out of control. But such change need not be due to technology. In the middle ages it was due to the Black Death and other plagues ... followed by a crisis in religion. I recommend you read Asimov's introduction and form your own conclusions.

This Oxford annotated/critical edition of H.G. Wells' two most essential early novels is a great starting point for those starting their explorations of the work of the masterful and now mostly neglected writer, for all interested in the early history of science fiction, and for those who may have already read the works but want some context, without having to wade through full-length academic studies.

THE TIME MACHINE was Wells' first novel and for me it remains his most memorable, if not his best-written or fully-realized work. The classic parlor scene that opens the book - the Time Traveler regaling his guests with his theories, and their reactions which range from incredulity to doubting his sanity - the brief but exhilirating description of traveling through time - and most of all, the utter strangeness and wildness of the world of 802,701 have stayed with me through all the 35 years it's been since I first read the book, and keep me going back. Sure, Wells' sociological theorizing seems not just dated but a bit naive - but by setting his book at so remote a date in the future (a real stroke of genius - most early science fiction writers were content to talk about the world of the next century at most) he manages to negate any potential criticisms of real inaccuracies. And the haunting ending is the only appropriate way for such a story to run its course.

THE WAR OF THE WORLDS would probably be my pick for the writer's greatest sustained piece of writing in this genre, though overall TONO-BUNGAY is my favorite of all of his novels. What still makes this alien invasion story work is the perfect balance between subtlety and bluntness of the allegory - the Martian conquerors standing in for the European powers' subjugation and genocidal warfare on the inhabitants of Africa and theAmericas - and the absolute inhumanness and incomprehensibility of the Martians. They land - they destroy - man tries to communicate - is met with cool disinterest - terror - subjugation. It's one man's flight through the worst of it, a journalist's excited personal story with both the factual elements to make it seem like the work of a real newspaper writer and the fear of armageddon beautifully conveyed in the author's stark and brutal prose; this is as close to horror as Wells ever came in a novel (excepting conceivably DR. MOREAU) and the vision of cosmic terror here must have had a direct influence on nearly every writer since who has contemplated an alien encounter that didn't go all that well for mankind. We're nothing but ants, and he never lets us forget it. This is the universe that science has opened up to us at its most terrifying, and Wells wants us to keep our eyes open.

The Oxford edition is sparsely but usefully annotated, offers 10 pages of illustrations and a map of the Martian cylinders' falls in the London area which is nice but could be more detailed. After the two novels are 14 critical essays, some contemporaneous (2 of them by the author) and some more modern, including pieces by significant Wells/science fiction scholars Bernard Bergonzi, Mark Hillegas, and one of Wells' important heirs in the field, Jack Williamson. All are worth a look though I'm not sure that any is indispensible; all of them are from previously published works - most are selections from longer full-length studies on the author. Still, in the absence of other critical editions of these two hugely important novels that form much of the foundation of their genre, this volume is indispensible.

I'm apparently in the midst of my Martian attacks the Earth phase have just completed H.G. Wells' "War of the Worlds" and almost now done with Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut. In both the Martian's lose, pops sorry spoiler alert. Well's story was not quite what I expected butnwas still really well written, the man truly knows how to turn a phrase, but is somewhat dated, at least in my opinion. It's still a gpod read, so enjoy.

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