Product Description
This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery. ... Read more

Product Description
Your purchase helps fund free educational resources at BompaCrazy.com!!!

Enjoy ELEVEN classics in one Kindle edition with an active table of contents.

The collection contains: Ann Veronica,
In the Days of the Comet,
Love and Mr. Lewisham,
The First Men in the Moon,
The Invisible Man,
The Island of Dr. Moreau,
The Time Machine,
The War in the Air,
The War of the Worlds,
Twelve Stories and a Dream,
and When the Sleeper Wakes.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Amazing
This is the best book of a collection of H.G. Wells that I've found! It lets you go straight to the book and to what chapter you want to start on right away. You don't have to go through alot of books's own chapters to get to the book that you want like others that I've bought on my Kindle. I highly recommmend this anyone who loves H.G. Wells and wants to have some of his famous books there, this is the one for you then.

A very great writer...
I have read"The Time Machine", "War of the Worlds", and"First Men in the Moon"; all are excellent. I can't comment onthis format since I haven't purchased it. By the way all of Jules Verne'snovels are excellent also. ... Read more

Product Description
This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Very thought provoking...
This book is as funny as it is thought provoking. H. G. Wells takes us on a very entertaining and profound journey via a character named William who insists on living life nobly and thoroughly. Even as a child William had decided that this was the only aristocratic way to live and was determined to do so at all costs, and cost him it does.

William gets into all sorts of hilarious trouble for living up to his ideals with a lot of it being ironic. The very people he seeks to defend or sacrifice himself for are the ones who take advantage of him, and often he finds himself subject to the logical consequences of adhering to his particular ideal. No matter what happens, he keeps pushing forward and sticking with his principles.

I love H.G. Wells' works, and I think this is one of his best. Everything he writes is thought provoking, and this story provides plenty of food for thought. It takes on the subject of holding ideas vs. actually putting those ideals into practice without compromise. Even though the character, William, has problems as the result of doing this, he also lives a very full and exciting life.

In a way I see this story as more of an indictment against people who don't adhere to their ideals than those who do. William certainly suffers hardships for sticking with his beliefs, but he acquires confidence and courage and lives an outstanding and adventurous life because of it. I strongly recommend this book. I enjoyed it immensely and got a lot out of it.

funny, very entertaining, and brilliant...
This story is wonderful. It's funny, very entertaining, and brilliant. This is Wells at his best. The character he creates is a riot, a man who always practices what he believes. I couldn't help laughing at this guy and shaking my head, but I also admired him and must admit that I was even a bit envious of him.
I often wonder if Wells was doing a caricature of himself when he wrote this book. He was also a strongly idealistic person and it got him into trouble as well. He even made the Nazi's hit list during World War II because of his beliefs. It seems his personal life would have given him plenty of ammunition to write this story. Maybe that's why it's so outstanding.

Wells at his most brilliant
This is a brilliant work that analyzes the tricky issue of living up to one's ideals. Wells gives us a character that takes living his beliefs to the extreme in that he follows them unwaveringly no matter how much trouble it gets him into, and it definitely gets him into trouble.

This could have gone either of two ways. It could have just as easily been a tragic tale as a comedic one. I love that Wells decided to take it in a humorous direction. I really think the point he wished to make sinks in much more powerfully, because he chose to make this a humorous account. And the story is hilarious. The character gets into all sorts of ironically funny situations as the result of his insistence on following the ideology that he has embraced.

Though the character gets into trouble and looks ridiculous at times, he's also very inspirational. He keeps getting back up no matter how many times he's knocked down and shows a lot of courage. He also lives a very full and amazing life. He sees and experiences things that most people only dream of because of the ideology that he adheres to. His life is one long adventure. I believe that's the way it is for anyone who refuses to let go of lofty ideals and insists on living true to them. Such a person would certainly run into trouble but also live an amazing life and grow stronger and more courageous each day.

I really loved this book and just can't recommend it enough. This is Wells at his most brilliant. I absolutely loved the equally noble and silly character he created. This book really gives you a lot to think about and it makes you reassess your life. It's everything a book should be and more.

Wells builds novels out of ideas!
Mr. Wells builds novels out of ideas as other men build them of imagery and emotions.William Porphyry Benham sets out to live the noble or aristocratic life, and the book is about what happens to him because of his beautiful obsession.Starting in his boyhood, and throughout his life, it produced profound adventures, yet also made him ridiculous, and even inspiring.It was a passion for courage, for personal nobility, for service to others, for self-sacrificing, all for the social betterment of the whole world. ... Read more

Product Description
The book has no illustrations or index. Purchasers are entitled to a free trial membership in the General Books Club where they can select from more than a million books without charge. Subjects: Space flight to the moon/ Fiction; Utopias/ Fiction; Science fiction; Satire; Utopias; Utopian fiction; Space flight to the moon - Fiction; Space flight to the moon; Fiction / Fantasy / Short Stories; Science / Astrophysics ... Read more

Customer Reviews (30)

Space Invaders
"The First Men in the Moon" is a remarkable work.Though the science described in the book is almost silly by today's standards, one must look past this to appreciate the book.Even more than his other books, this novel is a statement that derides the voilent and imperialist tendancies of the human race, particularly this British.Today, the words still have bite.

The plot of the novel sees an inventor (Cavor) and struggling playwright (Bedford) travel to the moon after the inventor's discovery.Stranded, they encounter the inhabitants of the moon.Bedford, finds their intentions to be hostile despite Cavor reluctantly disagreeing.Tyring to escape from the moon, Cavor again falls into the custody of the moon people.Cavor is left behind but far from forgotten.

Though Bedford is the main character, Cavor shines as the mouthpiece of H.G. Wells' social views.Many of Wells' observations are still appropriate today.The final chapters seem to run too long, and may not be entirely necessary.At the point they are placed in the book, they add little to the plot.

Cavor meets the Big Kahuna, oops Grand Lunar
Everybody knows HG Wells is a popular science-fiction writer. Most people know of him through a few of his stories that have been produced as popular movies such as "The Time Machine", and "The War of the Worlds."However HG Wells was really more of a philosopher and a quasi-scientist than he was a writer.

This is one of his lesser known science fiction stories published in 1901. However as with most science fiction the story is only a vehicle to carry HG's philosophy and commentary on his Victorian Society to the reader. The story has many false starts and stops but takes the time to comment on such subjects as can aperson actually be satisfied with a one-dimensional job?

Knowing that this was pre-Einstein it may be possible to believe in the technology and theories of the time. And then again as with many science-fiction or fantasy stories HG may have just been taking liberalities with realities.

One cute touch in this story is that the characters comment on Jules Vern's story of the man in the moon.
--------

Bedford bankrupt businessman who is making a comeback by writing a play, through a series of circumstances, teams up with Professor Cavor a recluse scientist who does not realize his own potential. Together they build a contraption, sphere, that can cut off gravity waves. What can they do with such a device? You guessed it! Let's all traveled to the moon.

Once on the moon Bedford and Cavor find that they are not alone. After a few adventures they are detained by the Moonies referred to mostly in this story as Selenites. The daring duo is restrained with chains of gold. Cavor looks at this is a reasonable precaution and also looks forward to communicating with the strange creatures. Bedford is more practical and knows what chains mean. This means it's time to escape an escape they do.

Will they be able to make it back to Earth and warn the people of the strange creatures? Or will they be caught and who knows what may happen to them in the long run.

Keep reading and learn of the society and nature of the Selenites.

The Future in America: A Search After Realities

Cavor meets the Big Kahuna, oops Grand Lunar
Everybody knows HG Wells is a popular science-fiction writer. Most people know of him through a few of his stories that have been produced as popular movies such as "The Time Machine", and "The War of the Worlds."However HG Wells was really more of a philosopher and a quasi-scientist than he was a writer.

This is one of his lesser known science fiction stories published in 1901. Howeveras with most science fiction the story is only a vehicle to carry HG's philosophy and commentary on his Victorian Society to the reader. The story has many false starts and stops but takes the time to comment on such subjects as can aperson actually be satisfied with a one-dimensional job?

Knowing that this was pre-Einstein it may be possible to believe in the technology and theories of the time. And then again as with many science-fiction or fantasy stories HG may have just been taking liberalities with realities.

One cute touch in this story is that the characters comment on Jules Vern's story of the man in the moon.
--------

Bedford bankrupt businessman who is making a comeback by writing a play, through a series of circumstances, teams up with Professor Cavor a recluse scientist who does not realize his own potential. Together they build a contraption, sphere, that can cut off gravity waves. What can they do with such a device? You guessed it! Let's all traveled to the moon.

Once on the moon Bedford and Cavor find that they are not alone. After a few adventures they are detained by the Moonies referred to mostly in this story as Selenites. The daring duo is restrained with chains of gold. Cavor looks at this is a reasonable precaution and also looks forward to communicating with the strange creatures. Bedford is more practical and knows what chains mean. This means it's time to escape an escape they do.

Will they be able to make it back to Earth and warn the people of the strange creatures? Or will they be caught and who knows what may happen to them in the long run.

Keep reading and learn of the society and nature of the Selenites.


The Future in America: A Search After Realities

The writer's imagination is beyond that of scientists
Although the book is dull sometimes, I am very surprised by the author's imagination, because it is really extremely hard to imagine the details in a place where no humans have seen. The most difficult is to create these details.

THE FIRST MEN IN THE MOON by H. G. Wells
The book is over a hundred years old, so you'll forgive a few spoilers. There are actually two related stories here:

First, there's Mr. Bedford, who has no scientific training and mooches a ride to the moon with Mr. Cavor, where he plots all his business ideas and bludgeons scores of moon people to death with a solid gold crowbar. He goes home, a stupid little kid accidentally flies off in the Cavorite sphere, and that's that. Good times. Convenient how he, against the extremely long odds mentioned by the narrator, not only gets back to earth, but back to England.

Next, there's Mr. Cavor, who gets left on the moon more or less out of necessity, and perhaps by his own choice. The Selenites track him down, and begin to communicate with him. How inconsiderate of Mr. Cavor to make them all learn English instead of him learning their language, especially since they only have one language globally. Here we get into the book's social commentary, which Wells was always big on but which posterity has forgotten in favor of his science fiction elements. Is it truly by accident that Cavor mentions that he's the only way humans can get back to the moon, and that he fails to send earth his formula for Cavorite? Or is he conveniently trying to keep the indigenous peoples from being trampled down by the earth's world powers? Plus we have the Selenites' interesting social structure, like communism, to the extreme.

Reading this book for the first time in the twenty-first century, one's thoughts go like this: "Hey, Wells made some pretty decent predictions about helium and the moon...well, except for the moon plants...and the giant moon cows...and the moon ant people. Never mind."

Wells was a great writer, though, and this story is engaging and, early on, humorous. Seems like he was trying to outdo Jules Verne's From the Earth to the Moon and its sequel. The First Men in the Moon is over the top in this day and age, maybe, but in 1900 nobody knew any better. Well done, sir.

RECOMMENDED ... Read more

Product Description
The delightful story of creative play with miniature figures and magical worlds on the nursery floor is brought back to life in this reprint of a historical work. Written for his sons in 1911, Wells's story immerses the reader in a tale where possibilities are the given and surprises the fact. It has since been used as a teaching tool for psychotherapists the world over to understand children's methods of thinking and is instrumental in the work of sandplay therapists. An insightful introduction discusses the history of play in Wells's prolific creative life and his role in the development of sandplay therapy. ... Read more

Product Description
"Gathering together the oriaginal novel, the radio script and a CD of the 1938 'panic broadcast' is INSPIRED." Science Fiction Weekly ... Read more

Product Description

Product Description
H.G. Wells: Complete Short Story Collection is a anthology of works by the father of the science fiction genre. This selection includes 49 classic short stories from the father of the Science Fiction genre author H.G. Wells. Selections included in this anthology:A Deal in Ostriches,A Dream of Armageddon,A Moon Light Fable,A Slip Under the Microscope,A Story of Days to Come,A Story of the Stoneage,A Vision of Judgment,Aepyornis Island,Filmer,In the Avu Observatory,Jimmy Goggles the God,Miss Winchelsea's Heart,Mr. Brisher's Treasure,Mr. Ledbetter's Vacation,Mr. Skelmersdale in Fairyland,The Beautiful Suit,The Cone,The Country of the Blind,The Crystal Egg,The Diamond Maker,The Door in the Wall,The Empire of the Ants,The Flowering of the Strange Orchid,The Flying Man,The HammerPond Park Burglary,The Jilting of Jane,The Lord of the Dynamos,The Magic Shop,The Man Who Could Work Miracles,The Moth,The New Accelerator,The Obliterated Man,The Plattner Story,The Purple Pileus,The Red Room,The Remarkable Case of Davidson's Eyes,The Sea Raiders,The Star,The Stolen Bacillus,The Stolen Body,The Story of the Inexperienced Ghost,The Story of the Late Mr. Elvesham,The Treasure in the Forest,The Triumphs of a Taxidermist,The Truth About Pyecraft,The Valley of Spiders,Through a Window,Under the Knife,Zoological Retrogression, ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

First-class humanistic stories redolent of Victorian and Edwardian life
Wells (according to his Experiment in Autobiography) kept a card index of ideas for short stories. He'd pick a card and work up the idea into a story. He wrote at a time when magazines and journals were multiplying - they therefore needed material. I'll look at just a few of the sixty-three stories here:-

The Time Machine - this made Wells's name, in 1895. Incidentally the equipment is Victorian glass and brass, with bicycle power, and the whole indoor scene lit by candlelight.

The Sad Story of a Dramatic Critic - about the 'phenomenal unnaturalness of acting'. Very amusing story about a critic who ultimately can't help expressing himself in the emotional symbolism of theatrical conventions, such as "be kaynd to her."

A Slip Under the Microscope is about cheating in examinations, and also about rivalry between social classes of students.

Little Mother up the Morderburg is one of Wells's only two attempts as far as I know at a Munchhausen style of tale.

The Story of the Last Trump - variation on a Biblical idea. The last trump carelessly falls to earth and is found by a Wells hero in a junk shop. He promptly blows it, and the 'Last Judgment' begins. Another very attractive story.

The Grisly Folk is an attempt to write up the clash between Neanderthals and Homo Sapiens - assuming this ever happened.

The Star (1910) is Wells's fictional account of a comet approaching dangerously near the earth.

The Truth About Pyecraft is an extraordinarily skilful story about a fat club bore who wants to lose weight. In true Wells's style, there is genuine science fiction here, based on the confusion between 'mass' and 'weight'. Wells's SF is usually based on genuine scientific principles teased out or modified by a master storyteller.

Miss Winchelsea's Heart is a comedy of manners - the defeat of love by snobbery. Magnificent story incorporating an Italian holiday of about 1900, and the fading away of the obligatory Baedeker references which seemed appealing at the time.

In the Modern Vein: An Unsympathetic Love Story is an account of a rather hypocritical man of letters, dabbling with the possibility of an affair with a suitably exotic young woman. Very amusing conflict with domesticity and wifedom. I would not be at all surprised if this was based on Wells's own experiences!

There are many more, of course. Note that more Wells stories turned up later, I think found by the H G Wells Society in Britain, which had been rejected for various reasons, though I'm not sure they were inferior - 'The Man With a Nose' for example. I see a new volume is to be published soon; I don't know if it includes his unpublished stories, but I'd hope so. ... Read more

Product Description
Herbert George Wells (1866-1946) was an English writer best known for such science fiction novels as The Time Machine (1888), The Island of Doctor Moreau (1896), The War of the Worlds (1897), The Invisible Man: A Grotesque Romance (1897) and The First Men in the Moon (1900-01). He was a prolific writer of both fiction and non-fiction, and produced works in many different genres, including contemporary novels, history, and social commentary. He was also an outspoken socialist. His later works become increasingly political and didactic, and only his early science fiction novels are widely read today. Wells is sometimes referred to as "The Father of Science Fiction". Among his most famous works are: Ann Veronica: A Modern Love Story (1909), The History of Mr. Polly (1910), The Country of the Blind and Other Stories (1911), An Englishman Looks at the World (1914), God the Invisible King (1917) and In the Fourth Year: Anticipations of a World Peace (1918). ... Read more

Customer Reviews (30)

Very POOR Edition
This edition / printing by Dodo Press looks like someone got a simple text file off an archive and printed it.There are NO pictures, graphics, annotations through the whole book.A very unprofessional edition.No Introduction or forward by Gary Gygax.All the images on Amazon's "Look Inside" feature for this Dodo press edition are actually from the Mass Market Paperback edition of the book and NONE of the content displayed is in the edition from Dodo Press.

I'm returning these books and ordering the Mass Market Press edition books.
Amazon has been very helpful and apologetic.

A review from a person who never knows this game
For me, A Chinese, who never knows this game, the reading becomes dull although the author was exciting mentioning his game.

I do finish it with feel of reading of a handbook. However, I must admit that the western writers have a great patience in description including this author.

The grandaddy of wargaming
In 1913 HG Wells wrote this book on wargaming.This edition includes many of the original illustrations. The block buildings in the photos are evocativeof the Moorlocks' buildings in The Time Machine. Although some of Wells rules have been surpassed many of his ideas for wargaming are still relevant today. Best of all is his humour and whimsical imagination.

Still the best!
I've played many minis games in my life (Warhammer, 40k, LotR, etc...) and I have to say this original of H.G.Wells is still one of the best rule systems out there!It's easy to understand, easy to use, and easy to get immersed into.No dice, no ambiguosness, just straight forward fun.You can play a day long battle royale of many armys, or a quick 20 min skirmish between to friends.It's also a fun look at history as the pictures of grown men, in full suits and straw hats, laying on the grass playing from the turn of the century are priceless!

Great Book!
Wells is the man!Thank you Skirmisher for putting this classic into my hands.It's a great family game - not too complicated, but not inane.Great game to play after a particularly rough loss of your favorite football team - you get instant revenge on the enemy! ... Read more

Product Description
This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Wells was a wonderful writer and very talented at telling a great story...
I'm a huge H.G Wells fan.On this one he steps outside the science fiction genre and gives us a compelling look into the mind of a man as he and his nation are pulled into war. It's actually very similar to the process I've seen the American psyche going through since 9-11, previously opposed to war, then whole-heartedly engaged, then questioning it.

I think this book would be a good choice for history buffs, since it does such an excellent job of showing us how things were during World War I and what the mood was like during that time.

Wells himself followed a similar course to his character. His leaned philosophically in the direction of pacifism, but when the First World War began he supported it at first, then after a while he gravitated back to his more pacifistic views.

This is an excellent book and I really enjoyed reading. Wells was a wonderful writer and very talented at telling a great story. I highly recommend this book.

Brilliant and sometimes hilarious!
I got this book as a gift from my brother. I have always loved H.G. Wells' books, and though this one is not in the same genre that I'm used to, I really loved it. It's sad and brilliant and sometimes hilarious. The message is deep and timely. Even though it's about a different war, the sentiment is still the same. What war does to the psyches of individuals and nations does not change. It unites us for a time only to eventually leave us feeling dirty. H.G. Wells shows us this process works in this excellent book. I really enjoyed reading it, and I would recommend it to anyone.

The First Book of Wells' Decline
"Mr. Britling Sees It Through" was written while World War I was still raging. For the first 200 pages of this 450-page work, I was won over by some of the most muscular prose I had ever read. It was beautifully-written, lucid, poetic. After that 200-page mark, though, it sinks into vicious anti-German WWI-era propaganda. "Kill the Kaiser," "the Dirty Huns," etc.
History courses around the world study what we now know to be Allied lies about Germany to get America into the war. For instance, we NOW know that the Germans weren't "crucifying Belgians," nor bayonetting babies for practice, nor "making soap out of human corpses". So successful was this line of propaganda that many of its best gems were recycled for the second World War a generation later [and still survive as urban legends today, among the uneducated]. But the truth is: We now know exactly what British authors and operatives came up with the propaganda, what authorities authorized it and who aided in its dissemination.
Furthermore, we now know [what they didn't at the time] that H.G. Wells was hired to be on the staff of the very first official board of the British Ministry of Propaganda. He was a hireling of the government to spread what he knew were lies in order to persuade peace-loving men to murder in the name of their leaders' agendas.
For that Wells can never be forgiven.
If he was an artist before 1916 [and "Mr. Britling Sees It Through"], he was the worst sort of political hack and moral reprobate afterward--filling his novels with intentional lies and phony atrocities in order to stir murderous, irrational blood-lustto advance British Imperialist goals.

Not at all a bad book
The title says it all."Mr. Britling Sees It Through" ... gosh, it's almost a parody of a H.G. Wells title.It's the story of how Mr. Britling makes it through World War One; although I should point out that he neveronce leaves England nor even, so far as I can remember, his study.

Look,I really liked this book, and I wish I could give it a higher rating; andWells is a good enough writer to ensure that the book has some good thingsin it (Mr. Britling's "affair" with a theatrically emotional woman ishilarious); but in all fairness I must say that (a) Not all that muchhappens - I know Mr. Britling has a son at the front, but the resultingtension isn't enough to build a novel out of, and (b) There's something atouch self-indulgent about Mr. Britling's armchair angst, and so as aresult (c) Wells sometimes misses the point of his own fable.But ifanyone has any desire at all to read this book, I say, give in to it. ... Read more

Product Description
This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery. ... Read more

Product Description
Gathered together in one hardcover volume: three timeless novels from the founding father of science fiction.

The first great novel to imagine time travel, The Time Machine (1895) follows its scientist narrator on an incredible journey that takes him finally to Earth’s last moments—and perhaps his own. The scientist who discovers how to transform himself in The Invisible Man (1897) will also discover, too late, that he has become unmoored from society and from his own sanity. The War of the Worlds (1898)—the seminal masterpiece of alien invasion adapted by Orson Welles for his notorious 1938 radio drama, and subsequently by several filmmakers—imagines a fierce race of Martians who devastate Earth and feed on their human victims while their voracious vegetation, the red weed, spreads over the ruined planet.

Here are three classic science fiction novels that, more than a century after their original publication, show no sign of losing their grip on readers’ imaginations. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Beautiful volume, amazing novellas!
Not being a huge science fiction fan, I bought this volume hoping to enjoy the stories here. I was not disappointment! H.G. Wells wrote with confidence, imagination and depth, which surprised me I guess. The high literary tone of the prose makes for an amazing yet accessible read and the stories themselves are much more allegorical and profound than I had anticipated. Wells makes comments on humanity and society that cause the reader to think about the implications of his messages. "War of the Worlds", for example, is much more than Aliens vs. Mankind. Highly recommended!

The origins of sci-fi
One of the very first science fiction authors -- and the one with the biggest impact on sci-fi -- was undoubtedly H.G. Wells. And "The Time Machine, The Invisible Man, The War of the Worlds" brings together three of his timeless novels, filled with weird occurrences and even weirder creatures.

"The Time Machine" concerns the Time Traveller, an English scientist who has built a machine capable of taking a person through time. So he goes to the year 802,701 A.D. and finds that civilization has fallen -- the human race has become the grotesque, apish Morlocks and the innocent, vague Eloi. And as he continues traveling into the future, it becomes bleaker.

"The Invisible Man" involves... well, an invisible man. A stranger covered entirely in clothes, goggles and bandages arrives in the village of Iping, and frightens the locals with his strange behavior. When the "invisible man" stumbles across the house of Dr. Kemp, he reveals his true identity and just how he became invisible...

Finally, "The War of the Worlds" takes place when the narrator finds a bizarre metal spaceship, filled with enormous tentacled Martians -- and soon they're decimating the army with their heat rays and tripodal fighting machines. Now, the human race is threatened with annihilation or enslavement, unless something can turn the war of the worlds in their favor.

A future "dying earth," time machines, strange elixirs and even the idea of aliens invading the Earth -- H.G. Wells came up with a lot of the ideas that are now pretty common in science fiction. Some of his ideas have been disproven (I'm pretty sure there are no hyper-evolved, tentacled monsters on Mars), but that doesn't make his books any less groundbreaking.

Wells wrote in a staid 19th-century style, full of vivid descriptions ("The red eastern sky, the northward blackness, the salt Dead Sea, the stony beach crawling with these foul, slow-stirring monsters") and powerful emotions (the wild chase scenes in "The Invisible Man"). He also had a knack for inserting some really alien stuff into the stories, as well as some truly bleak depictions of what might come to pass.

And he wove in plenty of science -- bacteria, albinism, evolution and the life cycle of a planet, as well as the question of whether there was life on other worlds. I can only imagine how these books must have expanded the imaginations of the Victorians who read them.

HG Wells' most famous works are brought together in "The Time Machine, The Invisible Man, The War of the Worlds." It's bleak, brilliant sci-fi that needs to be read to be believed. ... Read more

Product Description
This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Still fun to read
These eight stories were better than I remembered them.In these stories, Wells wrote mainly about the time he lived in, and he is very capable of bringing the reader back to the time and helping them to see just what it was like.From a historical perspective, fascinating.

The plots are intriguing, and the characters are believable.Unlike Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, who I think was only able to bring Holmes and Watson to life and found it difficult to write about other characters, Wells creates numerous characters that come alive.

Even the Country of the Blind, which I never liked much before, was interesting not just as a story but as a provocative statement on culture, religion and science.

I loved this book and highly recommend it.

More Wall Than Door
Wells is never quite able to break free from an industrial age mindset, and this has always been one of his drawbacks for me towards the appreciation of his work. The title story stands on its own as a classic juxtaposition of cosmopolitan worldliness against idyllic innocence, but Wells was never visionary enough to transcend his time, and his scientific suppositions seem quaint by today's standards, especially "A Dream of Armageddon" which is pretty much a contradiction in terms, even if one accepts the historical constraints on the author. "The Lord of the Dynamics" is also offensively exploitative even if you allow for the bigotry of the age. There may be some minor typographical errors that the text preparer missed, particularly in "The Cone," I am not sure, but if you like the faith in mechanical supremacy that so called classical speculative fiction offers, then you like H.G. Wells, but he just isn't quite my cup of tea, even conceding his place as a master storyteller.

good stories
I got this book in an instant on my Kindle and so far I love it. I haven't yet read all the stories but the ones I have read I have really enjoyed. It's really easy to read even though it's written in an old style.

Free SF Reader

Another collection somewhat like Twelve Stories and a Dream, with a mixture of genres.This one throws in a couple of darkly humoured pieces in the last three stories.The best are Empire of the Ants and The Country of the Blind.

Door In the Wall. G. Wells : The Door in the Wall - H. G. Wells
Door In the Wall. G. Wells : The Empire of the Ants - H. G. Wells
Door In the Wall. G. Wells : A Vision of Judgment - H. G. Wells
Door In the Wall. G. Wells : The Land Ironclads - H. G. Wells
Door In the Wall. G. Wells : The Beautiful Suit - H. G. Wells
Door In the Wall. G. Wells : The Pearl of Love - H. G. Wells
Door In the Wall. G. Wells : The Country of the Blind - H. G. Wells
Door In the Wall. G. Wells : The Reconciliation - H. G. Wells
Door In the Wall. G. Wells : My First Aeroplane - H. G. Wells
Door In the Wall. G. Wells : Little Mother Up the Mörderberg - H. G. Wells
Door In the Wall. G. Wells : The Story of the Last Trump - H. G. Wells
Door In the Wall. G. Wells : The Grisly Folk - H. G. Wells


Other places to go.

3 out of 5


Just waiting for the takeover.

4 out of 5


Supernatural stuff seen.

2 out of 5



Give tanks a try.

3.5 out of 5


Fashion victim.

2.5 out of 5


It stings, chuck it away.

3 out of 5


Hard to be King, no matter how many eyes.

4 out of 5


Too much biffo is a killer.

3.5 out of 5


Pigs and vicars? Why are they upset?

3.5 out of 5


Snow way to climb a mountain.

3.5 out of 5


Judgement day music.

2.5 out of 5


Prehistoric people story.

3 out of 5 ... Read more

Product Description
This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Fun adventure
I had forgotten what a wonderful writer H. G. was; I haven't read one of his books in at least 30 years.I remembered liking this one especially when I read it way back when, and it holds up beautifully, as many a musty classic does not.There's a lot of tongue-in-cheek humor, and a rascally hero (he briefly considers an offer to buy his cottage, despite the fact that he doesn't own it), along with the usual delightfully mad inventor.His descriptions of the flora and fauna of the moon, along with the social structure and lives of the Selenites, are so well done that you are carried along, even though Man has been to the moon and exploded the romance of it all.

A highly recommended, entertaining read.

Remember that it was written over 100 years ago
This is a must read for almost anyone, not just sci-fi fans.It's really interesting to read how Wells describes what he thinks the moon is like (or, perhaps, what he hopes it's like).This is a very well-written work, and I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to let their imagination run wild.The biggest mistake you can make when reading this is to allow yourself to get caught up in what Wells got "wrong."Instead, try to head into this book as if you have no prior knowledge about the moon.If you can do that, I think you will find this book highly enjoyable.

Good sci-fi reading
If you like science fiction you should download this copy of "The First Men in the Moon". While knowing what we know now about the moon makes parts of the story seem preposterous, I found it easy to suspend my disbelief for this story. Considering this was written before we could see the surface of the moon, I found it very inventive. The moon plants and other things they find are explained with reasoning and it is entertaining to follow. The main characters are entertaining, and the narrator character isn't the easiest character to like, but it is supposed to be this way. He's trying to tell the story so it puts him in the best light but I thought it made the story more entertaining. Overall a classic sci-fi story, if you call yourself a sci-fi fan you need to read H.G. Wells' "The First Men in the Moon".

Venture into a fictional moon.
At the time of the writing of this book, people didn't know what exactly to expect to find when man first steps onto the moon.
But the mind of H.G. Wells came up with what can be found in this book. It is as far from reality as anyone can contemplate, so reading "The First Men In the Moon" today with all that we know about our satellite requires a certain level of detachment from reality. When you do accept the premise for the sake of this fiction, you are taken to an alternate moon, a moon rich with life. A place where man can learn of a very different type of society.
Accept this, and the story becomes something of a masterpiece.

Cavor meets the Big Kahuna, oops Grand Lunar
Everybody knows HG Wells is a popular science-fiction writer. Most people know of him through a few of his stories that have been produced as popular movies such as "The Time Machine", and "The War of the Worlds."However HG Wells was really more of a philosopher and a quasi-scientist than he was a writer.

This is one of his lesser known science fiction stories published in 1901. However as with most science fiction the story is only a vehicle to carry HG's philosophy and commentary on his Victorian Society to the reader. The story has many false starts and stops but takes the time to comment on such subjects as can aperson actually be satisfied with a one-dimensional job?

Knowing that this was pre-Einstein it may be possible to believe in the technology and theories of the time. And then again as with many science-fiction or fantasy stories HG may have just been taking liberalities with realities.

One cute touch in this story is that the characters comment on Jules Vern's story of the man in the moon.
--------

Bedford bankrupt businessman who is making a comeback by writing a play, through a series of circumstances, teams up with Professor Cavor a recluse scientist who does not realize his own potential. Together they build a contraption, sphere, that can cut off gravity waves. What can they do with such a device? You guessed it! Let's all traveled to the moon.

Once on the moon Bedford and Cavor find that they are not alone. After a few adventures they are detained by the Moonies referred to mostly in this story as Selenites. The daring duo is restrained with chains of gold. Cavor looks at this is a reasonable precaution and also looks forward to communicating with the strange creatures. Bedford is more practical and knows what chains mean. This means it's time to escape an escape they do.

Will they be able to make it back to Earth and warn the people of the strange creatures? Or will they be caught and who knows what may happen to them in the long run.

Keep reading and learn of the society and nature of the Selenites.

The Future in America: A Search After Realities
... Read more

Product Description
All 'Special Kindle Format' are scanned by a kindle reader to insure smooth and easy reading! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (85)

Finally ... FINALLY discovering H.G. Wells
Growing up, I put H.G. Wells in the company of Jules Verne who wrote ahead-of-their-time stories that were basically adventure stories. I unfortunately turned up my nose at Wells having never read any of his books other than War of the Worlds.

Flash forward three or four decades and I found a reference to Wells' The Island of Doctor Moreau in a much more modern novel, James Hynes' Kings of Infinite Space. (Now there's the kind of book I enjoy ... caustic humor and biting satire.) To make a long story short, I was bored and looking for a little light reading. That's when I remembered the reference to Wells' novel and purchased it for my Kindle.

Even before I had finished The Island of Doctor Moreau I had ventured back online to download two more books by Wells. Despite being written more than a century ago, the book is even more relevant now than when it was first penned. Granted, science has gone much further than Moreau with his transfusions and surgical procedures, but Wells' exploration of the nature of humanity and humanity's relation to its maker is timeless.

I had forgotten what a utopian thinker Wells was in his day and was pleasantly surprised to be reminded of that fact. The only caveat I would suggest is that there are a few unflattering racial and ethnic comments made in the book (but given the world in which the book was written, this is a very small complaint).

awesome
great book, great conversion to kindle and great price!I dont read much but this book seems to have brought me back to books.....in digital form at least

Thought Provoking
Reading The Island of Doctor Moreau for the first time was amazing.I've spent 30 plus years with every book I could find on our own ancient history trying to find out where we came from, and I can't help but wonder if H.G. Wells knew something of that history when he wrote his book.In Zacharia Sitchen's work we have the scientist Enki going off the experiment on the local animals to produce a hybrid between his species and the local ape-like creature to produce modern man.Is it merely a coincident or was Wells mining ancient cellular memories.

While Enki did gene-splicing and worked with his sister, (genesis means beginnings/gene of isis) Moreau had his drunken assistant Montgomery.In the Island, the Moreau predicts that the animals will revert back to animals(mark of the beast he calls it) and they do once they see and taste blood.Is that Wells' commentary on mankind, that we revert to beasts once we taste blood(wars)?I also equated the Mark of the Beast that Wells talked about with Revelation and the dreaded Mark Of The Beast which is thought to be a computer chip to some.Maybe it's just us turning back into the beasts our creators brought us up from.Tasting blood does seem to turn us into beasts.

I think this book should be read with Sitchen's work to see the parallels of how we might have been brought up from beasts by a consciousless creator to satisfy his curiosity and test his skills.How Moreau's assistant felt sympathy for the beasts and wanted to teach and befriend them.Enki was sympathetic to his 'beast creations' and wanted to save them from his brother Enlil.Enlil wanted to destroy the beasts(flood) because they sickened him and the beasts wouldn't follow the Law.

Spoiler-read no further.

I especially liked how when Moreau was killed by one of his beasts, Montgomery told the beasts that Moreau wasn't dead he'd just dropped his form to go up to heaven, and that the law still applied, and their creator would be watching from above.Sounds just like a priest trying to stay in power and keep the beasts, who were in the majority from killing him.

When Pendrick finally gets off the island, he finds he can no longer live with the rest of humanity because he keeps seeing a shadow of the beast in their faces.Absolutely amazing book.Read it and have it haunt you for the rest of your life.

When I Dream

Excellent book
H.G. Wells' The Island of Dr. Moreau is a very good book. When I got it the Kindle version was free, so a good deal. I don't like having to pay for public domain books, but I like having them to carry with me. This is very thought provoking and not one you can easily forget. The novel is a sort of commentary on what it is to be human. The science fiction used is a little difficult to suspend disbelief for, what with modern biological knowledge of genetics, but it isn't something that really interferes with the story. A very interesting read, I strongly recommend The Island of Dr. Moreau.

why pay so much?
this is just about a specific edition which sells for three times (!?) what it should. stick with the better editions- like The Island Of Doctor Moreau which are a third of the cost ... Read more

Product Description
Books for All Kinds of ReadersReadHowYouWant offers the widest selection of on-demand, accessible format editions on the market today. Each edition has been optimized for maximum readability, using our patent-pending conversion technology. We are partnering with leading publishers around the globe to create accessible editions of their titles. Our goal is to have accessible editions simultaneously released with publishers new books so that all readers can have access to the books they want to readtoday. To find more books in your format visit www.readhowyouwant.com ... Read more

Product Description
H. G. Wells

Scientific visionary. Social prophet. Master storyteller. Few novelists have captivated generations of readers like H. G. Wells. In enduring, electrifying detail, he takes us to dimensions of time and space that have haunted our dreams for centuries -- and shows us ourselves as we really are.

The time machine

In the heart of Victorian England, an inquisitve gentleman known only as the Time Traveler constructs an elaborate invention that hurtles him hundreds of thousands of years into the future. There he finds himself in the violent center of the ultimate conflict between beings of light and creatures of darkness.

The war of the worlds

Martians invade Great Britain, laying waste turn-of-the-century London. This tale of conquest by superior beings with superadvanced technology is so nightmarishly real that an adaptation by Orson Welles and the Mercury Theater sent hundreds of impressionable radio listeners into panicked flight forty years after the story's original publication. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Perhaps the best introduction possible to the greatest of science fiction writers
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. ... Read more

Product Description

This is an electronic edition of the complete book complemented by author biography. This book features the table of contents linked to every chapter. The book was designed for optimal navigation on the Kindle, PDA, Smartphone, and other electronic readers. It is formatted to display on all electronic devices including the Kindle, Smartphones and other Mobile Devices with a small display.

Customer Reviews (3)

Free SF Reader
A quite good and quite eclectic selection of stories.Something of everything, sf, fantasy, horror, crime, war, etc.

Stolen Bacillus : The Stolen Bacillus and Other Incidents - H. G. Wells
Stolen Bacillus : The Stolen Bacillus - H. G. Wells
Stolen Bacillus : The Flowering of the Strange Orchid - H. G. Wells
Stolen Bacillus : In the Avu Observatory - H. G. Wells
Stolen Bacillus : The Triumphs of a Taxidermist - H. G. Wells
Stolen Bacillus : A Deal with Ostriches - H. G. Wells
Stolen Bacillus : Through a Window - H. G. Wells
Stolen Bacillus : The Temptation of Harringay - H. G. Wells
Stolen Bacillus : The Flying Man - H. G. Wells
Stolen Bacillus : The Diamond Maker - H. G. Wells
Stolen Bacillus : Aepyornis Island - H. G. Wells
Stolen Bacillus : The Remarkable Case of Davidson's Eyes - H. G. Wells
Stolen Bacillus : The Lord of the Dynamos - H. G. Wells
Stolen Bacillus : The Hammerpond Park Bruglary - H. G. Wells
Stolen Bacillus : The Moth - H. G. Wells
Stolen Bacillus : The Treasure in the Forest - H. G. Wells

Anarchy plague hard to swallow.

3.5 out of 5


Hothouse leech.

4 out of 5


Big flying thing I think.

3.5 out of 5


New bird fooling.

3 out of 5


Jewellery eater.

3 out of 5


Krees manhunt.

3.5 out of 5


Bloody painting.

3 out of 5


Parachute raid.

3.5 out of 5


Pressure flux offer.

3.5 out of 5


Big egg hatching.

4 out of 5


Remote viewing.

3.5 out of 5


Engine sacrifice.

3.5 out of 5


Nice way to do the robbing business.

3 out of 5


Not fair to die before the end of the debate.

4 out of 5


Poison gold.

3.5 out of 5

Great classic sci-fi - still fresh today
H G Wells wrote and published this book of short stories in 1895; the first book he published, if I remember correctly.The writing style is typical Wells - just like he was sitting in front of you telling you a tale - and the stories themselves are quite entertaining.The topics range from an Anarchist set to destroy London by stealing a vial of cholera bacilla (the title story) to a man describing his time on a deserted island and how he hatched out an egg that had been preserved for 400 years.I think my favorite was the taxidermist story, just because it was really twisted :-)Give this book a try - it's a great introduction to the writings of a classic author of truly tremendous standing.

Excellent collection of tales
I really enjoyed this collection of 15 tales which range from a different way of looking at every day events, to high adventure (complete with buried treasure), mystery, magic, and science fiction.There is something for everyone in this collection.

These tales show imagination and all are beautifully written in Wells' classical style. One of H.G. Wells' biggest strengths is his ability to paint a picture with words.The reader is very much able to visualize what is going on, whithout being told every single detail.

A must read collection for fans of H.G. Wells and classic SciFi alike.

Personal favorites in this collection include "The Lord of the Dynamos", "Trough A Window", and "The Treasure in the Forest". ... Read more