H. G. Wells: The Sea Raiders

Hi

I finished The Sea Raiders by H. G. Wells.
My copy has 59 pages and I got it at Waterstones.
The book includes ‘The Sea Raiders’, ‘The Magic Shop’, and ‘The Land Ironclads’.
You can find all my H. G. Wells reviews here.

All three short stories felt very much like The War of theWorlds in style and exposition. Very objective and stick-to-the-facts, the characters are almost detached from the current events. But it is very well-written and easy to read.
It’s an entertaining collection and all three stories are very different in subject.
The first story; the title story was my favorite.

3 STARS

Happy reading!
Helena

H. G. Wells: The Invisible Man

Hi

The Invisible Man was the novel today!
Only 156 pages and a 4-page afterword.
This novel was a gift from my parents.
You can find all my H. G. Wells reviews here.

“This masterpiece of science fiction is the fascinating story of Griffin, a scientist who creates a serum to render himself invisible, and his descent into madness that follows.”

I really liked Wells’ prose in this novel. It reads so easy, so fast and it is very intriguing.
Griffin’s descent into madness and his increasing brutality and violence make this a very, very suspenseful novel.
His sudden outbursts, the slowly culminating anger and his unexpected, sudden changes in mood are actually terrifying.
The atmosphere Wells created is amazing. Fear, expectation and trepidation on every page.

Definitely recommended!

Happy reading.

Helena

H. G. Wells: The War of the Worlds

Hi again

The War of the Worlds is H. G. Wells’ best known work.
My copy has only 189 pages and I ordered it from The Book Depository. This is a reread for me as I read it before in Dutch when I was much younger.

You can find all my H. G. Wells reviews here.

The Earth is being watched by aliens from Mars. They existed long before the human race and because of that we’re way behind in our evolution compared to them. The Martians know this, and they need a new planet to populate. Which means that our Earth is the obvious choice.
Our protagonist (again without a name) sees an explosion nearby and he decides to investigate. Obviously he’s not the only one with that thought. Once they reach the crater however it is clear that there is life inside the cylinder. Some men decide to move closer but they get incinerated by the Martians’ heat ray. The next day these Martians are working on something in their cylinders.
More cylinders crash on earth and the same happens close to those craters; people get incinerated and a lot of smoke and noise follows.
After a few days, the Martians leave their cylinder safe and sound in their newly fabricated tripod wherein they start destroying everything around them.

Wells makes a parallel between the Martians and their superiority over humans and the humans’ perception of their superiority over animals and the Earth.

The novel is about chaos and how a structured society can erupt into total anarchy.
Even though we think we are the superior ones because we are intelligent and in control over our Earth. In reality, we are only tolerated on this earth by its real master; nature.
The novel read as an objective retelling by an unknown protagonist who can represent every human on this invaded earth, thus making it very close to home. This protagonist gives us a very dry and rather boring description of the ravage. It is a bit scary, but it’s boring because we see no action. Our protagonist is hiding throughout a big part of the novel.
Wells focuses more on describing the ruins they left behind than on the Martians themselves. It could be because it would be easier for us to imagine how a body is laying dead on the ground then how this Martian tripod looks. But I really missed those details; it felt too far away to me, too disconnected. This novel lacks emotion and even suspense. It is a dry report in the paper.

I didn't enjoy this novel as much as his other works. This means that I wouldn’t recommend you to read this one first. It is a must-read of you enjoyed his other works, but if you’re just starting out, read something else first.

Happy reading.

Helena

H. G. Wells: The Time Machine

Hi

The Time Machine was first published in 1895. This is a science fiction novella and it counts 106 pages.
I love my copy. Better yet; I love every Penguin English Library novel (which is why I bought every Jane Austen novel in these editions). Just love them, they’re so pretty, so unique and calming in their effortless orderliness.
This is a reread for me though it has been years since I’ve read it.
You can find all my H. G. Wells reviews here.

We only get to know the protagonist, an English gentleman and scientist as The Time Traveler. No name or other details are known about him. On one of his weekly meetings with his gentlemen friends, he discusses time and how he thinks he might be able to travel in time as it is the fourth dimension. He goes on to show them his model time machine. A week later, at their next meeting he arrives late and in a disheveled state. While eating he recounts what happened.
The Time Traveler tested his time machine and he landed in a world hundreds of thousands years in the future. There, he meets the Eloi, childlike humans who are afraid of the dark and have no energy or interest in work. They lack any kind of curiosity and they make no effort to understand our Time Traveler. Tired of this small society, he goes back to his time machine to find it gone and possibly taken by a more violent group of ‘humans’.

The feel of the century and the time it is placed in shines off every page. The fear of change, Wells’ own political and social views are important aspects of the novel. Society and class are a big part of the story, but it starts very subtle, and as reader, it takes some time to catch on to what he really means.
I must say I really liked this novel.
I didn’t know what to think about it in the beginning.
The Time Traveler explains us his machine and the theory behind it, but it was boring and I didn’t really grasp it all that well; especially in a language that’s not my own. Even though *shame on me* it is the second time I read it, I kind of skimmed over it. This scientific part does make it believable though as I’m sure I wouldn’t understand the reasoning behind it in real life too.
But once our protagonist disappears! Ye gods! It becomes an adventure story mixed with a psychological thriller and some horror. I loved it, I really did. The suspense was almost killing me! Wells shows us that he really is a master storyteller and he definitely deserves his status as a classic sci-fi writer.

Happy reading!
Helena

H. G. Wells: The Island of Doctor Moreau

Hi again

H. G. Wells' The Island of Doctor Moreau is the second novel I finished while on holiday. Though I have to admit it is a really short one (only 143 pages).

"Adrift in a dinghy, Edward Prendick, the single survivor from the good ship Lady Vain, is rescued by a vessel carrying a profoundly unusual cargo - a menagerie of savage animals. Tended to recovery by their keeper Montgomery, who gives him dark medicine that tastes of blood, Prendick soon finds himself stranded upon an uncharted island in the Pacific with his rescuer and the beasts. Here, he meets Montgomery's master, the sinister Dr. Moreau - a brilliant scientist whose notorious experiments in vivisection have caused him to abandon the civilised world. It soon becomes clear he has been developing these experiments - with truly horrific results."

The Island of Doctor Moreau is a haunting, spooky and disturbing novel. Even though the book is so small, Wells is able to create a dark atmosphere in just a few pages. It's vividly and engagingly written with lots of detail.
The ending was really well thought-out. Prendick is trying to come to terms with the horror he’s survived but he has trouble distinguishing the human and the animal parts in people. Great ending!

4 stars

Happy reading.
Helena