The Thumbnail Book Reviews
by John Q McDonald --- 21 July 1998
This is a classic of science-fiction. As an early example of the time-travel subgenre, this book sets a standard for fantastic futures. A nondescript scientist in London, having a dinner party with some friends, announces he has built a machine for travelling in time. All incredulous with his sleight of hand, his listeners turn very skeptical ears to his tale of travelling to the year 802701. The world is a very different place, populated by two species of humans. Wells' reason for this division is rooted in the socio-political views that made him a founding member of the Fabian Society. This short book is part science-fiction, part social commentary. The voyage into the distant future is fascinating, but also left me wondering about the potential for this sort of tale. Given the vast number of time-travel tales spawned since the publication of this book, one can see that others wondered also about that potential. Writing sci-fi wasn't specifically Wells' goal here, though, and it would have been a less interesting book if it was. A 1960 film of the same name stuck close to Wells' story, but lost much of the social scale Wells brilliantly applied in the novel.
Also by H. G. Wells: [The First Men in the Moon] [The War of the Worlds]
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