H.G. Wells
3 books analyzed
Biography
Herbert George Wells (1866-1946) was a lower-middle-class Englishman who became one of the most important writers of the twentieth century. He studied biology under T.H. Huxley (Darwin's bulldog) at the Normal School of Science, and his scientific training informed all his fiction. Wells was a committed Fabian socialist who believed in science, education, and the rational reorganization of society. He wrote The Invisible Man during his most productive period (1895-1901), alongside The Time Machine, The Island of Doctor Moreau, and The War of the Worlds. He understood both the promise and the danger of scientific progress, and his fiction explores the boundary between the two.
H.G. Wells at a glance
Works
The Invisible Man
1897 · 192 pages · ★★★☆☆ Challenging
A scientist makes himself invisible and discovers that the power to be unseen does not bring freedom — it brings madness, isolation, and a descent into terror.
The Time Machine
1895 · 118 pages · ★★★☆☆ Challenging
A Victorian scientist travels 800,000 years into the future and discovers that humanity has split into two species — one bred for leisure, the other for labor — and the laborers are eating the leisured.
The War of the Worlds
1898 · 192 pages · ★★★☆☆ Challenging
The British Empire discovers what it feels like to be colonized — by a civilization from Mars.
Diction Across Works
scientific-journalistic
formal-scientific
formal-journalistic